Author: Gavin Hope

Kit Geek Creator, 1/3 of Football Kit Podcast

Premier League: Matchweek 26 Kit Review

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The first domestic cup of the season has been completed this weekend, with Liverpool lifting the Carabao Cup against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday 25th February, due to this game it meant this is a slightly different look to the fixtures, with Liverpool playing Luton Town on Wednesday 21st February and the game between Cheslea and Tottenham Hotspur has yet to be arranged so expect to see that game towards the latter weeks of the season. However we are now two thirds of the way through the season with this round of fixtures being the reverse games of Matchweek 11

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 26 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 99 (+1 from Matchweek 25)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (No change from Matchweek 25)

New Kits this Matchweek

There was just the one new kit on show this weekend.

Nottingham Forest used their Away Kit against Aston Villa, the shirt was paired with alternative white shorts and socks… this is the 99th Kit worn in the Premier League this season!

Kit Highlights

Manchester United “sock watch” continues and I happy to report that the default home socks have been used for the 2nd Home game in a row, so it appears the issues with their socks have now been resolved!

Staying at Old Trafford, Fulham recorded their first victory of the season whilst not wearing their default Home Kit, so far this season they have worn their Home Kit with alternative white socks 5 times and both Away and 3rd kits twice, so this their first victory not in their default Home Kit with black shorts and socks.

Brentford continued their losing streak in their away kit this season, with 4 losses in its 4 appearences, as many of you will know this was also last season’s away and it did not fair much better there with 3 draws and 3 losses in it’s 6 uses… will this be the last time we see this kit in action?

My favourite Kit Match Up of this weekend was again a difficult one to choose with no real stand out fixture, I have gone for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United, the use of The Blades alternative red shorts and socks is something I have enjoyed in its two appearences this season and paired with the Old Gold and Black of Wolves works well!

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 11 Home Kits, 5 Away Kits and x 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek (9 Games)

There was there six Kit Variations on show this week, the joint highest so far this season (and still one fixture to play which is also likely to have Tottenham in Home Kit Variation against Chelsea)

  • Luton Town, in Away Kit with Home shorts, the 2nd time this look has been used this season
  • Nottingham Forest in Away with alternative white shorts & socks
  • Everton in Away with alternative salmon shorts & socks, 2nd time this season
  • Fulham in Home with white socks, 5th time this look has been used
  • Newcastle United in Home with black socks, 4th time this season
  • Sheffield United in Home with alternative red shorts and socks for 2nd time

Kit Grid – Up to 26th February 2024

Kit News

There was no new Premier League related Kit News this week, watch this space for news in the coming weeks.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 21

Premier League – Matchweek 22

Premier League – Matchweek 23

Premier League – Matchweek 24

Premier League – Matchweek 25

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

Premier League: Matchweek 25 Kit Review

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Matchweek 25 is now completed and see the reverse fixtures from Matchweek 12 and see the League approach the 2/3rd of the season mark, so lets take a look at the kits worn this weekend in a little more detail.

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 25 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 98 (+1 from Matchweek 24)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (No change from Matchweek 24)

New Kits this Matchweek

There was just the one new kit on show this weekend.

AFC Bournemouth wore their first Kit Variation of the season, with their away kit being used with alternative navy socks to their visit to Newcastle United, this becomes the 98th Kit used in the Premier League this season!

Kit Highlights

Wolverhampton Wanderers have now used their Away Kit four times this season, racking up 10 point with three victories and draw, the fourth team to reach double figures for points but have the joint highest “Points per game” in the Kit with Liverpool.

Aston Villa were the only team this matchweek to wear their Home Kit away from home, it also is the first time that they have worn their Default Home Kit (Home Shirt / White shorts & Sky Blue Socks) away from Villa Park this season in the Premier League.

My favourite Kit Match Up of this weekend was at the game between Brentford and Liverpool, one of the best Brentford Home Kits in their Umbro period, and an interesting Liverpool 3rd Kit, the Purple an unusual colour in football but one that has strong links with the city of Liverpool, this Kit does work well for me and matched up with this Brentford kit gave us a good kit match up.

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 11 Home Kits, 7 Away Kits and 2 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek

There was there five Kit Variations on show this week.

  • AFC Bournemouth in Away Kit with Navy Socks
  • West Ham United in Away Kit with alternative sky blue shorts, 3rd time this look has been used
  • Brighton & Hove Albion in Away Kit with white shorts and socks, the 2nd time used
  • Manchester United in 3rd Kit with alternative white socks, the 5th time they have been used
  • Crystal Palace in Away / Home Kit Mash up, with Away kit paired with Home socks, the 2nd time seen in the League

Kit Grid – Up to 20th February 2024

Kit News

There was no new Premier League related Kit News this week, watch this space for news in the coming weeks.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 20

Premier League – Matchweek 21

Premier League – Matchweek 22

Premier League – Matchweek 23

Premier League – Matchweek 24

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

Premier League: Matchweek 24 Kit Review

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Matchweek 24 is another quickly followed round with the reverse fixtures are from Matchweek 19 which were the fixtures that of “Boxing Day” round of games, just six weeks ago. Another querk of these games is that this also means that due to their meeting in the FA Cup 3rd Round and its replay it will be the fourth time that Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers have met since then!

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 24 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 97 (+2 from Matchweek 23)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (No change from Matchweek 23)

New Kits this Matchweek

There were two new kits on show in this Matchweek,

Newcastle United wore their default 3rd Kit for the first time, it is the third different look for this kit but the first time as it was intended with Navy shorts and white socks!

Manchester United wore their 3rd kit in its second different look in the Premier League this season, with alternative red shorts.. although already seen this season in The Champions League this was the first time this look was used in League and the first time Red Shorts have been used by The Red Devils since 1956/57 season – details can be found here at Musuem of Jerseys!

Kit Highlights

Sheffield United recorded their first win of the season in a change kit, with their 3-1 at Luton Town on Saturday 10th February.

Manchester United have now worn 11 Kit variations this season in their 24 games so far! They have used six different Home Kit looks….

With their Change Kits, they have three Different Away Kit and now two different 3rd Kits!

Brentford were the only team this Matchweek to wear their Home Kit in an Away game. Interestingly when they met Wolverhampton Wanderers in their recent FA Cup 3rd Round Reply on 16th January, they wore their 3rd kit for that fixture but doned their Home Kit just a few weeks later.

My favourite Kit Match Up of this week’s games was a tough one this week, with no real stand outs but I have given it to Aston Villa’s game against Manchester United, purely seeing Manchester United in red shorts in a domestic game for the first time for nearly 70 Years is worth remembering!

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 10 Home Kits, 5 Away Kits and 3 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek

There was just the one Kit Variation on show this week.

  • Manchester United in 3rd Kit with alternative red shorts

Kit Grid – Up to 13th February 2024

Kit News

Adidas launched a new collection, combining Manchester United and The Stone Roses, inspired by the artwork of the Band’s debut album cover, some great looking “stash” produced for this range, and it can be found at Manchester United’s Direct Store – Here

The new Episode of The Football Kit Podcast is out now, in Episode Les and I are joined by Rob Fletcher and Kieran Casey for a Question of Strips with Denis in the Quizmasters chair, let us know how you got on with the questions!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 19

Premier League – Matchweek 20

Premier League – Matchweek 21

Premier League – Matchweek 22

Premier League – Matchweek 23

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

League Two – 100 Kits!

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League Two Clubs are the gift that keeps on giving for us Kit Geeks, on Saturday 10th February we saw the 100th Kit Variation used by the 24 clubs in League Two in 362 Games, for comparison in whole of the 2022/23 season there were a total 94 Kits used, this number was surpassed just under half way through the season with Newport County wearing a kit mash up that contained Away Shirt / Home Shorts / 3rd Socks on at Wrexham on 23rd December 2023.

So where have the 100 kits come from?

The way that I define it is a discintive look, so taking all the elements of the kit (Shirt / Shorts / Socks) and then reviewing how that look is made up and the differences in the kit looks, so a club’s default home kit would be one look and then if the home shirt is worn with default shorts but away kit socks, that becomes a new kit variation.

Overview:

  • 24 – Home Kits
  • 15 – Home Kit Variations
  • 24 – Away Kits
  • 11 – Away Kit Variations
  • 20 – 3rd Kits
  • 5 – 3rd Kit Variations
  • 1 – 4th / Special Kit

Looking at the Clubs in more detail, these kits are in order of their appearence this season and the number of times each kit has been used underneath it, this information is correct up to Saturday 10th February.

Accrington Stanley – 4 Kit used, with the Home, Away and 3rd Kits joined by a Home Kit with alternative white socks!

AFC Wimbledon – One of the ten teams to use just Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Barrow AFC – Another team with Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Bradford City – Home, Away and 3rd Kits for The Bantams

Colchester United – Three Kit variations for Colchester, however just Home and Away, with an Away variation with alternative white socks!

Crawley Town – The most variations of the 100 Kits is from Crawley Town with 8 Kits, with different elements of each of the three kits being used to create three different Home Kit looks, three Away Kits and two 3rd Kit variations. The final variation used was the 100th Kit of the Season, their Default 3rd Kit (White / Black / White) used at Crewe Alexandra.

Crewe Alexandra – 5 Kits used by Crewe, with Home and Away variations combined with the three default kits.

Doncaster Rovers – 4 Kits used, with Home Kit with away shorts being used as a variation, we are still to see their default Away Kit this season!

Forest Green Rovers – Just Home, Away and 3rd Kits used (in that order as well).

Gillingham – Our 5th Team with just Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Grimsby Town – 5 Kits for Grimsby, with mash ups of socks between Home and Away Kits

Harrogate Town – Another team to use socks to create mash up looks, Home and 3rd Kits in Harrogate’s case

Mansfield Town – Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Milton Keynes Dons – Another team with just Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Morecambe – Although just having Home and Away Kits this season, Morecambe have used alternative white socks and mash ups to create 5 Kit Variations in total

Newport County – One of two teams to use 7 Kit Variations, however the only team in League Two (and EFL / Premier League) to use a 4th Kit this season, also using two different Home Looks, three Away and 3rd Kit!

Notts County – Another team to use just Home and Away Kits, with alternative white shorts and socks being used to create a second Home Kit look

Salford City - The 2nd Team with 7 Kit Variations, again another team using element of the kits to create different looks, Salford’s however have only used Black Shorts / Socks and White Shorts / Socks to create the look with their three different shirts.

Stockport County – The 8th Team Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Sutton United – Home, Away and 3rd Kits

Swindon Town – 4 Kits, with Home combined with 3rd Socks to create an alternative look

Tranmere Rovers – The Final team with just Home, Away and 3rd Kits, also Tranmere’s Home kit at this moment is the most used kit in League Two with 23 appearences in their 31 games so far (correct as of 12th February)

Walsall – The only that has used 6 Kit Variations this season so far, Walsall are one of my favourite teams for kit usage, often creating different looks with their kit elements, this season has seen two Home Kits, three Away and just the default 3rd Kit used.

Wrexham – 4 Kits looks, with the alternative variation of Away and Home socks being 4 times so far this season!

As mentioned above the 100th Kit used was Crawley Town’s use of their default 3rd Kit against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday 10th February 2024.

Kit Grid – Up to 12th February, this shows what the fixtures were for this season so far!

One Final look, at when the Kits were worn… this view shows you at which match the new kit look / variation was first used, for example… AFC Wimbledon wore their Home Kit in their first game, 3rd Kit in their 3rd game and Away Kit in their 4th game..!

There we have it 100 Kits of League Two, let me know your thoughts and comments below or over at @Kit_Geek

Premier League: Matchweek 23 Kit Review

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The fixtures from Matchweek 23 may ring some bells for some of you, as they are the repeat fixtures from Matchweek 18 which were the fixtures the weekend before Christmas, this also means that due to their meeting in the FA Cup 3rd Round it will be the third time that Liverpool and Arsenal have met in the last six weeks.

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 23 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 95 (+1 from Matchweek 22)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (No change from Matchweek 22)

New Kits this Matchweek

There was just the one new kit look on show through this weekend.

Luton Town’s “Eight Goal Thriller” at Newcastle United saw The Hatters in a new look for the season, combining Home shirts and socks with Away shorts, their 7th overall kit look of the season but the first time they have mashed up their home kit for different look!

Kit Highlights

There is only one place to start… Manchester United’s “Sock Watch”, their home game against West Ham United gave us the return of the default Home Socks for the 2023/24 Home Kit, the first time they have been worn at Home since the opening game of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers, so not seen since the second game of the season at Tottenham Hotspur, so have Adidas fixed the rumour issue with the socks that the players complained about, lets hope so as they do elevate the overall kit with their design!

Wolverhampton Wanderers were in their Away Kit for the second time in three games, and for only the third time this season in total.

My favourite Kit Match Up of this week’s games could only be the game between Manchester United and West Ham United, with Manchester United’s Home Kit looking how it should with the return of the socks, combined with a classic White Away Shirt of West Ham, doning alternative shorts for nice overall Kit Look!

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 13 Home Kits, 3 Away Kits and 4 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek

There were three Kit Variation on show this week.

  • Fulham in their Home Kit with white socks, the 4th time this look has been used in The League
  • Luton Town’s new Home Kit Mash up with Away shorts
  • West Ham United using alternative sky blue shorts with their away for the 2nd time

Kit Grid – Up to 6th February 2024

Kit News

As there was only a day between the end of Matchweek 22 and start of Matchweek 23, there was no new Premier League Kit News, so stayed tuned here for updated news next week.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 18

Premier League – Matchweek 19

Premier League – Matchweek 20

Premier League – Matchweek 21

Premier League – Matchweek 22

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

Kit Variations – English Leagues

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I am always looking for new ways to visualise what I do, as regular followers will know I like to look into the details of the Kits worn across various football competitions, so this is a post to consolidate some of that data and it will be one that will be flexible and be updated as we move through the rest of the 2023/24 Season!

One of those things that I look at are the variations of the kits used, but what does that actually mean…

I break the Kits down into their three main elements – Shirts / Shorts / Socks, then I look at the variations of these elements worn with the shirt which is the consistent part of the kit!

Definitions of Terms used

  • Default Kit – This is the regisitered Kit of Each Team, so Home, Away and Third Kits (Could Also be termed as Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Kits)
  • Kit Variation – One of the Shorts and Socks is change with either the Home, Away and Third Kits
  • Mash Up – The use of elements of different kits being used together, for example Away Shirt worn with Home Shorts and Third Socks (as coined on The Football Kit Podcast)
  • Alternative Shorts / Socks – A bespoke alternative pair of shorts and socks, created for a specific kit

Some examples…

Default Kits – The way the kits are designed to worn, Stockport County showing their three kits at the start of the 2023/24 Season.

Kit Variation – Manchester United are an excellent example of this, Home Shirt was been worn in six different variations this season in Premier League.

Mash up – Luton Town are my go to choice here, having worn the ultimate Mash Up already this season by wearing their Third Shirt with Away Shorts and Home Socks.

Alternative Shorts / Socks – A good example here is Everton this season, who have worn their Away kit with “Default” Navy shorts and socks and also “Alternative” Salmon / Coral shorts and socks

Kit Variations – 2023/24 – Last update, 2nd February 2024

So here we are this season and here is a snapshot that shows all the kits used in the Premier League and EFL so far this season.

Premier League – 94 Kits in Total

  • 37 Home Kits (20 Default / 17 Variations)
  • 35 Away Kits (20 Default / 15 Variations)
  • 22 Third Kits (13 Default / 9 Varitions)
  • Manchester United have worn 10 Kit Variations this season
  • 3 Teams in 6 Kit Variations
  • 6 Teams in 5 Kit Variations
  • 6 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
  • 4 Teams in 3 Kit Variations

Championship – 81 Kits in Total

  • 31 Home Kits (24 Default / 7 Variations)
  • 27 Away Kits (24 Default / 3 Variations)
  • 23 Third Kits (All Default)
  • Queen’s Park Rangers have worn 5 Kit Variations
  • 7 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
  • 16 Teams in 3 Kit Variations

League One – 76 Kits in Total

  • 29 Home Kits (24 Default / 5 Variations)
  • 26 Away Kits (24 Default / 2 Variations)
  • 21 Third Kits (18 Default / 3 Varitions)
  • 7 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
  • 14 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
  • 3 Teams in 2 Kit Variations

League Two – 98 Kit Variations

  • 39 Home Kits (24 Default / 15 Variations)
  • 34 Away Kits (24 Default / 10 Variations)
  • 24 Third Kits (19 Default / 5 Varitions)
  • 1 Fourth Kit
  • 3 Teams in 7 Kit Variations
  • 1 Team in 6 Kit Variations
  • 3 Teams in 5 Kit Variations
  • 5 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
  • 12 Teams in 3 Kit Variations

The only Fourth Kit used so far this season is from Newport County, worn at Home against Stockport Country on 25th November 2023, this was a Charity Kit for their former winger Jason Bowen and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

There we have it, I hope this gives you a little bit insight into how I look at kits and how I record their usage, I will continue to update this as we move through the final months of the season.

Any thoughts or comments, please let me know!

Premier League: Matchweek 22 Kit Review

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Matchweek 22 was the second round of Midweek fixtures (outside the Christmas Period), with all 20 Teams in action across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (30th January to 1st February).

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 21 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 94 (+3 from Matchweek 21)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (+1 from Matchweek 21)

New Kits this Matchweek

There were three new kit looks on show through these fixtures and one new goalkeeper kit!

Brighton & Hove Albion wore an alternative white shorts and socks with their Home Kit for the first time, a nice overall look that still keeps the overall classic Brighton feel to the kit!

Everton used their Away Kit just the second time this season but this time with alternative “salmon” shorts and socks for lovely looking overall Kit… I think I might even prefer the look here than the standard navy shorts and socks.

Brentford wore their 3rd Kit with alternative navy socks, this was the first kit variation worn by The Bees this season but thats not all from this them this week….

There was also a new Goalkeeper Kit on show for Brentford, the first team to wear 4 goalkeeper kits this season. This was a purple version of last seasons keeper template which has also been worn by Luton Town this season!

Kit Highlights

An “interesting” Kit Stat from the game between Aston Villa and Newcastle United, the result of Newcastle United winning meant this was the first time Aston Villa had suffered defeat in their default Home Kit this season as well as being the first League victory for Newcatle United in alternative Black Socks with their Home Kit….!

Brentford became the first team to wear four goalkeeper kits this season, with their use of the purple template from last season’s Umbro catalogue.

My favourite Kit Match Up of these midweek fixtures has to be Fulham and Everton, the use of red and white details in the Fulham Home kit is one of favourite little details this season, paired with cracking Everton away kit with what is arguably better alternative shorts and socks is a winner for me!

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 13 Home Kits, 4 Away Kits and 3 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek

There were five Kit Variation on show this week.

  • Brighton & Hove Albion in Home kit with alternative white shorts and socks
  • Everton in Away kit with alternative “Salmon” shorts and socks
  • Newcastle United in Black socks with their Home Kit for the 3rd Time this season
  • Brentford, 3rd kit with alternative navy socks
  • Manchester United in all off white 3rd kit, 4th time this look has been used

Kit Grid – Up to 23rd January 2024

Kit News

With Paris St. Germain’s Jordan Kit “deal” coming to an end this season we thought they may be the end of the “Jumpman” logo featuring on Football Kits, however it has been reported that a London Club is being looked at to take up the logo moving forward… with currently Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur being in the Nike camp, it likely to be one of these clubs with Chelsea being rumoured as the preferred option.

Full report can be found here

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 17

Premier League – Matchweek 18

Premier League – Matchweek 19

Premier League – Matchweek 20

Premier League – Matchweek 21

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

Premier League: Matchweek 21 Kit Review

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Matchweek 21 is a unique Matchweek in the Premier League season, with the fixtures being split over two weekends to give each of the teams a mini “mid-season” winter break, there was five fixture played over the weekend of 12th to 14th January and the remaining five fixtures on 20th to 22nd January.

As always you can find last week Matchweek’s review – here

The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.

Matchweek 21 Fixtures

Total Kits Used

  • Kits Worn in Total – 91 (+2 from Matchweek 20)
  • Goalkeeper Kits – 57 (No Change from Matchweek 20)

New Kits this Matchweek

There were two new kit look on show through these fixtures.

Crystal Palace have worn their 3rd twice already this season, including the opening fixture back in August, however this is the first time that the kit has been worn in default look of all black, with the black socks getting the debut outing!

Nottingham Forest used their 3rd Kit with bespoke alternative orange shorts and socks for the first time this season in their game against Brentford, the overall look worked well with amount of orange in the shirt… a nice alternative and opens up more opportunities for mix and matching with the default navy blue shorts and socks.

Kit Highlights

Manchester United “Sock Watch”, it was the 2023 Adidas Teamwear socks again in the home game against Tottenham Hotspur, this seems to be the go to sock now for The Red Devils…

Wolverhampton Wanderers wore their away kit for only the second time this season and the first time since the third game of the season back in August against Everton, this also means they have worn Home, Away and 3rd Kits in their last three games!

My favourite Kit Match Up of this week was the match up between Brentford and Nottingham Forest, the alternative look against the classic Brentford kit worked well for me, I have seen comments that considered this to be a kit clash but I think there is enough destinction between the light and dark shorts and socks and in the shirts that this worked well under the lights of Gtech Community Stadium!

Kit Stats

Overall we have seen 14 Home Kits, 3 Away Kits and 3 3rd Kits in action in this Matchweek

There were four Kit Variation on show this week.

  • Luton Town, Away Kit with Home Shorts and Socks, this is the 3rd time this look has been used
  • Manchester United’s again in Black Teamwear Socks (with updated Adidas Logo), the 8th time they have been worn
  • Aston Villa, Home Kit with alternative claret shorts and socks, the 2nd time for this look
  • Nottingham Forest’s 3rd Kit with alternative shorts and socks (see above)

Kit Grid – Up to 23rd January 2024

Kit News

It is being widely reported that Aston Villa have signed “Major” Deal with Adidas, replacing Castore from next season. Aston Villa have been supplied by the many kit manufacturers over the years, however this would be the first time that they have worn the “Three Stripes” of Adidas and will be the second club to move from Castore to Adidas with Newcastle United also making that change from 2024/25 Season – Image from @TheShirtUnion

Manchester City have released a “Year of the Dragon” shirt to celebrate the Chinese New Year and it has been reported that this kit will be worn by both Men and Women’s teams at some point this season, with the kit having its own designed nameset I wonder if it will be a cup game that we see this kit, however with the Men away at Tottenham Hotspur in the 4th Round, its not likely to be that game.

Another interesting story that was being report at the end of last week was the potential introduction of “4th” Kits from 2024/25 season. It is not clear if this will be for every team but the reports suggested that one of Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur or Chelsea will have a 4th Kit available for regular use and not seen as a “Special Kit”. 

So what we have seen with Crystal Palace and Arsenal this season may become the norm in future season within Premier League!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Premier League – Matchweek 16

Premier League – Matchweek 17

Premier League – Matchweek 18

Premier League – Matchweek 19

Premier League – Matchweek 20

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.

Kit Manufacturers Breakdown: 2023/24

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I created a graphic this week that showed a breakdown of the Kit Manufacturers of the current 92 English League Clubs from Premier League and EFL for this current season.

So thought I would create something with a little more detail for those Kit Nerds and Geeks out there, a form of reference guide for Kits and Clubs for the 2023/24 Season.

2024/25 Season can be found here

Overview of Kit Manufacturers

Breakdown per Manufacturer (In good old fashioned League Ladders Style)!

Puma – 16 Teams

Macron – 15 Teams

Umbro – 13 Teams

Adidas – 9 Teams

Castore – 7 Teams

Nike – 7 Teams

Errea – 6 Teams

Hummel – 4 Teams

Joma – 3 Teams

New Balance – 2 Teams

O’Neills – 2 Teams

Oxen – 2 Teams

That Leaves six teams, each being the only club that their manufacturer supplies.

FBT – Crewe Alexandra (League Two)

Kappa – Hull City (Championship)

Kelme – Watford (Championship)

Mills – Tranmere Rovers (League Two)

Tag – Burton Albion (League One)

VX3 – Newport County (League Two)

So there we have it, 92 Team, 18 manufacturers and all the details you may need.

Any surprises there, any thoughts and comments please let me know?

2024/25 Season can be found here

FA Cup: 3rd Round, Kit Review

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The FA Cup 3rd Round, one of the highlights of the Football Season for many of us, the round that sees teams from the Premier League and Championship join the competition, often with several “Non-League” teams still involved, the dreams and hope of a New Year replicated into Footballing dreams both big and small!

In it’s 143rd season, the oldest competition in Football initially had 732 teams enter with qualifying rounds starting back in the summer of 2023, with 32 teams from these fixtures reaching the first round, where the EFL Teams first join the Competition.

A recap of the previous rounds…

1st Round

1st Round Replays

2nd Round

2nd Round Replays

The 3rd Round of The FA Cup took place over 5 days of the first weekend of 2024, between Thursday 4th January and Monday 8th January, the fixture between Crystal Palace and Everton the first to be played on Thursday of this weekend!

3rd Round Kit Log

64 Teams kicked off the 3rd Round in 32 Fixtures.

3rd Round Replays

There were 14 different Kit Manufacturers seen in this round of the FA Cup, with Macron having the most teams with 11 and Umbro with 10, the only two with double figures… four Kit Makers, Kappa, Kelme, New Balance (all Championship Clubs) and VX3 (Newport County) with just one club.

Kit Highlights

Crystal Palace kicked off the 3rd Round of the FA Cup on Thursday by wearing a special charity / 4th shirt, containing a sash something that The Eagles are well known for doning on their kits over the years. This shirt was paired with Home shorts and socks and with Everton in their 3rd Kit, it made for one of my favourite Kit Match Ups of the season so far.

For the 3rd Season in a row Arsenal used an all white kit, labelled as “No More Red”, highlighting teenage knife attacks in London. The shirts will not be for release and will sold for charities supporting the local communities. This season is different as the previous incarnations were used away from The Emirates Stadium, at Nottingham Forest in 2022 and Oxford United in 2023, so this is a rare ccurrence of Arsenal not in red at Home, Liverpool joind the No More Red theme by wearing their 3rd Kit for a unique look for one of the historic fixtures in English Football!

Maidstone United the lowest team left in the competition, continued to the 4th Round with their victory against League One Stevenage, The National League South (6th Tier) Kent Team have a kit which is based in design on the final Maidstone United kit from 1992 before the club folded and withdraw from The Football League.

An interesting Kit Match up with the Tyne / Wear Derby, in recent years when the clubs have played each other change kits have been worn to avoid a clash, this was not the case in this FA Cup game, with Newcastle United wearing alternative white shorts and socks with their Home Shirt to give a more traditional look to this fixture, something that raised mixed views across Social Media with both those glad to see this and those that called it out as a kit clash!

Blackpool are the only team that have worn three different kit looks in the opening three rounds of the Competition, having worn all Tangerine Home Kit in their opening round against Bromley, then their default home with against Forest Green Rovers and their Away Kit against Nottingham Forest.

Manchester City had one difference in their kit from any of the other competing clubs… as they continue to not use the offical FA Cup sleeve patches, due to the current sponsors of the competition, they do not use the patches as it is direct competition to their own principle sponsor. It is likely, as in previous seasons that will be fined for this action but that does not stop them! It also means the holders patch (which is silver not red) will not be seen this season.

Being a Cup competition meant that lots of clubs, introduced their own “Cup” Namesets instead of the standard league names and numbers that normally used, some stand out ones that we wanted to call out are the following…

Any of your FA Cup hightlights that I have missed or stand out, let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek 

Something new for 2024 is my Facebook Page, which you can find here so please give have a look and give me a follow / like.