The Heat Press – Issue 7

Time for Issue Number 7 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 6 click here

The Headlines

  • Italy to Adidas
  • Umbro x New Order
  • Kit Leaks – coming soon

Italy to Adidas

It is being reported that European Champions Italy will be switching kit manufacturers from Puma to Adidas. The deal set to start in 2023, which means if the Italians qualify via the Playoffs the 2022 World Cup will be the final tournament we will see Azzurri in Puma kits, which have been their supplier for 18 years since 2004.

As pointed out by the good people at @Kit_Mag Adidas have previously supplied kit for Italian National team back in 1970s, however famously the Italian Federation did not allow kit manufacturers logo’s on the national kit until Kappa kits of 2000.

Umbro x New Order

Ok, not technically Kit News, however I wanted to call out this new range from Umbro in collabration with the Band New Order… Umbro x New Order

During last summer’s Euro 2020 Tournament there was a lot of love for The Score Draw blackout version of the 1990 World Cup 3rd Shirt… well here is again, this time by the original manufacturers Umbro, the detail in the shirt looks fantastic and fans of blackout shirts it could be one to add to your collection.

Kit Leaks

It is that time of year where we are seeing lots of kits leaks out there, those that have been following my content for a while know I do not tend to share or comment on kits until they are offically launched by clubs or manufacturers, so for those MLS Kits I will do a more deep dive feature when they are realised in the coming weeks and those 2022 / 23 kits will be looked at the appropiate time.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Episode 7 of The Football Kit Podcast was recorded earlier this week, you can expect lots more news about the podcast in the coming days, so watch this space…

@ArsenalShirt produced some wonderful graphics around kit usage so far this season, looking at Home, Away, 3rd and Goalkeeper kits for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, it is worth checking out their timeline of for these details…

Home Kit example can be seen below….

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One of my favourite Kit Content creators out there @KitblissNZ has kicked off a new project for 2022, looking at The Top 100 Templates in shirt History, number 100 being the Umbro Template worn by Tottenham Hotspur between 1991 and 1994.

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All details about how you can follow this and how it was created can be found at Chris’ site Kitbliss – 100 Greatest Football Shirt Templates

There was a great tweet from @BostonUtdStats who has collated all the kits worn in the History of Boston United, check out the tweet here and if you can help complete some of the gaps here please get in contact with Christian.

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

The Heat Press – Issue 6

Time for Issue Number 6 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 5 click here

The Headlines

  • Coventry City Special Kit
  • Blackburn Rovers new sponsor
  • Napoli – New 3rd Kit
  • Scunthorpe United 2022/23 Kit Vote

Coventry City Special Kit

On Saturday 22nd January, Coventry City wore a special kit when they played QPR (who had their own special kit last week). This kit was to commerate their return to the stadium in Coventry and was called “Ricoh Return” Membership shirt and celebrates the club’s return to the now named “CBS Arena”.

The shirt included a design which incorpates architecture and roof design of the stadium and is only available to Ricoh Return Members and will not be sold generally. The kit also featured white shorts and socks, bespoke to the kit. This follows their Members kit from last season, which was then all navy which

All details can be found at the club’s website here

Blackburn Rovers, New Sponsor

Blackburn Rovers have now joined that small group of teams that have changes their shirt sponsor half way through the season. From 18th January 2022 local business “Totally Wicked” replaced “Recoverite Compression” as the main shirt sponsor, having already been the sponsor of the club’s training kit since 2018.

The club are providing fans the opportunity to update their shirts with a free patch to cover the old sponsor either at the club shop or by contacting them directly.

Napoli – New 3rd Kit

Napoli in their first season of having their kits supplied by EA7 (Part of the Armani Design Group) are getting value from their designer kit manufacturer with their new 3rd kit, called “Flames” becomes the 12th Kit of the 2021/22 season.

Full details of the kits worn can be found in this article at Footy Headlines – here and consist of four domestic kits, four European kits and four special kits (Diego Maradona kits and a Halloween Kit).

Sunthorpe United – 2022/23 Kit Vote

Scunthorpe United have given their fans the opportunity to pick from three choices their new home kit for the 2022/23 Season. The kit once again manufacturered by Macron and offers three very different looks for The Irons.

Full details can be found on the Club’s Website here.

My favourite is shirt 2, I think this will give the club a unique look within The EFL but whatever the choice, they are three good designs.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Its something that I have talked about in another post but wanted to mention it here as well, I am pleased to say that I am now joining The Football Kit Podcast as a member of the team, full details can be found here as well as a link to the podcast on the main menu of this site – Kit Geek to TFKP

It was great to receive my pack of International Kits from the 90s playing cards from @KitCards last week, these playing cards are the second set to be produced via Kickstarter and this project was back by nearly 250 people.

Congratulations to Jon on delivering a wonderful product and something different for the Kit Collector.

One of my favourite Football Kit Content makers out there Chris Chats Shirt delivered one of my favourite videos of year so far, teaming up with #OllieTheKitKid Son of the equally wonderful @Kitkingdom83 for a truly wholesome review of the two different Fiorentina Kappa shirts, a must view 2 minutes, congrats guys – you can find the video here

Another Tweeted I enjoyed this week was from @chewzo14 who paired shirts with tracksuit tops within his collection of Crystal Palace ktis, a great way to see kits in another way and some cracking items on display 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

The Heat Press – Issue 5

Time for Issue Number 5 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 4 click here

The Headlines

  • QPR – 140th Anniversary Kit
  • Doncaster Rovers Special Kit
  • Dundee / Dundee United 3rd Kits
  • Formula 1 Kit News

Queen’s Park Rangers – 140th Anniversay Kit

On Saturday 15th January, QPR wore a limited-edition anniversary shirt, designed as an homage to the colours that were worn back in 1882 by Christchurch Rangers who four years later joined forces with St. Jude’s Institute to form Queens Park Rangers.

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There will be a limit number of shirts available to buy, one for the QPR Completists out there, full details about the shirt and how to buy can be found on QPR’s website here

Doncaster Rovers – Special Kit

On Saturday 15th January, Doncaster Rovers wore a “Special” Kit, their all black look was choosen to promote Mental Health Struggles and show that they are not always visble.

Following on from what Arsenal did with their #NoMoreRed campaign, for me this is a wonderful way to use Football Kits to promote issues and charities, so congratulations to Doncaster Rovers and to all involved in this campaign.

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Dundee / Dundee United 3rd Kits

The two neighbours from Dundee (just have a look how close their grounds are if you have not seen that before) both launched new 3rd kits this week, both supplied by Macron.

Dundee – Their white 3rd kit with “Dundee Blue” chest band is launched in Partnershiup with SSAFA (Armed Forces Charity)

Dundee United – Limited Edition 3rd kit (400 available) is based on the club’s first ever 3rd kit from 1995/96

Formula 1 Kit News

I also like to keep an eye on “Kit News” from other sports, this week it was confirmed that Kappa will become the Offical Partner and outfitter for Alpine F1 team.

The French Team (part of the Renault Group) have recently had their teamware provided by Le Coq Sportif but this move sees Kappa join the F1 Circuit from 2022.

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 Guys over at Talking Kit Podcast launched a new YouTube Show called #FullKitRankers where they rank a selection of kits, their first episode looked at 10 Kits from AFCON 2021 Tournament and I was lucky enough to join them as guest on their panel along with The Kitsman and KitKingdom83

You can find the show on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IahanrhCT18

The Kit Community pulled together wonderfully when Stuart Morley tweeted a kit concept that his 8 year old Son designed for an Italian 3rd Kit.

This tweet was followed up with some wonder renders of Reuben’s design…

Stuart and Reuben now have their own Twitter Account – @MyKidsKits to share Reuben’s designs, well done to Reuben for his great work and to those that have supported by taking on his design.

The fantastic duo (Jayme and Tania) behind Football Shirts FC have launched their new website over the past couple of days, these guys do fantastic work for various charities and it is well worth finding more out about them, what they do and how you can support them…. https://www.footballshirtsfc.co.uk/

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

The Heat Press – Issue 4

Time for Issue Number 4 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 3 click here

The Headlines

  • Arsenal – #NoMoreRed
  • Borussia Dortmund Kit Design Competition
  • Micheal Olise’s FA Cup look
  • Barcelona’s Senyara Kit

Arsenal – #NoMoreRed

Arsenal took to the field in their Third Round FA Cup match at Nottingham Forest on Sunday 10th January in an all white kit. The Kit was used to highligh the increase in knife crime within London and sees all the red removed from the kit. I have written a more detailed piece on this kit, which can be found here – Arsenal – #NoMoreRed

Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition

Borussia Dortmund are launching a competition which give fans, kit lovers and concept kit designers the opportunity to design the kit for German team for the 2023/24 seaon. Full details can be found on how to enter and to create the design, include templates here

Michael Olise’s FA Cup Look

Crystal Palace played local rivals Millwall on Saturday 8th January 2022 in FA Cup, The Eagles used their 3rd kit, a Sky Blue and White halved shirt with blue shorts and blue / white socks. This Kit was taken to another level by winger Michael Olise with his matching Nike boots, Olise topped this look off with a wonderful goal early in the second half to see his team through to the Fourth Round of FA Cup.

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Barcelona’s Senyera Kit

Kit sustainabilty has been a hot topic over recent weeks, so its worth calling out the Barcelona have used their “Senyera” kit for now the fourth calendar year… first used in 2019, it has seen action in 2020, 2021 and was used in the La Liga fixture against Granada on Saturday, so now been used in 2022 as well.

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And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

There is a new Podcast launched this week, the guys over at Kit Magazine have now released Episode 1 of their Podcast on Monday, along with some well known names in the Kit Community, this episode has a look at of the latest Kit News and in depth discussion about Forward Madison’s drip kit.

Tom, one half of the duo behind the wonderful @TheShirtUnion Twitter Account has pulled together one their handy Kit Grids for the African Cup of Nations with kicked off on 9th January, their grid show the shirts worn by each team taking part in the 2022 Competition.

The Guys over at @niclassicshirt have moved into their new premises in Newtownards, Northern Ireland and are now open for business, they were the winners of The Kitsman Award for “Best Independant Store” for 2021, all details can be found at their site for their in store and online options – https://www.niclassicshirtco.co.uk/

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

The Heat Press – Issue 3

Happy New Year to you all….

Time to start the New Year with Issue 3 of The Heat Press, a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 2 click here

The Headlines

  • Wrexham 3rd Kit
  • Teams leaving Kappa
  • Everton Rainbow warm up shirt update
  • Inter Miami colour change

Wrexham 3rd Kit

Wrexham AFC have released their 3rd kit which will be used in both 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, the kit uses the traditional white / green / red welsh colours and is made from recycled polyester yarn with each adult shirt made from 13 plastic bottles and will be worn with white shorts and socks to give an all white alternative look.

Teams leaving Kappa

It is being reported that three top league teams will be moving away from Kappa from this summer, signing new kit deals with other manufacturers. The teams are Aston Villa who have reportly signed a new deal with Castore, Real Betis who will be moving to Hummel and FC Lorient who will equipped by Umbro from next season. These changes will mean there is currently no team in Premier League or La Liga with the iconic Kappa brand.

Full details can be found at Footy Headlines here

Everton – Rainbow Warm up shirt

The special edition warm up shirt which was produced by Hummel for both Everton and Southampton in their opening game of the 2021/22 season. The proceeds from the Everton shirt sales has raised just under £12.5K for Everton’s LGBTI+ charity and awareness workshops, the shirts popularity meant it was sold out within 20 minutes of being on sale online.

Full details on the story can be found here

Inter Miami in the Pink

The details of the new MLS kits should be released by the end of the month, one piece of confirmed news is that Inter Miami will changing the home kit colour from white which was used in their first two seasons, to pink.

Pink has been used as an accent colour in both home and away kits for 2020 and 2021 but will be the primary colour from 2022.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

There are some great kit logs out there this season, @ArsenalShirt and @VictoriaGooner are logging Arsenal’s kits this season, @BeesShirts for Brentford and @BatisCreativo for Atletico Madrid are some of my favourites.

I wanted to call out this midseason update from @BeesShirts as its fantatic and right up my Kit Geek Street.

There was a great thread from @Flying_Scotty which shows a collection of shirts worn by David Beckham through out his career, really worth spending a few minutes going through the thread.

Thread can be found here

Another wonderful podcast from Chris at Kitbliss, this time interviewing the equally wonderful Denis Hurley from Museum of Jerseys

Podcast details can be found here – https://www.kitbliss.co.nz/podcast/episode-special-02.html

And a final thank you to Luke at @KonceptKitz who sent me this fantastic concept shirt he designed, The “Fox in the Box” go check out Luke’s work on his Twitter Page, he has also seen some of his worked used on the pitch with Crewe Alexandra, Balham FC and Motorik FC Alexandria.

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

The Heat Press – Issue 2

Time for Issue Number 2 of The Heat Press, if you have not read Issue 1 you can find it here – The Heat Press – Issue 1

This will be regular look at what is going on within the Kit World and Kit Community.

The Headlines

  • The Kitsman Awards, The Winners
  • #NoHomeKit – Who took part?
  • Adidas Logo change?

The Kitsman Awards

On Thursday 23rd December, The Kitsman hosted the 2021 Kit Awards, I wanted to highlighted the winners of each section in case it was missed…

The categories…

Best Tweet@CavershamUnited for this winning tweet “Alexa? What’s Sunday League Football”

Best Collection – @NorwichShirts

Knows their Kit – @museumofjerseys

Best Contributer@LaCasacaBlog

Best Photography@aleksandarjason

Best Charity Fundraiser@fsfcUK

Best Concept Shirt Designer@thekitfactor

Best Independent Store@niclassicshirt

Best Mystery Shirt Box Company@BundesligaBoxes

Best Video Content@_Spark_Academy

Best Creative Content@KitKingdom83

Best Artist@yoniweisberg

Best Verified Account@TyBracey

Best Audio / Podcast @ShirtsPod

Best Twitter Account 2021@The_Kitsman

A huge congratulations to all the winners and the finalists in each award, I also want to thank Josh over at The Kitsman for pulling this all together, it brought a lot positivity to the Kit Community but also highlighted many great accounts that are out there in the “Twitter-sphere” at the moment, check out the Kitsman timeline to find some wonderful kit content!

Shelter’s No Home Kit

Although the traditional Boxing day fixtures were severly impacted by postponments due to the current COVID-19 situation in England, we did see a couple of teams embracing this initiative….

Oldham Athletic at home to Scunthorpe United

Tranmere Rovers at home to Barrow AFC

A Special call out to Dulwich Hamlet, who also had Shelter as their Sponsor on their away kit and are auctioning their shirts to raise money for the campaign.

Adidas to change logo?

It has been reported over the last week or so that Adidas will be changing their logo from late 2022, to coincide with 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The new logo will see a slight change in the alignment of the traditional 3 Stripes and the removal of the “adidas” word mark… with those Counties with their kits manufactured by Adidas participating in the World Cup being the first kits seen with the new logo.

Full details can be found over at Footy Headlines – Link to Article click here

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

The guys over at Kit Mag ran a knock competition to find their follower’s Kit of 2021, the winner was the Liverpool Away kit beating Venezia away in the final with 64% of the vote.

Andorra’s Ildefons Lima Solà gave away one of Match Worn shirts as part of a Christmas giveaway and added a nice touch by signing the number

This wonderful picture was shared by @TRiCKETTengland highlighting the kits worn on 1984/85 Serie A Season

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

The Heat Press – Issue 1

The Heat Press is a new feature that I want to introduce to the Kit Geek Site.

This will be a regular look at the latest news in the Kit World, taking a few talking points from that week and looking into them in a little more detail as well as final section sharing some of the best content from the wonderful creators in The Kit Community.

The Headlines

  • Shelter’s No Home Kit Initiative
  • Christmas Kits
  • The Kitsman Awards
  • Marseille Extend Kit Deal

Shelter’s No Home Kit Initiative

I am sure you are aware of Shelter’s #NoHomeKit charity campaign this Christmas. The campaign is asking for Teams and Fans to wear their away kits to rasie awareness to the Homeless over the Christmas period. Some EFL Teams will be taking part in this over the coming week, so keep an eye of those teams using their change kits in home games.

There is a great video over on Shelter’s Twitter Account promoting the initiative – Click here to see that video.

Here is my tweet helping to promote the cause, so make sure you share your away kits using the #NoHomeKit “hashtag” and if you can donate, please go to https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/NoHomeKit and give what you can.

Christmas Kits

Its that time of year when some team release special Christmas Kits, so far we have seen the following kits on show.

U.S. Cremonese, the Italian Team in Serie B

Werder Bremem in Bundesliga 2

Atalanta were also due to have a Christmas Kit but this got pulled in the end, due to the sky line incorporated into the shirt not being of Bergamo where the club are based but being of Torino, I would like to have been a fly on wall on that discussion!!

The Kitsman Awards

The wonderdul @The_Kitsman over on Twitter created an 2021 Awards for Kit Community, the categories as follows…

Voting is currently open for the top four nominees in each category and will remain open until 23rd December 2021, so make sure you check out Josh’s timeline and vote for your favourite accounts

Marseille Extend Kit Deal

Olympique de Marseille and Puma have announced an extenstion to their current kit deal until 2028. The French club have been using Puma kits since the 2018 / 19 season and this deal will mean their relationship will be at least 10 years in the making.

And finally…..

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

I want to end each issue with some content that is being created by other in the Kit Community

There is a new Kitbliss Podcast, check out this latest offering from the wonderful Chris at Kitbliss here

Check out this short video from @ChatShirt which is highlight the @chanceunitedfc shirt and how you can order one the shirts to support this great charity.

Kit Mag Volume 2 is now out and is a great read for Kit Lovers out there, you can get both digital and print copies at https://www.kitmag.co.uk/

And thats it, I hope you liked the first issue of The Heat Press, let me know your thoughts and comments and if there is any content that you would like me to share in coming weeks, please message me and let me know the details or use the comments field below or contact me over on @Kit_Geek on Twitter