hummel have been Everton's kit manufacturers for five minutes.
But the Danish firm already shows an impressive grasp of Everton's history.
The new away strip, revealed today to widespread backing, has its roots in a strip first worn 140 years ago.
In their tweet to announce the launch hummel declared: "Everton's 2021/22 away kit – designed to celebrate 140 years of togetherness within the Everton community."
And despite its ultra modern appearance - the new away kit does have remarkably close links to the club's past.
In 1881, barely two years after Everton had adopted the name of the district of the city they played in, they wore black shirts with a bright red sash.
No images exist, but Thomas Keates, in his Jubilee History of Everton written in 1928, explains the reasons for the distinctive strip.
"The colours of the players' costumes have seen some changes.
"Up to October 1881 they were blue and white stripes, while the recruits from St Peter's and the United Church wore the colours of their old clubs. The contrast was grotesque; uniformity was desirable; and to save the expense of buying new outfits it was decided to dye all the old ones black, with scarlet sashes about two inches wide as a relief.
"This led to the team being called the 'Black Watch'. Later on salmon jerseys with blue knickers, ruby shirts with blue trimmings and dark blue pants were worn. Subsequently the dark blue jerseys and white knickerbockers of the present day were introduced."
The Black Watch was a famous army regiment, formed in 1739.
The first indication that the sash was from shoulder to hip, in a style adopted by so many South American teams in the 20th century, came in the Daily Courier, on October 1st 1881 - and it sounds like the new kit made a winning start!
The newspaper reported: "The Everton Association met for the first time the Chester Rovers. Expectations were raised of a closely contested game, but although the Evertonians were playing within their strength they had matters pretty much their own way, and won without giving the Cestrians a sight of the uprights, the score of the victors being three goals, two others being disputed.
"The new costume of the Evertonians consists of Black jerseys and pants, and White hose, with a crimson sash or band slung crosswise from shoulder to hip, a make up which gives players a neat and business-like appearance."
The new strip also did the business on the pitch. Everton won each of their opening five fixtures in the new strip, the Liverpool Courier noting: "Mr. John Houlding, the president of the club, may well be proud of the invincible Black Watch. Few Association clubs have made so much progress in such a brief period as Everton."
The dashing Scot, Jack McGill, was credited with scoring the first goal in the new strip -in a 3-0 win over Chester Rovers.
McGill may well have been Mersey football’s first showboater.
During a visit of Burscough to Stanley Park in October 1881, McGill scored four times in an 8-0 win. But that wasn’t enough for the dashing Scot.
The Daily Post reported: “McGill was in brilliant form in breaching the Burscough citadel four times, each occasion being a goal – the last time turning his back to the ball and passing it through with his heel.”
Imagine James Rodriguez turning and knocking one in with his heel on Sunday?
