The curious case of the 1995 Celtic third kit

• As ever, The Celtic Wiki was very useful in researching this while Celtic shirt collector Paul Lamb also provided invaluable assistance

In the infancy of third kits, they tended to be worn only when required – which is why, for instance, Celtic’s mid-to-late-1980s offering was limited to usage in one friendly and never appeared competitively.

For the Bhoys, having so few domestic opponents meant that it was generally easy to have a change strip that dealt with any clashes, especially when, up until the early 1990s, games against Hibernian saw both sides wear home kits.

Ahead of the 1994-95 season, a new black away kit was launched, providing enough differentiation against teams in white or green that Celtic would encounter, but the spring of 1995 brought another new offering – a third kit that would never be worn in a competitive away game.

With Celtic Park being redeveloped, the club were using Hampden Park for home games that season and the clash there against Aberdeen on March 5, a 2-0 win, saw the team in a white, green and golden yellow concoction. An unusual design, we don’t recall seeing another professional team use it – not in real life, anyway – but it was available as teamwear.

Questions could naturally be asked about its functionality, given that it probably wouldn’t have solved any clashes that the black kit couldn’t, but in the event, it was a moot point. The kit had three more outings that season, all ‘home’ games at Hampden, against Motherwell, Heart of Midlothian and Partick Thistle.

It seems that Celtic’s then-owner Fergus McCann and Umbro had come to an agreement that the shirt would have a minimum number of appearances. Our best guess is that exposure to Celtic’s home support was considered better advertising than in away matches.

Late in the season, two other games at Hampden saw the traditional hoops used – the Old Firm derby against Rangers, of course, and the Scottish Cup final against Airdrie, when the new 1995-96 home strip was previewed.

All of the games in 1994-95 saw a long-sleeved set of shirts used, but there was a short-sleeved set, as well. These jerseys were first used in the summer of 1995 in a friendly against Wilhelmshaven as part of the club’s German tour. Then, at the end of August, the kit was worn for the last time – and the only occasion at the reopened Celtic Park – in a League Cup fourth-round tie against Raith Rovers.