Jan – May 1950

A decade of classic solid kits started with a mid-season change of strip in January 1950 back to the 1944-1948 kit which had a four black stripe long sleeved home shirt complete with black and white collar and white buttons, along with black shorts and socks which had white trimmings. The badge also returned to the shirt.

This shirt was the first ever Saints retro one made, and has been available to purchase since the mid 1990’s.

1950 – 1957

Other than the removal of the buttons on the shirt, slight changes to the collar style, or the badge coming off, the shirt remained more or the less the same for the next seven seasons.

White shorts replaced the black ones during this period, which was something constant for almost twenty years, but the socks stayed exactly the same.

Willie Telfer on the left, with Bobby Holmes in the middle shot. Holmes was an extremely highly rated and versatile player, but his career was cut short at just 26 years of age as he was unable to recover from a broken leg sustained as the result of a training ground tackle by Telfer. Holmes later went onto to become physio of the club, including the period of the 1987 Scottish Cup final.

Action from the 1955 League Cup final.

1957/58

The first realy significant changes to the kit took place this season since the cream shirt of 1901-07 and black shorts of 1944, when a short sleeved shirt was produced along with a white V-neck collar, both first events for the club. The shorts and socks remained the same however.

Tommy Gemmell in the left picture in action against Hearts. The inside forward was one of the most skilful players to ever play for the club, and is the last Saints man to score for Scotland, back in 1955. A one man club and winner of the Scottish Cup in 1959, the  legend remains outside the official Hall of Fame at the moment.

1958 – 60

This was a very similar kit to the previous season, except the socks were changed to white for the very first time in our history. A large yellowish cloth badge sat on the front, memorably iconic for the 1959 Scottish Cup win when Umbro made the kit for the first time. The socks were changed in the 59/60 season to black with two white hoops at the top.

On the left, action from the 1959 Scottish Cup Final, on the right Tommy Bryceland.

The 1959 Scottish Cup Final shirt worn by Tommy Gemmell. The club purchased this at auction in April 2019 for £6,000 and is expected to be displayed in the 1877 club within the main stand.

Next……………The 1960’s > < Previous…………1877 – 1949