The Best Ever West Ham Shirts
Ask a West Ham fan about their first shirt and you don't get a description. You get a smell, a shop, a name on the back and a sponsor from down the road.
That's what makes West Ham shirts special. Claret and blue, brass buttons, bubbles, and "Dagenham Motors" across the front like it was the most natural thing in the world. Some of the best shirts in the club's history were worn in some of its most chaotic seasons, and that only adds to them.
We've sold 39 West Ham shirts since 2017, and a third of them have gone since the start of 2024. We've also asked people about them. Football writers Sam Diss, Chris Scull and Tom Victor all told us about their first West Ham shirt, and our own Phil Delves has reviewed a few over the years. Here's what they said, and what you've bought.
What you need to know about the greatest West Ham shirts
- The Pony years, 1993 to 1999, produced West Ham's most loved shirts. Brass buttons, bubbles and Dagenham Motors.
- The most popular West Ham shirt we have sold is the 1993/95 Pony shirt, home and away (10 sold). Nothing else has sold more than 4.
- Carlos Tevez is the most popular name on the back (4 sold), ahead of Paolo Di Canio and Alessandro Diamanti (3 each).
- About seven in ten of our West Ham shirts stay in the UK. Australia is the biggest market abroad.
- Every shirt is hand-checked and comes with our no-fakes guarantee - browse the full West Ham collection.
Authentic West Ham shirts
West Ham shirts don't hang around. Here's what's in our archive right now, every one hand-checked and guaranteed genuine:
1993/95 West Ham Pony Away Shirt
Genuine Pony — £119.99
1995/97 Dicks #3 West Ham Pony Home Shirt
Genuine Pony — £119.99
1991/92 West Ham Bukta Away Shirt
Genuine Bukta — £159.99
1997/98 Dicks #3 West Ham Pony Home Shirt
Genuine Pony — £119.99
The Best Ever West Ham Shirts, Ranked
1989-91 Home (Bukta)
Bukta made West Ham's shirts from 1989 to 1993, and this is where our archive really starts. Claret body, sky blue sleeves, nothing clever. It's a shirt from the old Second Division, and it's sold three times for us. The kind of shirt you buy because your dad had one.
1991/92 Home and Away (Bukta) - Up, Then Straight Back Down
West Ham went up in 1991 and came straight back down in 1992. Grim on the pitch. Lovely on the shirt.
1993/95 Home and Away (Pony) - Dagenham Motors Arrives
Pony took over in 1993, Dagenham Motors went on the front, and West Ham were back in the top flight. This is our best-selling West Ham shirt by a distance: ten sold across the home, the away and the goalkeeper shirt. Chris Scull, of Quickly Kevin, remembers buying his:
"A West Ham 1993 home shirt that I got in the club store and I can still remember the smell of the club store, it was so exciting, and I had Martin Allen put on the back." - Chris Scull, Quickly Kevin
When Phil Delves rated the 1994/95 Premier League kits, West Ham got a B+, and the away caught his eye:
"This is definitely one of those under the radar designs which deserve to be commended" - Phil Delves, Football Shirt Collective
And the sponsor? As we said when we wrote about why we love Pony West Ham shirts:
"Dagenham Motors splashed across the front shouldn't work… but it absolutely does." - Mike Maxwell, Football Shirt Collective
1995/97 Home (Pony) - The Centenary Bubbles
West Ham turned 100 in 1995, and Pony marked it with a shirt covered in a bubble print. It's the shirt Sam Diss grew up in:
"My first football shirt was the beautiful claret and blue West Ham home shirt by Pony. You know the one: brass buttons, silken material, embroidered bubbles all over the gaff, a whacking great white 'Dagenham Motors' splashed across the front." - Sam Diss, football writer
Tom Victor's first West Ham shirt was this one too. He's slightly less romantic about it:
"I'm not saying the combination of the sparkly soapy look and the Dagenham Motors sponsor made it look like a car wash, but I'm not *not* saying that." - Tom Victor, football writer
Car wash or not, it's a classic. And with Julian Dicks' #3 on the back it's about as West Ham as a shirt gets.
1997/98 Home (Pony) - Dicks Again
One of the last Pony home shirts before Fila took over in 1999. Dicks was still the name every kid wanted, and a 1997/98 Dicks #3 is in stock, size L.
1999-2003 Fila - Di Canio
Fila brought West Ham into the 2000s, and Paolo Di Canio made the shirts famous. His volley against Wimbledon in 2000 is still the goal most Hammers pick first. Sam Diss described it better than we can:
"Paolo against Wimbledon – he jumps so high that it's practically a middle-finger to the realm of science" - Sam Diss, football writer
Di Canio is the second most popular name on our West Ham shirts, with three sold. We don't have one in right now. When we do, they don't last.
2003/05 Home (Reebok) - The Championship Years
Relegated in 2003, West Ham spent two seasons in the second tier in Reebok. It ended with a play-off final win in Cardiff in 2005, Bobby Zamora scoring the goal that took them back up. Not a glamorous time, but a proper West Ham story. We have the home in M and L, and the 2003/04 away in XL.
2005-07 Home (Reebok) - Tevez
Carlos Tevez arrived in 2006 with nobody quite sure how. By the end of the season he'd dragged West Ham clear of relegation almost on his own, finishing with the winner at Old Trafford on the final day. He only stayed one season. It didn't matter. Tevez #32 is the most popular name on the West Ham shirts we've sold, with four.
2009/10 Umbro - Diamanti
One season. Long-range goals, free kicks, and the kind of Italian flair Upton Park lapped up. Alessandro Diamanti was at West Ham for a single year, but three of you have bought his #32 shirt from us, level with Di Canio. That tells you something.
2019/20 Away (Umbro)
The newest shirt on our list, and Phil Delves rates it very highly. Writing about Umbro shirts that season, he picked out the collar, the cuffs and the way the sponsors sit on the shirt:
"I'm struggling to think of many better West Ham shirts since the 80s" - Phil Delves, Football Shirt Collective
Big words for a modern shirt. Give it ten years and we think plenty of people will agree.
Shirts We'd Add To Our Archive Next
A few West Ham shirts we've never had through the door, and would love to:
- The 1980 FA Cup final shirt. West Ham were a Second Division side, Arsenal were the holders, and Trevor Brooking won it with a header. The last time a club from outside the top flight won the FA Cup.
- The 1985/86 home. West Ham's best ever league finish, third, with Frank McAvennie and Tony Cottee up front.
- The 2006 FA Cup final shirt. 3-3 against Liverpool in Cardiff, lost on penalties after Steven Gerrard's late equaliser. Heartbreak, but what a game.
- The 2022/23 home. The shirt West Ham wore to win the Europa Conference League in Prague, Jarrod Bowen scoring the winner against Fiorentina. The club's first major trophy in 43 years.
Most Popular West Ham Shirts We've Sold
Sample size caveat: this covers 39 recorded units since 2017. That's enough to see a clear favourite, but not enough to call the rest a definitive ranking.
| Shirt / era | Units sold |
|---|---|
| 1993/95 Pony home and away (incl. 1 goalkeeper shirt) | 10 |
| 1989-92 Bukta home | 4 |
| 1995/97 Pony home and away | 4 |
| 1999-2003 Fila (incl. Di Canio #10 ×3) | 4 |
| 2005-07 Reebok home (Tevez #32 ×4) | 4 |
| 2007/08 Umbro (incl. Noble #16 ×1) | 4 |
| 2009/10 Umbro (incl. Diamanti #32 ×3) | 4 |
| 1997/98 Pony home | 2 |
| 2003/05 Reebok home | 2 |
Most Popular West Ham Shirts By Player
| Player | Units sold |
|---|---|
| Carlos Tevez | 4 |
| Paolo Di Canio | 3 |
| Alessandro Diamanti | 3 |
| Julian Dicks | 1 |
| John Hartson | 1 |
| Mark Noble | 1 |
26 of the 39 West Ham shirts we've sold had no name on the back. Plenty of you just want the badge and the bubbles.
Who Orders The Most West Ham Shirts?
| Country | Units sold |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 27 |
| Australia | 5 |
| Indonesia | 2 |
| Denmark, Italy | 1 each |
| Not recorded | 3 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best West Ham shirt of all time?
Our pick is the 1995/97 Pony centenary home, with the bubble print, brass buttons and Dagenham Motors sponsor. Going by our own sales, the most popular is the 1993/95 Pony shirt, home and away.
Who made West Ham's shirts in the 1990s?
Bukta made West Ham's shirts from 1989 to 1993, then Pony from 1993 to 1999. Fila took over in 1999.
What does the bubble pattern on the 1995 West Ham shirt mean?
The 1995/97 Pony home was made for the club's centenary, and the print was designed to look like bubbles. West Ham's anthem is "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles".
Are Football Shirt Collective's vintage West Ham shirts authentic?
Yes. Every shirt we sell is hand-checked before listing, comes with multiple photos so you know exactly what you're getting, and carries our no-fakes guarantee, backed by an Excellent rating on Trustpilot.
How much do vintage West Ham shirts cost?
Prices depend on era, condition and player name. Our West Ham shirts currently range from around £65 for a 2000s Reebok shirt to £160 for a 1991/92 Bukta away.
Why Buy Your West Ham Shirt From Football Shirt Collective
Pony and Bukta West Ham shirts are exactly the sort of thing that gets faked, reprinted and passed off as original. Every shirt we sell is hand-checked, comes with multiple photos so you know exactly what you're getting, and carries our no-fakes guarantee, backed by an Excellent rating on Trustpilot. Where we can, we stock shirts with official name sets and not aftermarket printing. Buying a modern Umbro West Ham shirt? Read our guide to spotting a fake Umbro shirt. Got a shirt you're not sure about? Send it to our Fake Shirt Checker.
