Category: General

Premier League 2022/23 – End of Season Report

Posted in General, Kit History, Premier League Kit LogTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

The 2022 / 23 Premier League season ended on Sunday 28th May 2023 with Manchester City securing their 3rd Premier League in a row with 3 games still to play. At the foot of the table, Everton survivied with a final day victory which means that Leicester City and Leeds United will be joining already relegated Southampton.

As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.

Kit Stats

  • 760 Kits worn (380 Games)
  • Home Kit used 73% of the time (67% Default, 6% Variations)
  • Away Kit used 15% of the time (12% Default, 3% Variations)
  • 3rd Kit used 12% of the time (9% Default, 3% Variations)
  • 109 different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
  • Home Kits – 43.1% of total Kit Variations used:
    • 25 Home Kits worn (5 teams wearing 23/24 Home Kit this season)
    • 22 Home Kit variations used
  • Away Kits – 29.4% of total Kit Variations used:
    • 19 Away Kits worn
    • 13 Away Kit variations used
    • Aston Villa did not use registered Away kit, wearing 2 different variation
  • 3rd Kits – 26.6% of total Kit Variations used:
    • 19 3rd Kits used
    • 10 3rd Kit variations used
    • Manchester United did not use registered 3rd kit, wearing alternative shorts
  • Goalkeeper Kits:
    • 68 Goalkeeper used
    • 2 Teams (Liverpool and Manchester City) in 5 different Goalkeeper Kits
    • 4 Teams in 4 Goalkeeper Kits (Arsenal / Leicester City / Liverpool in 23/24 GK Kits)

Overview of Kits Used

Kit Overview

Kit Log, Match 1 to Match 19

Kit Log, Match 20 to Match 38

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Premier League Teams:

  • Two Teams in 9 Kit variations
    • Manchester United – Home Kit x6, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
    • Newcastle United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit x2, 4th Kit
  • Two Teams in 8 Kit variations
    • Leeds United – Home Kits x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x4
    • Southampton – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
  • West Ham United in 7 Kit variations – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
  • Five Teams in 6 Kit variations
    • Aston Villa – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
    • Chelesa – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
    • Crystal Palace – Home x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
    • Everton – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
    • Fulham– Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
  • Two Teams in 5 Kit variations
    • Arsenal – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
    • Liverpool – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
  • Four Teams in 4 Kit variations
  • Four Teams in 3 Kit variations
  • Most variations of Home Kit – 6
    • Manchester United
  • Most variatons of Away Kit – 3
    • Newcastle United
    • Southampton
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit – 4:
    • Leeds United
  • Six Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away or 3rd Kits
    • AFC Bournemouth
    • Brentford
    • Leicester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
    • Manchester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
    • Nottingham Forest
    • Wolverhampton Wanderers
  • Most worn Home Kit – 31, Wolverhampton Wanderers
  • Most worn Away Kit – 9, Nottingham Forest
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 9, Brentford and Manchester City
  • Most worn 4th Kit – 1, Newcastle United
  • Liverpool and Manchester City used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations including 23/24 GK Kits
  • Most worn GK Kit – 31, Tottenham Hotspur (Yellow GK Kit)

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek

Kit Tables

One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 6 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.

Home Kits

No surprises at the top of table, with Manchester City heading the table up with 2.48 points per game in their Home Kit, followed by Arsenal (2.31) and Manchester United (2.21). Both Manchester Clubs scoring 62 Points in Home Kits.

Chelsea can sum up their disappointing season by scoring less 1 point per game (0.93), only managing 28 points in their 30 games in their home kit, one of four teams (Everton, Leicester City and Southampton) in managing less than 1 point per game.

Away Kits

Newcastle United’s Champions League qualifying season was supported by their performance in their Navy Away kit, worn in 3 different variations The Magpies managed 2.67 points per game in their 6 games.

Arsenal scored the most points in an Away Kit, they managed 18 points in their two away kit looks which was used across 10 games in total.

Only 7 teams managed more than 1 point per game, with Everton who only secured their Premier League status on the final game scored 1.4 points per game in their away kit and remained unbeated in their two away kit looks this season.

Fulham, who used their away kit 3 times, did not manage to score any points in these games.

3rd Kits

Rumour has it that Mikel Arteta did not like the Arsenal Pink 3rd kit this season, however in its two appearences they won both games giving the kit a maximum 3 points per game.

Champions Manchester City, who were the joint highest wearers of a 3rd kit this season score 20 points in total, finishing 2.22 points per game.

Fulham were more productive in their 3rd kit, were the 4th highest points per game scorers in 3rd kits, with a total of 9 points won in 5 games wearing 2 variations of their 3rd Kit.

There were 3 teams that did not score any points in their 3rd Kit (Leeds United x5, Southampton, x5 and Nottingham Forest x2).

Summary and Highlights

There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:

Lets start with Manchester United, who wore a staggering 6 variations of their Home Kit, the key to this was the socks… they started the season using alternative black away socks and it was not until teams returned from the World Cup on 27th December where the default Home Socks were finally used… see the difference in the socks below? One of the Kit Mysteries of 2022/23 Season

The other four looks for Manchester United were…

As briefly mentioned above, another Kit Mystery for the season is Arsenal 3rd Kit, initally popular with fans when it was first released, however it only made two appearences this season (both victories) and was used in two of Arsenal’s first three games, so its final use in the Premier League was on 20th August in the game against Bournemouth… rumour was the Mikel Arteta did not like the kit but there is no confirmation of that!

Newcastle United ended the season unbeaten in their change kits, they played a total of 12 games in change kits.

  • 6 games in Away Kit (3 Variations)
  • 5 games in 3rd Kit (2 Variations)
  • 1 game in 4th Kit

Leeds United, ended the season with the most variations of a 3rd Kit, using 4 different looks in just 5 games unfortunatley not scoring a point in any of these looks but as a Kit Geek, I did enjoy they use of this kit!

This season was the first since 2019/20 where a 4th Kit was used. However Newcastle United’s 4th was not a traditonal 4th Kit but a training shirt that was matched prepared and partnered with Home Shorts and Socks, the reason being that their designated kits of this season were all considered to clash when they visited Brighton & Hove Albion in just the second game week of the season and their first away game!

Crystal Palace did not use their 3rd Kit in the Premier League in 2021/22 season and it took until their 23rd game of this season against Brentford in February to wear one this time, a total of 651 days and 64 League games between wearing 3rd Kits (both Black with Red / Blue details).

There were some interesting Kit Mash Ups used this season…

Arsenal, using grey Goalkeeper Socks with their Black Away kit… a look they used three times against Manchester United, Liverpool and Brentford!

When Manchester City visited Crystal Palace, their goalkeeper socks were considered a clash with Crystal Palace’s, so Ederson took to the field in white outfied away socks of Palace!!

Leeds United, followed a similar look to Arsenal when they played Manchester United with their Goalkeeper look using grey socks with their black keeper kit, they wore this look in both games against Manchester United… which were in the space of 4 days!

There we have it, The Premier Leagues’s End of Season Kit report for 2022/23, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

You can find other End of Season Reports below.

Championship – 2022 / 23 End of Season Report

League One – 2022 / 23 End of Season Report

League Two – 2022 / 23 End of Season Report

Gianluca Vialli – My Tribute

Posted in GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Friday 6th January 2023 saw the sad passing of one the games greats, Gianluca Vialli after his battle with pancreatic cancer since 2017.

For people like me of a certain age, Vialli was one the footballers of our youth, Italia 90, Football Italia on Channel 4, that Champions League winning Juventus team, Player Manager of Chelsea… so many wonderful memories of football for me!

A total of 673 Club Appearences, with 259 goals and 58 International Caps with 16 goals… a rare winner of all European Competitions with Champions League, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup as a player and European Super Cup as a Manager. Add to that Domestic success with Serie A, Coppa Italia, FA Cup and English League Cup titles.

I wanted to create my own small tribute to a football man that gave me so much joy over the years!

Gianluca Vialli’s club career

So many classic kits are linked to Vialli over the years…. here are some of my favourites!

Cremonese – 1980 to 1984. 113 Appearences / 25 Goals

Sampdoria – 1984 to 1992. 327 Appearences / 141 Goals

The first time I heard of Vialli was his time with Sampdoria, that timeless classic look…

One of the most classic European Cup / Champions League Final Kit Match ups…

Juventus – 1992 to 1996. 145 Appearences / 53 Goals

Winning the Champions League in 1996

Chelsea – 1996 to 1999. 88 Appearences / 40 Goals

A Player Manager, it does not get more fairytale than that for me…. Another reason why I love Vialli was his stint as Player Manager, winning four cups with Chelsea.

International Years

1985 to 1992 as player, 2019 to 2022 as an Assistant Coach

59 Appearences / 16 Goals

Italia 90, a World Cup played at Home!

Captaining his country

Lifting the Euros as Assistant Coach of the Euro 2020 Team

A legend in my eyes, Rest in Peace Luca and thank you for the memories!

FA Cup 2022/23 – First Round, Kit Review

Posted in GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off over 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed its full First Round of the 2022 / 23 season.

The first round was made up of 80 Teams made up from the 48 League One and League Two teams and then 32 teams from the Non-League English Football Pyramid, with Alvechurch FC being the lowest rank team in the round who play in the 7th Tier (Southern League Premier Division Central).

First Round Kit Log

The 80 Teams were provided by 21 Kit Manufactures, with 4 manufacturers only supplying a non league team and not a league team, this give us kit lovers plenty of different kits to admire.

Manufacturers

Puma supplied the most kits in this round with 13 kits, 7 from League teams and 6 from Non League teams, Macron supplying 11 kits with 9 League Teams and 2 Non League Teams

There were 8 Manufacturers that provided just 1 kit in the First Round, 6 suppling League Teams and 2 supplying Non League Teams.

Kit Nerd will notice the likes of Kappa, Canterbury and Uhlsport supplying kits in the competition, all for Non League Teams.

First Round Replay – Kit Log

There 7 Replays in the First Round, only AFC Fylde v Gillingham gave us a repeat in kit match ups from their first ties.

Kit Highlights

I want to call out a few Kit Highlights from the total 47 First Round games.

Oxford United – The game against Woking was originally postponed due to a Waterlogged Pitch but they played each other on 16th November saw Oxford United in a Kit Mash up not seen in the League One this season, with white away shorts paired with 3rd yellow socks to give Home, Away, 3rd Kit Mash up.

Kings Lynn Town – Pink and Yellow is a combination not often seen on the pitch, so when Kings Lynn Town defeated Doncaster Rovers in their away kit, its worthing calling out… a nice combination of colours.

York City – One of the most popular kits of the 2022 / 23 season in the Kit Community, so lets celebrate seeing it in action in the FA Cup

Buxton – In their all Non League tie with Merthyr Town, we saw Buxton in their home kit manufactured by Canterbury, someone who we have not seen in the football world for a few years now and one we will see again as Buxton moved through to Round 2.

Let me know your favourite kits from this season’s FA Cup First Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

Champions League 2022/23 – Group Stages – Kit Overview

Posted in GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

On Wednesday 2nd November, the Group Stages of the Champions League wrapped up for another season this was over a month earlier than we normally see due the upcoming World Cup starting in November and concluding in December.

In true Kit Geek style I wanted to take a look at the kits worn by the 32 teams competing in these group stages.

Overall Kit Stats:

  • 81 Kits worn in Group Stages – 96 games
  • 36 Home Kits (29 first choice / 7 variations)
  • 26 Away Kits (21 first choice / 5 variations)
  • 15 3rd Kits (11 first choice / 4 variations)
  • 4 “Cup” Kits (3 first choce / 1 variation)

Group A

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • Napoli only team to use Home, Away and 3rd kits, including Champions League only “3rd Kit”
  • Rangers in two home kit variations
  • Liverpool Home kit most used, 5 out of the 6 Group matches

Group B

  • 11 Kits worn in the Group – joint most this season
  • Atletico Madrid and Club Bruges in Home, Away and 3rd kits
  • Bayer Leverkusen in two home kit variations
  • FC Porto Home kit most used, 4 out of the 6 Group matches

Group C

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • Inter Milan and Viktoria Plzen in Home, Away and 3rd kits – V.Plzen in first 3 games
  • Every team in change kit for away games
  • Each Team’s home kit used 3 times

Group D

  • 11 Kits worn in the Group – Joint most this season
  • Sporting CP in 4 different kit variations, all used in first 4 games and the most used in Group stages
  • Marseille in Home, Away and 3rd Kits
  • Eintracht Frankfurt in Champions League kit (away) for first 5 games, most used kit in the group

Group E

  • 11 Kits worn in the Group – Joint most this season
  • No team wore three different kits (Home, Away, 3rd)
  • All teams wore variations of either Home, Away or “Cup” Kit
  • Red Bull Salzburg in “Cup” Kit in all 6 games, with 1 variation of socks

Group F

  • 8 Kits worn in the Group (fewest in this season’s competition)
  • No team wore three different kits (Home, Away, 3rd)
  • Each team in just 2 kits
  • Real Madrid in change kit in group stages for the first time since 2019

Group G

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • Borussia Dortmund in just 1 kit, only one of two teams this season to do this
  • Sevilla only team to use Home, Away and 3rd kits in the group
  • Manchester City one of 5 teams to use alternative shorts with their home kit this season

Group H

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • PSG in just 1 kit, only one of two teams this season to do this
  • Juventus and Maccabi Haifa in Home, Away and 3rd kits in the group
  • Benfica only team in the group to use a variation kit, with alternative shorts with home kit

Matchday Breakdowns:

Match Day 1

Match Day 2

Match Day 3

Match Day 4

Match Day 5

Match Day 6

Kit Highlights:

Looking at some of my favourite Kit highlights of the Group Stages.

The three teams playing at Chelsea in Group E all used variations of socks with their kits

Every game in Group C the away team played in a change kit….

The only two teams to wear just one kit were Borussia Dortmund and Paris St.Germain, with Dortmund wearing their European Cup Kit.

Tottenham Hotspur and Olympique de Marseille in some what a flip / reverse kit match up, each doning all white v all sky blue in their two fixtures.

There we have it, my round up of this season’s Champions League Group Stages, let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek

England x Nike – 2022

Posted in General, Kit NewsTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

After months of speculation, rumour and DH Gate Knock offs, we have now seen the release of the Nike Kits for England for 2022/23, in effect the World Cup 2022 Kits.

I have thoughts…. I will always save final judgement of a kit when it is seen in action for the first time, however I did want to take some time and have look at the Kits as they have been presented to us so far!

Home

The home kit at first glance takes a lot of influence from the Umbro Home Kit worn between 1995-96, famously known as the kit worn at Euro 96, this is mainly due to the introduction of a light (almost turquoise) blue as one of the key detail of the kit.

The biggest element of change and controversy to the shirt, is with the shoulders and the introduction of blue in this part of the shirt, here is where for me the shirt takes more influence from 1980-83 Admiral shirt, worn at the 1982 World Cup… interesting one of the most loved shirts in England kit history but this one has initially not gone down as well! It’s an interesting design choice and something different in an England kit, these are always positive elements in my eyes, so I am falling on the side “Love It” of what is going to a “Marmite” shirt for many people.

The shorts are a lighter shade of blue that we have seen with previous kits, although still on the darker shade of the blue spectrum there is a significant change.  Matched with the light blue trim, again giving us those Euro 96 vibes.

Away

Immediately, thoughts go to 1990 and the away kit of the time… in fact that was the registered away shirt between 1990 and 1993, however was not used at Italia 90 and was not worn in 1993… but back to the present…

The shirt is clearly an adaptation of that Umbro shirt, with changes in the colour elements and for me this is what makes the kit a lot more interesting, the way that the light blue element seen in the home kit is also used in the away, the National Crest being blue really works for me the trim in the navy blue collar and the Nike “Tick” all taking this blue and creating something new in England’s Kit History.

Red shorts, returning with the red shirt means a return to all red as the default away look, which will be the first time this is the case since 1994-95 Away kit, yes we have seen all red many times of the years but this has always been alternative shorts used.

My final thoughts, these are interesting kits whether you like them or not one new in design with more subtle nods to the past, the other is a more traditional looking shirt and possible playing to “crowd” as an almost direct copy of kit it is paying tribute too, in my opinion treating these kits as a set Nike have given us a balance to their offering for their latest offering to England National Team and I look forward to seeing them in action.

One last thing… if you do not like them, their lifecycle will be fairly short… there will new kits in 18 months’ time!

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

Premier League, Top Trumps – 2021 / 22

Posted in General, Premier League Kit LogTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I like to look at Football Kits and Kit Stats in many ways, one way that I wanted to revisist for the previous season was a Top Trump format.

So for those of a certain age will know all about Top Trumps, so for this set I have looked at the kits of each of the 20 Premier League Teams, Home, Away and Third kits and stats around these kits, the stats I have picked are the following:

  • League Games Worn – How many league games was the kit (and variations) worn in 21 / 22 Season
  • Variations of Kit – The number of variations of that kit were worn in 21 / 22 Season
  • Games Won – Number of games won wearing the kit
  • Points Won – Numner of points won wearing the kit
  • Points per game – The average number of points per game (total points / games worn) per kit

The cards by each team….

There we have it, any surprises in there, Brighton’s Points per game, Leicester City’s lack of games won in their Away and 3rd Kit?

What would you consider as the overall “Top Trump” card, Liverpool Home Kit or Manchester City Home Kit or something else?

Are there any other stats that you think I should haved used for future Top Trump looks at Football Kits.

Please let me know over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter or in the comments below.

My initial attempt at this was for 2018 / 19 Season can be found here

The Heat Press – Issue 18

Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 18 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 17 click here

The Headlines

  • 2022 / 23 Kit Launches
  • New Kit Deals
  • Adidas International Men x Women
  • England’s 4th Goalkeeper Kit

2022 / 23 Kit Launches

Kit Launches are coming thick and fast, so here some of the releases these past few weeks…

Newcastle United – The 2nd home kit produced by Castore, see a thinner stripe to the home shirt return and with some blue accents on all elements of the kit. The one question remains the sponsor, with rumours that the sponsorship will change before the start of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur – Now in their 6th season with their partnership with Nike, the new Spurs home kit sees a return of flashes of yellow in the shirt and socks, however one thing this does do in introduce another colour to the shirt, with Navy, Red, Purple already appearing on the white shirt, too much?? Maybe for some!

West Ham United – The Hammers look to the past for influence to their 22/23 kit, which is based on the Bukta kit from 1991/93 with its unique sleeve pattern.

A surprise to the kit was to see it match with blue shorts and claret socks, the shorts being a highlight for me, reminding me of the Umbro shorts from late 80s.

Wolverhampton Wanderers – Wolves are another team going into their 2nd season with Castore, this kit seems to a simplier version of their last home kit, with just a small amout of black detailing on the shirt this coming season.

Stoke City – It is going to take a lot to beat the way Stoke City have advertised and launced their new kit range, launching Home, Away and 3rd kits over a course of few days but showing how they intend to use their kits this season in a variety of mash ups, this Kit Geek was very excited to see this graphic!

This will be the first time that Stoke City have released a 3rd Kit since their 2017 / 18 season, their last in the Premier League.

Cambridge United – Hummel delivering another bespoke kit for The U’s, a nod to the “Influence” kits from 1991/93 with pattern within the shirt itself…

Stevange – Launching both home and away shirts, the away see the purple remaining as a change colour for the club who used it as their 3rd kit colour last season but the home is a radical change in look with black forming a significant part of the shirt in the body and sleeves for a unique look for the League Two Club.

FC Barcelona – I mentioned on Twitter that I believe this is one of the best home kits produced by Nike for the Catalans, a wonderful take on their classic look, with use of Navy across all elements of the kit working perfectly for me… a great kit!!

New Kit Deals

Although no kits been launched as yet, there has been some confirmation of new kit deals for some clubs over the past week or so…

Aston Villa x Castore

Aston Villa also took to Social Media to thank Kappa for their support, a nice touch I thought.

Ipswich Town x Umbro – This will be interesting to see if they take any influence from the shirts of the early 90s, a return of the laced collar!

MK Dons x Castore

Oxford United x Macron

Adidas International Men x Women

Adidas used some of their International Men’s teams to help launch their new Kit range for the International Women ahead of the upcoming Euros in England.

Belgium – A great look with Black / Red / Red

Germany – who may be in spot of bother with FIFA, as the Women’s shirt only has two stars, not the four that normally appear on the Men’s kit!

Spain – Something classic about this Spanish Shirt!

England’s 4th Goalkeeper Kit

In their Nation’s League Game against Germany, England and Jordan Pickford used a red version of the Nike Goalkeeper template, this was the 4th variation used after Yellow, Green and Black..

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.

The latest Episode of The Football Kit Podcast is now out, this time we take a more detailed look at one club’s kits, with Newcastle United being that club, Les, Denis and I were joined by Gavin Haigh for a wonderful dicussion about The Magpies’ kits over the years, you can check out the podcast on my page or use this link to listen directly here

Another Podcast to check out is The Price of Football, in general a wonderful podcast looking into the “Finances Behind the Beautiful Game”… one episode I really want to recommend is from Thursday 2nd June where there is a facsinating interview with Hummel’s Mark Underwood. The podcast can be found here

Our Friends over at Talking Kit have ended their first series of “Full Kit Rankers”, make sure you check out their YouTube Channel, check out their episodes discussing kits from AFCON to EFL to Champions League

I have always considered Football Kits as a form of art work, well Christopher K Art has taken this one step further, with this wonderful abstract painting of the 2021/22 Millwall Home shirt, I might be biased (I know I am) but this would be fantastic hanging on my wall…!

Let me know your thoughts and comments and if there is any content that you would like me to share in future issues, please message me and let me know the details or use the comments field below or contact me over on @Kit_Geek on Twitter

Champions League 2021/22 – Kit Overview

Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On Saturday 28th May 2022, Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League (European Cup) against Liverpool in the Final at Stade de France in Paris. I wanted to follow my overview of the kits worn in the Group Stages with a Kit Overview of the Knock Out Stages of the competition, as well as a final overview of the competition from The Group Stages

Knock Out Round Kit Stats

  • 30 Kits worn in Knock Out Stages – 29 games
  • 17 Home Kits (13 first choice / 4 variations)
  • 5 Away Kits (3 first choice / 2 variations)
  • 8 3rd Kits (7 first choice / 1 variation)
  • 7 New Kit Variations used in Knock Out Stages

Overall Kit Stats (Including Group Stages)

  • 96 Kits worn in Group Stages – 125 games
  • 48 Home Kits (30 first choice / 18 variations)
  • 30 Away Kits (21 first choice / 9 variations)
  • 17 3rd Kits (15 first choice / 2 variations)
  • 1 4th Kit used

Kit Overview

Group A / Group B

Group C / Group D

Group E / Group F

Group G / Group H

The 7 “New Kits Variations” seen in the Knockout Stages:

Atletico Madrid – Home Kit, with red shorts and socks at Manchester City

Real Madrid – Home Kit with away socks at Chelsea

Real Madrid – Away Kit at Manchester City

Benfica – 3rd Kit at Ajax

Benfica – Away at Liverpool

Lille OSC – Away with black socks at Chelsea

Chelsea – Away with alternative yellow shorts (at Lille OSC and Real Madrid)

Kit Variations Stats

Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Champions League Teams

  • Four Teams in 5 Kit variations
    • AC Milan (6 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
    • Manchester United (8 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
    • Atletico Madrid (10 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
    • Benfica (10 Games) – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
  • Three Teams in 4 Kit variations
    • Zenit St.Petersberg (6 Games) – Home Kit, Away x3
    • Lille OSC (8 Games) – Home Kit, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
    • Chelsea (10 Games) – Home Kit x2, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
  • 14 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
    • 4 Teams in Home, Away, 3rd Kits (Manchester City, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Red Bull Salzburg)
  • 11 Teams in 2 Kit Variations
  • Most variations of Home Kit – 3
    • AC Milan
    • Atletico Madrid
    • Manchester United
  • Most variatons of Away Kit – 3:
    • Zenit St.Petersburg
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit – 3:
    • Lille OSC
  • 14 Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away, 3rd, 4th or Cup Kits
    • Club Brugges
    • Manchester City
    • Paris St.Germain
    • Liverpool
    • Ajax
    • Inter Milan
    • Shakhtar Donesk
    • Sheriff Tiraspol
    • Barcelona (Cup Kit and 4th Kit)
    • Dynamo Kyev
    • Bayern Munich
    • Villarreal
    • Young Boys
    • Red Bull Salzburg
  • Most worn Home Kit – 11, Villarreal (out of 12 games)
  • Most worn Away Kit – 3, Young Boys (6 Games)
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 4, Sporting Lisbon (8 Games) / Manchester City (12 games)
  • Most worn 4th Kit – 2, Barcelona

Knock Out Fixtures

Group Stage Fixtures can be found here

Kit Highlights:

Villareal wore their home kit in 11 of their 12 fixtures

Atletico Madrid wore three different home kit variations in the Champions League all against English opposition.

Borussia Dortmund were the only team in the competition not to wear a change kit, only wearing their home kit with two pairs of shorts, default black and alternative fluro yellow.

There we have it, the final kit report of the 2021 / 22 Season, congratulation to Real Madrid on their victory.

Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the 2021 / 22 Champions League in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek

Millwall x Hummel

Posted in General, Kit NewsTagged , , , , , , 6 Comments

As many you of you know I am Millwall supporter and have been over 30 years now, when it comes to posting and writing articles I always look to remain neutral and do not tend to focus on my own club, however for one post I need to make an exception and here’s why….

Today (Wednesday 20th April 2022), Millwall announced a new Kit Partnership with Hummel and honestly this makes me feel like I am 10 years old again…. in fact, the closest feeling to this is when Millwall first had their kits produced by ASICS, which at the time I found amazing that we had the same kit manufacturer as two of the biggest clubs at the time, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers (1994)

Looking at my years of supporting the club the Kits have been produced by likes of Spall, Errea, Bukta, Macron and even a brand owned by then club owner Theo Paphitis (Strikeforce), so the thought of my club having what I would view as a World Class Kit Manufacturer really makes this Millwall Supporting Kit Geek excited.

Over the past few seasons in Macron’s second spell with the club have really delivered some wonderful kits, very much taken their influence from kits from late 80s, early 90s and I thank them for this, so there are decent size “shoes” to fill but given some of kits designed and produced over the past few seasons for clubs in English Football I cannot wait to see what this iconic brand have in store for my club.

The deal is a long-term deal for the next five years, starting from 2022 / 23 season and will provide “Bespoke” kits for the club’s teams and coaching staff, as well as taking control of Club Shop and online retail, this is a huge step for the club.

The full statement can be found here

In the meantime, here is a Concept Kit design created by a “Friend of Kit Geek” @KonceptKitz just to give you an idea of what Millwall x Hummel kit could look like!

Let me know your thoughts, especially you Millwall fans out there!

Thank you for indulging me in this little love in… normal service will resume.

The Heat Press – Issue 14

Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat Press1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 14 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 13 click here

The Headlines

  • Juventus – 4th Shirt
  • Wycombe Wanderers – Special Kit
  • Lincoln City – Fan Desinged Shirt
  • Red Star FC – Kit Design Competition

Juventus 4th Shirt

Juventus are the next Serie A team to release a 4th Kit for the 2021 / 22 Season. The shirt for “The Old Lady” is designed in collaboration with Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra, famous for street art and murals. This shirt provides an interesting use of colour and shapes to give a very unique look and was worn with white shorts and socks in their game against Bologna .

Wycombe Wanderers – Special Kit

Wycombe Wanderers took to the field in their League One game agaisnt Plymouth Argyle on Friday 15th April in a Special Kit, which was named “A Kit for Ukraine” and join a number of teams who worn Blue / Yellow combinations in the recent weeks. The Kit produced by Oneils is the same template as the club’s current home and 3rd kits in the colours of Ukraine and was available for auction to raise funds for charities linked to supporting those impacted by the current situation.

Full details can be found here

Lincoln City fan designed shirt

A club close to my heart, Lincoln City have released a limited addition Fan Designed shirt pays tribute to the area’s proud RAF history, the iconic cathedral and features the colours of the Lincolnshire flag and is part of the #MyCityMyShirt campaign.

The shirt will be available an in-store event from 2.30pm on Thursday 21st April, with a number of players attending the event.

Full details can be found here

Red Star FC Kit Design Competition

Another team that is opening up their Kit Design to fans is historic French team Red Star FC. In collobroation with Fiverr, the competition is to celebrate the club’s 125th Anniversary. Designs need to be submitted by 30th April 2022.

All details and how to enter can be found here

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.

The latest Football Kit Podcast is now out, which sees Les, Denis and I discuss Goalkeeper Kits. Following our usual format of something we like (It’s a Keeper) and something we do not like (Not in Glove)… check out the Pod here or check out my site for links to the Podcast.

No spoilers but here are some hints at topics I discuss…

Our Friends at Football Shirts for Charity are kicking off another wonderful initiative where you can Run, walk, swim or cycle 5k… with a football shirt, nominate your team and score points for the league table. The league runs from April 8 to June 26.

All details can be found here

It’s that time of year again where the duo behind The Shirt Union start pulling together where the best deals to get this season shirts, make sure you follow them for more updates to get that deal before the end of the season.

Another thing to keep an eye out on is what @thekitfactor is doing this week, after designing concept kits for all 92 English League Clubs, there is now a knock out competition for the kits designed… the first round is now complete but make sure you check the remaining rounds and of course all the Home, Away and 3rd Kit Concepts they created over the last few months.

And finally, please check out Matt Riley on Twitter, Matt has a book coming out later this year that looks kits and their impact on football…

“Kits tell us more about our club, ourselves and the beautiful game’s custodians than we often realise. From the colours, crests, designs and prices we can learn so much about what makes the game – and us – tick. Kit and Caboodle searches out the stories that our shirts tell us about the teams we support and the society we live in”

More details about the book and how to pre-order can be found here

Let me know your thoughts and comments and if there is any content that you would like me to share in future issues, please message me and let me know the details or use the comments field below or contact me over on @Kit_Geek on Twitter