While Umbro made kit for exactly half of the founder members of the Premier League, you might not have readily guessed which company was next in terms of representation.
The fact that Admiral had four contracts was something of an oddity, though: while the Leicestershire business reached a high of six clubs in each of the seasons from 1976-77 to 1979-80 (thanks to Chris Oakley for that information), the 1980s were a fallow time and the early 1990s resurgence was after what would be one of many takeovers.
The were no Admiral kits to be seen in Division 1 in 1990-91 but Southampton and Wimbledon came on board for 1991-92 while for 1992-93 the reigning champions Leeds United – a major driver of Admiral’s 1970s progress – were seen as a major coup and newly promoted Middlesbrough joined the stable too, having been in own-brand kit in the seasons immediately beforehand.
It meant that there were six all-Admiral clashes in the first season of the ‘whole new ball game’, as Sky termed it.
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The last of those occurred on Tuesday, March 9, 1993 when goals from John Scales and Dean Holdsworth gave Wimbledon – sponsorless throughout the two-season lifespan of their Admiral kit – a 2-0 win at home to Boro.
Come 1993-94, Admiral went from four to zero in the top tier – Leeds moved to Asics, Southampton to Pony and Wimbledon to Ribero. While Middlesbrough would have one more season in Admiral, it would be in the first division following their relegation.
Since then, there have been just two clubs who have worn Admiral in the Premier League – Barnsley in 1997-98 and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2003-04.
Great piece Denis