PLAYER ISSUE FOOTBALL JERSEY
CIRCA 1960s

LITESOME Sportswear label, in royal blue, stitched yellow number 2 verso, long sleeved, along with two white pairs of shorts, Litesome and Umbro, and a black pair of shorts, Uwin

(4)

the shirt size 38

Note: This also comes from the collection of Willie Woodburn. It is difficult to determine what team or event the shirt was for, though it is possibly from a charity fixture.

An advert from the period suggests that Litesome Sportswear was a Yorkshire based company. Through Football Kit Archive, it is noted that they supplied shirts to teams during the 60/70s including Halifax Town, Grimsby Town, and Middlesborough.

Another article on Game of the People notes (https://gameofthepeople.com/2020/09/22/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-football-kit/),

'Back in the day, you couldn’t get a replica shirt if you tried. Manufacturers such as Bukta, Litesome and Umbro would provide standard blue, red, white, old gold or stripes, but they rarely looked identical to the club kit. Up until the mid-to-late 70s, shirts were cotton, but then the lightweight, man-made fabric came in, all static and sparks and not something you should wear close to a naked flame.

The clothing catalogues, Freeman, Grattan and others, all pictured moustachioed models posing in the latest Litesome offering, perhaps a cheeky gold and black stripe issue or a diagonal band providing a continental touch.'

Another article on Historical Football Kits notes about Litesome (https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Articles/History/part-7.html),

'The firm had a long-standing relationship with Bradford City for whom they produced several original designs until 1982. Their core business was to sell kit sets to local clubs, schools and youth teams which I can say from personal experience were made from the cheapest nylon fabric available. The company is now dormant.'