North American Soccer League Jerseys

Chicago Sting

1975    1976    1977    1978    1979    1980    1981    1982    1983    1984

Chicago Sting 1975 Home
     
Sting 75 Home Jim Lemon Sting 75 Home Back Russ Allen

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:

Name on Back: Yes

Numbers:

Other:

Chicago Sting 1975 Home Long-Sleeved
     
Sting 75 Road Alex Skotarek Sounders   

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:

Name on Back: Yes

Numbers:

Other:

Chicago Sting 1975 Long-Sleeved Practice?
     
Sting 75 Home 9  Sting 75 Home Wally Obrebski

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:

Name on Back: Yes

Numbers:

Other: Don't know if this is a practice jersey or a game jersey.

Chicago Sting 1975 Road
     
   

Manufacturer: Unknown

Logo:

Name on Back: None

Numbers:

Other:

Chicago Sting 1976 Home
     
Sting 76 Home Eddie Cliff Cosmos Pele Sting 76 Home Back Alan Waldron Bicentennials Santiago Formoso

Manufacturer: Adidas, Adidas logo on upper right.

Logo:

Name on Back:

Numbers: The front number moves from the middle to the lower right.

Other:  Three black stripes are added across the chest. The stripes do not go around the back. One of the sleeve stripes is removed.

The 1976 jersey has a t-shirt collar.  The '75 had a polo collar with a Black v-neck.

The Sting wore the Bicentennial on the left sleeve.

Chicago Sting 1976 Road
     
Sting 76 Road John Kwalick Metros-Croatia Bob Iarusci Sting 76 Road Back Alex Skotarek Tornado Kyle Rote

Manufacturer: Adidas, Adidas logo on upper right.

Logo:

Name on Back:

Numbers: The front number moves from the middle to the lower right.

Other:  Three black stripes are added across the chest. The stripes do not go around the back. One of the sleeve stripes is removed.

The Stars wore the Bicentennial patch on the left sleeve.

Chicago Sting 1977 Home
     
Sting 77 Home Gene Geimer earthquakes Sting 77 Home Back Gene Geimer

Manufacturer: Adidas, Adidas logo on upper right

Logo:

Name on Back:

Numbers:  Jersey look very similar to the 1976.  However, the front numbers appear to be thinner.

Other: The 3 stripes at the bottom of the sleeves are gone.

Chicago Sting 1977 Road
     
  Sting 77 Road Back Willie Morgan.jpg

Manufacturer: Adidas, Adidas logo on upper right.

Logo:

Name on Back: Yes

Numbers:  Unlike the '77 Home, the numbers appear to be the same size as the '76 Road

Other: On the road jersey the 3 stripes continue around the entire jersey.  The do not on either the 1976 or 1977 home.

Chicago Sting 1978 Home
     
Sting 78 Home Gary Rensing Sting 78 Home Gary Rensing Mervyn Cawston Gary Rensing 

Manufacturer: Adidas, logo gets bigger.

Logo: Screened on

Name on Back:  Yes

Numbers:  The front numbers move to the upper right.  Back numbers are above the 2 stripes.

Other:  This is a completely new jersey style.  2 horizontal stripes go around the whole jersey. 

Chicago Sting 1978 Road
     
Sting 78 Road Gene Strencier Kicks Sting 78 Road Back Clive Griffiths Express Alan Brazil

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:

Name on Back:

Numbers:  Jersey looks almost identical to the 1976.  However, the front numbers appear to be thinner.

Other:

Chicago Sting 1978 Road Long-Sleeve Variation
     
Sting 78 Road ls Unidentified Sting 78 Road ls x, cosmos Franz Beckenbauer

Manufacturer: Unknown, this varaiton does not have an external manufacturer's logo.

Logo:

Name on Back:

Numbers:  The front number is missing from this variation

Other:  I don't consider long-sleeves to be a variation.  However, this long-sleeve variation looks significantly different from the short-sleeved version.

The 2 chest stripes are closer together than the short-sleeved variation.

 

Chicago Sting 1979 Home
     
Sting 79 Home Team 2  

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:  Screened on.  The logo also changes slightly.  The "Sting" lettering gets a shadow.

Name on Back: Yes

Numbers:  The '78 and '79 jerseys have the back number above the stripes.

Other:  The two stripes that go around the jersey move closer together.

Chicago Sting 1979 Road
     
Sting 79 Road Karl-Heinz Granitza Sting 79 Road Back Horst Blankenburg Strikers Cubillas Mueller

Manufacturer: Adidas  The Adidas logo on the 1979-80 jerseys is a deep gold.  I'm not positive about 1980.  In later years it becomes a pale yellow.  It appears that there was some mixing and matching of jerseys from year to year.  Look at the 1981 team photo below.  Frantz Mathieu (7), Brett Hall (23), and  Dave Huson (16) all have the gold logo.  Everyone else is wearing the pale Adidas logo.

Logo:  Screened on.  The logo also changes slightly.  The "Sting" lettering gets a shadow.

Name on Back: Straight

Numbers: 

Other:

Chicago Sting 1980-84 Home
Sting 80's Home Jersey Karl-Heinz Granitza Sting 80's Home Jersey Karl-Heinz Granitza Back Sting 80's Home Jersey Karl-Heinz Granitza Adidas Tag
Sting 81 Home Bret Hall Manic  

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:  Screened on

Name on Back:  Starting in 1980 the name is on the jersey in an arc.

Numbers:  Starting in 1980 the back numbers touch the top stripe.

Other: The Sting switch to wearing their black jerseys at home in 1980.  They maintain that convention through 1984.  Photos of the yellow jersey are difficult to find during this period.  It is possible the yellow had similar variations to the black.  I just don't have enough evidence.

Chicago Sting 1980 Road
Sting 80 Road Jersey Horst Blankenburg Sting 80 Road Jersey Horst Blankenburg Back Sting 80 Road Jersey Horst Blankenburg Adidas Tag
Sting 80 Road Arno Steffenhagen 2 Sting 80 Road Back Tasso Katsoukous Rogues John Faulkner

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo: Screened on

Name on Back:  Starting in 1980 the name is on the jersey in an arc.   The letters also appear to be bigger than the '79 letters.

Numbers:  Starting in 1980 the back numbers touch the top stripe.

This doesn't appear to be 100% true.  Need more research

Other:

  Sting 81 Road Back Frantz Mathieu, Rudy Glenn, Cosmos  T
Chicago Sting 1981-84 Home
Sting 80-82, 84 Road Jersey Rudy Glenn Sting 80-82, 84 Road Jersey Rudy Glenn Back  
Sting 81 Road Team Sting 82 Road Back Derek Spalding Cosmos Richard Chinapoo, Paul Hahn

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo:  Screened on

Name on Back: I believe the Sting switched back to a straighter name tag in 1981 or 1982.  I still need more evidence to prove it.

Numbers:  Jersey looks almost identical to the 1980.  However, the front numbers appear to be thinner.

Other:

Chicago Sting 1981 Practice
Sting 81 Home Jersey 28 Sting 81 Home Jersey 28 Back  
Sting 81 Road Team Alt  

Manufacturer: Adidas

Logo: Screened on

Name on Back:  None

Numbers:  Screened on

Other: