Kidderminster Harriers

 

 

The game of Association Football began to take root in the Kidderminster area in the mid 1870’s. It was brought to the area by Black Country working men who had crossed the South Staffordshire border in their search for employment in the newly built forges and foundries that were springing up along the banks of the river Stour. The first bastion of the game in the region was the village of Cookley, which possessed three football clubs. In 1877 a group of ambitious young men joined together and formed a running club, appropriately calling themselves Kidderminster Harriers. They entertained no thought at that time of becoming a football club. Many of the athletes played for the Clarence Rugby Club and efforts were made for the two clubs to amalgamate, resulting in Kidderminster Harriers and Football Club. It is ironic that the ‘Football’ in the title referred to the oval version of the game and not Association Football, under which code it was to become famous in future years.

Meanwhile football in the area steadily and successfully gained many converts, with Cookley still leading the field. This inspired Kidderminster Harriers to play under Association Rules as from the 1886/87 season.

 

They turned out for their first match at the Chester Road cricket ground in red and white halved shirts and black shorts. In 1889 Kidderminster Harriers became one of twelve founder members of the Birmingham and District League. One year later ‘The Harriers’, as they were nicknamed from their beginnings, moved to Aggborough, at the time nothing more than a pitch with a rope around it, formerly used by United Choirs Rugby Club.

In the early 1920’s ‘The Harriers’ changed to white shirts with a light blue ‘V’, white shorts and claret and light blue socks. They adopted Aston Villa’s colours of claret shirts with light-blue sleeves from 1923 throughout 1928, before changing to red shirts and white shorts in 1928.  In the final seasons of non-League competition Harriers sported the original, and stylish, red and white halved shirts, but League admission saw a change to a more mundane red and white ensemble.

 

 

 

 

 

Although a harrier perched on a football proudly adorns the shirts as from 1977 onwards the seal of Kidderminster Borough Council has been the club’s official badge from their start until today. The seal consists of two chevrons and golden roundels from the arms of the family of Kidderminster or Kydermaster. The black roundels added for difference may have been suggested by the red roundels in the arms of the See of Worcester.

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