My Admiral Leeds United Collection
Leeds United is in my blood. I was introduced to the Mighty Whites by my uncle John and his pal ‘Mallard’ and the utter carnage Leeds brings to its followers. There’s never a dull moment with this club, but I love it!
My memories of Leeds games are usually pretty good on the whole, but weirdly I’ve no idea who we were playing in the first game I went to. I vividly remember the rest of the day though, walking through the old turnstiles at the Kop end and up the steps to take our place near the top of the loudest stand. I was in awe as the players ran onto the Elland Road pitch in their white home shirts as ‘Marching On Together’ echoed around all four corners.
I found out the hard way what happens in the Kop when the team scores that day. As the ball hit the back of the net, I was propelled down the stand, ending up in a heap at the bottom about 30 rows from where I should have been. I was full of cuts and bruises but I remember thinking ‘wow, this is ace’. I've been a season ticket holder ever since and a ‘Denby Dale White’ member.
I started going to games in the late 80s-early 90s which was a great period for Leeds fans, the Wilko era. David Batty, Gary Speed, Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister, that was one of the strongest midfields I've ever seen on a pitch. Pair that with Chapman and Cantona and you’ve got a title winning team. Apart from Cantona for obvious reasons, this team will always be special to me and the images of them all lifting the league trophy on a bus parade through the centre of Leeds in 1992 will stay with me forever. The subsequent season Leeds were title holders going into the first ever Premier League and lifted the Charity Shield at Wembley wearing Admiral shirts. I’ve actually got forward Rod Wallace's shirt and jacket from that game.
These memories and the passion for Leeds that was passed down from my Uncle, continues through my family now. I met my wife Leigh after a Leeds match and it was inevitable that my two sons, Bernie and Grayson, were going to be Leeds fans. I’m happy to know that one day they’ll inherit the match worn collection.
The Leeds Collection
I’ve been collecting match worn Leeds United shirts for 27 years now. I was just 20 years old when I bought the first shirt in my collection at an auction, a 1979-80 Eddie Gray home shirt made by Admiral. A thing of beauty with its striped collar and v-neck which is matched on the cuff. Buying this shirt started a passion that I’ve not stopped since.
I’ve now got 100s of shirts, tracksuits, medals, boots and one-off pieces. In fact I’ve managed to get so many items I decided to build a museum to put them all on show. If anyone wants to come down and see then I’d be happy to let you have a look around!
There are some amazing pieces in the collection but I’d definitely say my favourite shirts are the ones that surround a significant moment in the club's history.
One of these shirts is Peter Lorimer’s Admiral home kit from the 1975 European Cup Final at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Although we lost, many think we should have won the match that night, it still marks the furthest we’ve been in the European Cup to this point.
Leeds’ first season with Admiral was the 1973-74 season, with the manager making the switch to Admiral part way through the season. From December onwards, the Leeds kit had the famous Admiral logo on the chest as the side won the league in Don Revie’s last season at the club. This shirt was worn by club legend Johnny Giles in the last match of the season away at QPR in a 1-0 win.
If you’re going to have a Leeds match worn collection then you have to try and get a shirt worn by captain fantastic Billy Bremner. This away shirt was worn by the Scottish International in the 1974-75 season, the start - and subsequent end - of the infamous Brian Clough era.
The Admiral track tops from the 70s are also some of my favourite pieces, I’ve got ones worn by Mick Jones, Eddie Gray and Terry Yorath with names across the back and the famous ADMIRAL print across the front. This one was worn by Eddie Gray in the 1974 Charity Shield vs Liverpool, Clough's first game in charge of League Champions Leeds.
Admiral’s second stint as kit manufacturer was in 1992-93 and they entered the first Premier League season as reigning Champions. Admiral produced a home kit in white, an away in blue and a yellow third kit. This particular third shirt was worn by David Wetherall in the league match vs Arsenal at Highbury in 1993.
My collection is currently housed in my museum and I am happy for it to stay there for now as I get regular visitors and it’s great showing fans around. There is talk of part of my museum being included in the plans to redevelop Elland Road with my shirts on show in the newly built West Stand which would be amazing. Even more fans would get to see some of the amazing shirts I’ve collected over the years.
I write a feature in the official matchday programme for Leeds home games, but if you can’t make it up to the museum or Elland Road to see the items in the flesh then fear not as you can view my museum in paper form via the ‘The Leeds United Collection: A History of the Club's Kits’ book I co-wrote with Robert Endeacott.
My Admiral Leeds United Collection by Ben Hunt
