An in-depth look at the West Ham United 1983-85 Home Kit.
West Ham United's early-mid 80s adidas era is packed with bona fide classics. This home strip was one of the most interesting of the lot. It retained the familiar sky blue sleeves but introduced a multi-trimmed (so very early 80s!) white v-neck and cuffs and a sky blue panel across the chest, trimmed with white piping. With sponsorship beginning to feature more and more on football jerseys in the UK (and with TV rules on sponsors' logos lifted) this provided the perfect space to highlight the brand of a commercial partner.
Except in West Ham's case the sponsor (in this case financial company Avco Trust), didn't actually arrive until a few months into the season, meaning the start of the 1983-84 campaign saw the shirts free of additional commercialism.
Avco's first logo included their full name but by the start of the 1984-85 season in an attempt to maximise brand awareness the logo was shortened to just 'Avco' allowing for the characters to be much larger.
The shirt, in true West Ham style, was also paired with the sky blue shorts and/or socks from the away kit should a colour clash necessitate.
The team at this time was a blend of old hands such as Trevor Brooking (who actually made his final appearance for the Hammers in this shirt against Everton in the last game of the 1983-84 season) and Billy Bonds and new emerging stars such as Tony Cottee and Paul Goddard who both shone in this fine strip.
The 1984-85 season was tough for the club although a rare highlight came in the form of a fine 3-1 win over Arsenal in this kit.
Visit truecoloursfootballkits.com. Keep up to date with True Colours by following @TrueColoursKits on Twitter
Click to enlarge Image
