Admiral Sports Launches 2023/24 Walthamstow FC Kit with William Morris Gallery

Admiral Sports has unveiled the 2023/24 home and away kits for English soccer team, Walthamstow FC, in collaboration with The William Morris Gallery. The rejuvenated patterns on the shirts take references from the legendary face of the arts and crafts movement.

Decked out in Morris’ 1892 Yare textile pattern, the repeating motif has been altered for the home strip to match Walthamstow’s club colors, with the away kit and warm-up tracksuit bearing the colors of the original. Walthamstow FC’s proximity to the William Morris Gallery ensured that the club’s tradition in working with local partners could continue, while elevating the kits into art pieces in themselves.

Shirt partners include local brewery and long-time club affiliate, Exale, as well as charitable initiatives, Wood Street Walls and No Space for Hate.

To further mark their commitment to their community and develop the next chapter of the football club, Walthamstow FC and Wood Street Walls have allocated a percentage of the proceeds from the collection that will be used to establish a new women’s team for the borough.

“We’re proud to support our local Walthamstow FC through this unique collaboration,” says Hadrian Garrard, director, William Morris Gallery. “William Morris Gallery is part of a very special community here in North East London and this is a great way for us to bring the work of Morris out of the Gallery and into the streets and football pitches for next season.”

“The launch of this kit marks a three-year journey to make what we believe is the first collaboration of its kind and our first venture into fashion and away from public art, but with a strong connection to where we work, create and live,” says Mark Clack, founder, Wood Street Walls. “We are delighted by the care and quality that has been invested into the kit by our sportswear partner, Admiral, and the support of our funding partner, The Local Trust. We hope that the collection will help raise the profile of the club and build the strong community links the club is building. In the words of [former Arsenal FC manager] Arsene Wegner, ‘Football is an art, like dancing is an art – but only when it’s well done does it become an art.’”

“William Morris believed that people should be able to live in harmony with the world around them,” says Andy Perkins, chairman, Walthamstow Football Club. “Today we are unveiling the result of three years collaboration between art, sport and manufacturing. I’m sure Morris would have

approved and, if he was alive today would be happy to see his designs being worn by Walthamstow FC, a club which has provided sport in the borough for 155 years.”

“Working on this shirt collaboration has been a special experience,” says Theo Hamburger, head, sales and marketing, Admiral Sports. “Being able to tap into the William Morris archive of

prints allowed us to dream up designs we hadn’t imagined before. This project was one for the community and we were able to work with so many talented people across Walthamstow, from the models, photographers and designers. Morris said, ‘Art made by the people for the people, as a joy to the maker and the user.’ I believe that we have produced something that is both a work of art and useable and hope it brings as much joy to the fans and the community as it did to us working on this kit.”

The Admiral Sports x Walthamstow FC x William Morris Gallery launched on the Pro Directwebsite July 31, as well as in William Morris Gallery shops and on its website.