Legendary claret that wasn't originally claret
The original, the first team to appear in burgundy wine red (or also claret) combined with light (sky) blue, was Aston Villa.
In the early years of the club's existence (Aston Villa were established in 1874), the Villans played in shirts of many other colour combinations, but in 1886, new ones were introduced.
The original design stated that the shirts would be chocolate and sky blue, but during their production at the textile factory, the chocolate colour turned out to be more of a burgundy red. Aston Villa didn't complain about the product and accepted the shirts as they were made, and thus, the iconic claret and blue combination was created.
Aston Villa played in these traditional colours in the very first English league season of 1888/89, almost 140 years ago. They were one of the best clubs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the colours therefore had the hallmark of quality. As a result, other English clubs later chose the same combination as they tried to copy Aston Villa's success.
Among the most famous claret and blue teams is another traditional club from the Premier League, although they came to these shirts largely by coincidence.
Claret and blue thanks to a bet with a runner
The other well-known claret and blue team is, of course, West Ham United. The London side switched to these colours not long after the name and structure of the original Thames Ironworks FC changed in 1900.
According to legend, when the famous English sprinter William Belton - who was involved with West Ham, helping players with athletic training - visited a fair in Birmingham, a group of players from the local Aston Villa recognised him and invited him to race with them.
The footballers bet with Belton that he would not beat them, but the sprinter was faster. However, the Villa players backed themselves too much and bet an amount that they could not pay.
Since one of them was in charge of washing the team's jerseys, he offered to pay off their debt with one set of the Aston Villa kits instead. The sprinter brought back to London a complete set of claret and blue shirts, which he gave to "his" football club. And ever since then, West Ham have also been known as the claret and blue team.
1910: The year of claret and blue
Two other English sides changed their colours in honour of Aston Villa in 1910, the year the Villans won their sixth league title.
One of them was Burnley (currently playing in the second tier) and the other was Scunthorpe United (who play at the sixth level of the English football league pyramid).
The spread across the continent
Fashionable in England, Aston Villa’s iconic colours expanded further than British shores, 3,300 miles to Turkey.
Tranbzonspor, a club from the city of Trabzon, were officially established in 1967. Immediately after the club was founded, the team adopted colours in honour of Aston Villa.
In 1976, Trabzonspor became the first team outside of the big three from Istanbul (which consists of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas) to win the Turkish League. Since then, they have won it a total of seven times, making claret and blue a very successful colour combination in Turkey as well.
