Tag: EFL

EFL, League Two 21/22 – End of Season Report

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The 2021/22 League Two Season came to a close on Saturday 7th May 2022, with Champions being Forest Green Rovers, who gain promotion to Third Tier of English Football for the first time with Exeter City securing Runner’s Up spot, Bristol Rovers securing a final day promotion with a remarkable 7-0 victory against already relegated Scunthorpe United, a successful season for clubs in that region of the country in League Two. Northampton Town, Port Vale, Swindon Town and Mansfield Town will compete in the Playoffs for the final promotion place.

I want to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 86 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 36% of Kit variations used
    • 25 Home Kits worn
    • 6 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 33% of variations used
    • 25 Away Kits worn
    • 3 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 26% of variations worn
    • 17 3rd Kits worn
    • 6 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 5% of variations worn
    • 4 Special Kits worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the League Two Teams

  • Walsall wore 10 Kit Variations
    • Home x3, Away x3, 3rd x4
    • Full Details can be found here
    • 11.5% of all kits worn in League Two
  • Rochdale wore 6 Kit Variations
    • Home x2, Away, 3rd x3
  • 3 Teams wore 5 Kit Variations
    • Colchester United – Home, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Stevenage – Home x2, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Tranmere Rovers – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
  • Bradford City wore 4 Kit Variations
    • Home, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
  • 15 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
  • 3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits, 2 Kit variations
    • Carlisle United
    • Newport County
    • Scunthorpe United
  • Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits
    • Walsall – Red / White / Green, All Red, Red / Red / Green
  • Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
    • Walsall – Green / Green / Red, All Green, Green / Green / White
  • Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 4 Kits
    • Walsall – White / Green / White, White / Red / White, White / Red / Red. White / Red / Green
  • 12 Teams wore just Home, Away, 3rd (or Special) Kits
  • 17 Teams worn no variation of kits
    • Bradford City wore 4 kits with no variations
    • 3 Teams in just Home and Away kits
  • Mansfield Town wore two “Away” Kits, debuting their 2022 / 23 Away Kit in the final away league game of the season
  • Most worn Home Kit – 40, Mansfield Town
  • Most worn Away Kit – 19, Colchester United (22 including the one other variation used)
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 14, Salford City and Tranmere Rovers (who wore 3rd Kit 14 times in total. 13 default look and 1 variation)

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 Highlights and Summary

In 2021/22 League Two teams wore 86 Kits, this was a huge reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 117 Kits were worn.  The reduction is linked to the number of times teams had variations of their kits, with only 15 variations of Home, Away, 3rd kits used (7 of which worn by Walsall) compared to 50 variations from the default look used in 2020 / 21 season.

Two Teams, Colchester United and Harrogate Town wore change kits in all 23 away game. Colchester United in their away kit for 22 times and 3rd Kit once, where Harrogate Town had more of an even split with their Away Kit used 11 times and 3rd Kit worn 12 times.

Stevenage had two different Home Kits through out the season, an inital kit which was only worn four times before their actual Home Kit for the season was used.

The was a subtle difference in sponsor layout and additional stripes across the chest of the shirt in the final home kit.

League Two was also the home of “Special Kits” in 2021 / 22, with four teams wearing a special kit for a variety of reasons.

Bradford City – Limited Edition 4th Shirt

Colchester United – Ukraine Solidarity Kit

Northampton Town – 125th Annivesary Kit

Stevenage – Season Ticket Holder Tribute Kit

Walsall worn a remarkable 10 different kit variations, using elements of the Home, Away and 3rd kits to build these variations, I have gone into detail about this in a seperate article which you can find here

Mansfield Town wore their home kit for 40 games through out the season, the most of any team in the top four English Leagues, only wearing their away kit six times including debuting their 22 / 23 Away kit in their final away of the season at Salford City.

There we have it, League Two’s End of Season Kit report for 2021/22, 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.

Premier League – End of Season Report

Championship – End of Season Report

League One – End of Season Report

Walsall FC – Kit “Mash Up” Kings

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One of my favourite “Kit Anecdotes” of the 2021 / 22 Season is from League Two’s Walsall FC, I want to take some time and have a deeper look at the kits worn this season. I published this tweet a few weeks ago….

The Saddlers used TEN different Kit variations in the League but unlike some teams who achieved the same feat with bespoke elements of the each of the Home, Away and 3rd Kits, Walsall completed this with just the following:

  • Three Shirts – Green, White, Red
  • Three pairs of Shorts – Green, White, Red
  • Three pairs of Socks – Green, White, Red

Although green is newer colour choice for the club, the use of the three colours in all shirts of the kit set has given the club a consistent overall feel and using these elements in different combinations gave the team the different looks but remained in the colour pallette that the club chose for the season, whatever the look it felt like Walsall FC.

Taking a closer look at the Kits used in League Two…..

Home Kits:

The default Home Kit – Red / White / Green, this was worn 24 times in total… 22 (out of 23) Home games and away at both Carlisle United and Mansfield Town.

Red / Red / Green – This combination was worn three times, against Hartlepool United twice, home (the only other variation worn at home) and away, also at Bristol Rovers.

All Red – Worn once at Rochdale.

Away Kits

The default Away look – Green / Green / Red. This was worn six times in total, the most worn change kit by the club, worn at AFC Barrow, Bradford City, Oldham Athletic, Port Vale, Sutton United and Tranmere Rovers.

Green / Green / White – worn in three games, at Exeter City, Stevenage and Swindon Town.

All Green, only worn once at Crawley Town.

3rd Kits

The default look for Walsall’s 3rd kit was White / Red / White, this was worn on four occasions at Forest Green Rovers, Harrogate Town, Northampton Town and Scunthorpe United.

White / Green / White – worn twice at games against, Leyton Orient and Newport County.

White / Red / Red – only worn once at Salford City.

White / Red / Green – again only worn once at Colchester United, the 10th and final variation used.

There we have it, one of my favourite Kit details of the season and shows the importance of a good Kit Set, using all three kits as one set and creating some wonderful looks along the way, thank you Walsall FC and Errea!

Let me know you thoughts about this at @kit_geek or in the comments below.

EFL, League One 21/22 – End of Season Report

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The 2021/22 League One Season came to a close on Saturday 30th April 2022, with Wigan Athletic securing the title on the final day of the season, with Rotherham United securing Runner’s Up spot and therefore gaining Automatic promotion to The Championship. MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers will compete in the Playoffs for the final promotion place.

I wanted to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 94 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 44% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 17 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 36% of variations used
    • 24 Away Kits worn
    • 10 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
    • 14 3rd Kits worn
    • 4 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kit – 1% of variations worn
    • 1 Special Kit worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the League One Teams

  • 3 Teams wore 6 Kit Variations
    • Accrington Stanley – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Cheltenham Town – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
    • Portsmouth – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
  • 4 Teams wore 5 Kit Variations
    • Ipswich Town – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
    • Morecambe – Home x2, Away x3
    • Oxford United – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Sheffield Wednesday – Home x3, Away x2
  • 5 Teams wore 4 Kit Variations
    • Cambridge United – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Charlton Athletic – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Doncaster Rovers – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Shrewsbury Town – Home x2, Away x2
    • Wycombe Wanderers – Home, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
  • Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits worn by 2 teams
    • Cheltenham Town, Black shorts / Red socks – Black shorts / White socks – White shorts / Red socks
    • Sheffield Wednesday, Black shorts & socks – White shorts & socks – Black shorts / white socks
  • Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
    • Moreambe, All Black – Black shirt, White shorts, Black socks – Black shirt, white shorts & socks
  • Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 2 Kits worn by 3 teams
    • Accrington Stanley
    • Ipswich Town
    • Portsmouth
  • 12 Teams wore 3 Kit Variations
  • 9 Teams only used Home and Away kits (no 3rd Kits), all used at least one kit variation of these two kits
  • 7 Teams wore kits with no varitations, just home, away and 3rd kits
    • Wycombe Wanderers wore 4 different kits with no variations
    • AFC Wimbledon, Lincoln City, MK Dons, Plymouth Argyle, Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic
  • Most worn Home Kit – 38, Gillingham (Most worn for 2nd season in a row)
  • Most worn Away Kit – 16, Plymouth Argyle
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 12, Lincoln City and Oxford United

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 Highlights and Summary

In 2021/22 League One teams wore 94 Kits, this was a reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 98 Kits were worn. There were 9 teams that wore just home and away kits which was the most in the English Top Four Divisions, however each of these team wore at least one kit variation which gives us some different looks through out the season.

Wycombe Wanderers wore a special kit in their against Plymouth Argyle on 15th April 2022, the kit was in the colours of Ukraine and were auctioned off after the game to raise money for charties supporting those impacted by the situation.

There were some teams that wore change kits at home for a various reasons, some took part in The Shelter “No Home Kit” campaign, wearing change kits at home to highlight those people are homeless and raise money for the charity and other to offer support to Ukraine.

Bolton Wanderers in away kit at home to Morecambe

Doncaster Rovers in 3rd Kit at home to Wigan Athletic

Sunderland at home to Crewe Alexander in their away kit

Wycombe Wanderers wore four different kits through out the season and between 2nd April and 15th April wore these four kits in four games in 13 days.

Ipswich Town wore their home kit for their first 13 games of the season, it was only in their 13th game where they deviated from their first choice home kit, wearing all blue against Portsmouth, the went on to use five different kit variations. Ipswich Town also doned all blue in their game against Lincoln City, who wore their yellow 3rd kit in supprt of the People of Ukraine

Plymouth Argyle used change kits in 18 of their 23 away games, wearing their away kit 16 time which is the most of any team in The League, this may be surprising as they are the only team with a green home kit in the league but given there are 10 teams with elements of red in the home kit, this supports those colourblind supporters and viewers.

There we have it, League One’s End of Season Kit report for 2021/22, 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.

Premier League – End of Season Report

Championship – End of Season Report

League Two – End of Season Report

Millwall x Hummel

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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 9

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Time for Issue Number 9 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 8 click here

The Headlines

  • Torres’ Barcelona Shirt
  • PSG x Jordan?
  • Huddersfield Town – Colourblindness Support
  • MLS Kit Launches

Torres’ Barcelona Shirt

In the Europa League tie between FC Barcelona and SSC Napoli on Thursday 17th February 2022, there was a rare kit detail that kicked up enough fuss that it was even trending on Twitter. Ferran Torres making his first appearence in Europe for the Club took to the field in a long sleeved shirt that had no club crest or Nike logo on the shirt…

According to @fcbarcelonacollection.com this was due to an manufacting error…

“Many of you wrote to me yesterday about Ferran Torres’ shirt & why there is no crest of Barça and the swoosh of Nike on it.
I share hypothetical reasons why did happen. Now I can confirm it again with more information.
As I wrote last night & the radio cope confirm it.

The shirt at the time of production was in the phase of applying the crest and the Nike swoosh, unfortunately the glue that the shirt had applied, was not apply correctly on the fabric and the both elements peeled off easily & were not noticed

The shirt did not pass full quality control at the Nike factory. Someone who is responsible for control has allowed human error to happen. Easily done?

Nike sends sports equipment to the club two times during the season + add orders. The kitman and staff missed the error. They realized it on the pitch after HT. The player himself did not even notice that error.

F. Torres changed shirts at half-time. Many players do this because of the sweaty from first half and other reasons. Ferran had two long-sleeved shirts match prepared and one short sleeve. Two long-sleeved shirts for each half of the game. Short sleeve shirt was exchanged

Apparently the Club and technical staff didn’t feel good about this failure and the they going to take action to avoid the same things in the future“

The full thread can be found here – @fcbarcelonacollection.com

PSG x Jordan

The release of the 2021/22 4th Kit for PSG this month may be the last of its kind as part of the Nike Air Jordan Brand. It is reported that the deal with Jordan has ended and this kit will be the last of its kind seen, however the details are vague and this could be just opening the door to other teams seeing something similar.

However, given the success of the tie up I am sure we will something something similar in future seasons and likely with more than just PSG sporting the brand.

The Kit was used for the first time in the League game against Rennes and is the same design (template?) as the current home kit and heavily influenced by basketball uniform designs.

Huddersfield Town – Colourblindness Support

Communication is the key and this was proved by Huddersfield Town on 8th February when they let their fans (and of course all Kit Fans) that they would be in a “Kit Mash Up” for their game against Preston North End to support those fans with colour vison deficiency.

Their look for the night combined their away shirt with their home shorts and socks to give a descintive look and provide a contraist to their hosts.

MLS Kit Launches

With MLS kicking off it’s 2022 season at the end of February this week has seen many of the teams launch their new kits for the season. Historically MLS teams launch one new kit per season keeping either their home or away kits from the previous season. I will be doing a more in depth look at kits in the coming weeks but wanted to call out some of the new kits we have seen released this week

LA Galaxy – Home Kit

Philadelphia Union – Home Kit

New York Red Bulls – Away

As mentioned, I will be doing a more of deep dive into MLS Kits once all kits are launched, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Tom at @TheShirtUnion has been putting the shirt updates in the last week or so, these updates are fantastic in keeping an eye on current shirt deals for English teams.

Championship Kits can be found here – Championship

League One can found here – League One

A wonderful collection of Cambridge United shirts was shared by @jamesdking76 from 1991 to 1993

Is Football Kit Wordle a thing… well I have given it go, here is my attempt at one… any kits you can create in this theme??

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

EFL – Kit Round Up

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We are now just over half way through the season for the three EFL Leagues, I wanted to document the Kits Worn by each team at this stage of the season.

The Championship

  • 87 Kits worn
  • 33 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home Kits / 9 Variations)
  • 32 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away Kits / 8 Variations)
  • 20 3rd Kits worn (19 Regular 3rd Kits / 1 variation)
  • 2 Special Kits worn (Coventry City / Queen’s Park Rangers)
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  • Luton Town / Millwall in 6 Kit variations – Most in The Championship
  • 4 Teams with 5 Kit variations (Barnsley, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Fulham)
  • 5 Teams with 4 Kit variations
  • 9 Teams with 3 Kit variations
  • 4 Teams with 2 Kit variations (Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, Reading, Stoke City) – fewest in the league

League One

  • 82 Kits Worn
  • 34 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home kits / 10 variations)
  • 32 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away kits / 8 variations)
  • 15 3rd Kits worn (14 Regular 3rd Kits / 1 variations)
  • 1 Special Kit (Doncaster Rovers)
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  • 4 Teams with 5 Kit variations, most in League One (Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Oxford United, Portsmouth)
  • 4 Teams with 4 Kit variations (Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday)
  • 14 Teams with 3 Kit variations
  • 2 Teams in 2 Kit variations, fewest in the league (Bolton Wanderers, Gillingham)

League Two

  • 73 Kits worn
  • 29 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home Kits / 5 variations)
  • 26 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away Kits / 2 variations)
  • 18 3rd Kits worn (16 Regualr 3rd Kits / 2 variations)
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  • 2 Teams in 5 Kit variations in League Two (Rochdale, Walsall)
  • 3 Teams in 4 Kit variations (Colchester United, Stevenage, Tranmere Rovers)
  • 13 Teams in 3 Kit variations
  • 6 Teams in 2 Kit variations, fewest in the League

So just over half way through the season, we have seen 242 Kits used by the 72 teams in total, what have been your favourite kits on show, Kit Mash ups and Kit Match ups in the 2021/22 season, let me know over at @Kit_Geek

English Football – Kit Overview 2021/22

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As always I like to document the kits worn in a season by the clubs in the English top four leagues, we are still seeing some new kits (3rd Kits) being released over the past few weeks but now feels like the right time to look at the kits worn and their manufacturers.

Premier League

9 Different manufacturers with 60 Kits for 20 teams

  • Adidas – 4 Teams
  • Nike – 4 Teams
  • Umbro – 3 Teams
  • Castore – 2 Teams
  • Hummel – 2 Teams
  • Puma – 2 Teams
  • Joma – 1 Team
  • Kappa – 1 Team
  • Kelme – 1 Team

There has been an increase in the number of manufacturers supplying teams in the Premier League, from 7 last season to 9 this season. Adidas seeing a reduction a of their teams from 7 down to 4, Puma also seeing their kits being cut to 2 from 4. There are kit makers that we did not see in the “EPL” last season appearing in 21/22, these are Castore (Newcastle United and Wolverhamption Wanderers), Joma (Norwich City) and Kelme (Watford). Under Armour being the one manufacturer that we will not see this season as they step away from Football.

Championship

8 Different manufacturers with 68 Kits for 24 teams

  • Macron – 5 Teams
  • Umbro – 5 Teams
  • Puma – 4 Teams
  • Adidas – 3 Teams
  • Hummel – 3 Teams
  • Nike – 2 Teams
  • Errea – 1 Team
  • Joma – 1 Team

The Championship saw a reduction in the kit manufacturers in show this season, last season having 11, the three kit makers not seen are due to promotion and relegation, with Kelme (Watford), O’neills (Wycombe Wanderers) and Elev8 (Sheffield Wednesday – although no longer their kit provider). Macron joining Umbro in supplying the most teams, this looks like a direct link to Blackburn Rovers who swap the “Double Diamond” for the Italian Manufacturer this season.

League One

12 Different manufacturers with 63 Kits for 24 teams

  • Puma – 5 Teams
  • Errea – 3 Teams
  • Macron – 3 Teams
  • Adidas – 2 Teams
  • Nike – 2 Teams
  • Elite Pro Sports – 1 Team
  • FBT – 1 Team
  • Joma – 1 Team
  • O’neills – 1 Team
  • Tag – 1 Team
  • Umbro – 1 Team

In League One there was an increase the number of manufacturers for the 2021/22 from 11 to 12, we say goodbye to Admiral who no longer supply Shrewsbury Town but see Joma (Morecambe) and O’neills (Wycombe Wanderers) in League One this season. There are still 9 teams that do not have a 3rd Kit for this season, so we could see these introduced over the coming months.

League Two

12 Different manufacturers with 65 Kits for 24 teams

  • Errea – 5 Teams
  • Macron – 5 Teams
  • Hummel – 3 Teams
  • Joma – 2 Teams
  • New Balance – 2 Teams
  • Avec – 1 Team
  • Kappa – 1 Team
  • Mills – 1 Team
  • O’neills – 1 Team
  • Player Layer – 1 Team
  • Puma – 1 Team
  • Surridge – 1 Team

League Two also sees an increase in the number of kit manufacturers on show this season, increasing by two to 12 kit makers, with new boys on the block Mills (Tranmere Rovers) and O’neills (Hartlepool Town) being the additional manufacturers. League Two also provides the most single use kit makers, with seven manufacturers providing kits for just one team.

Overall view

20 Kit manufactuerers, 256 different kits for 92 teams

71 Teams (77% of all teams) are supplied by 7 Kit Manufacturers (Macron, Puma, Hummel, Errea, Adidas, Umbro, Nike).

Only 9 teams change kit manufactuer from 2019/20

  • Premier League: Newcastle United / Norwich City / Southampton / Wolverhampton Wanderers
  • Championship: Blackburn Rovers
  • League One: Morecambe / Sheffield Wednesday / Shrewsbury Town
  • League Two: Tranmere Rovers

The Two Season Kit Wonder

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On Wednesday 24th November 2021 Brentford FC announced that their home kit for their inaugural Premier League Season will also be rolled over for a second season and will be their home kit for 2022/23 Season.

This is unusual for top flight teams, the last time this was seen in the Premier League was between 2012 and 2014 when Arsenal used their Home kit for two season in a row but this is something more common place in League One and League Two.

So I wanted to share with you the kits that have been used in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.

Arsenal’s Home Kit used for 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons

Premier League

There are two examples in this season’s Premier League of kits from last season being used for this season, both are third kits and one is yet to be used yet, these are the all white third kit from the team that kicked off this piece Brentford and the second team is Brighton & Hove Albion, who’s yellow away kit from last season is registred as their 3rd kit this season.

Championship

There are four examples in The Championship this season, all four of these are again as the Premier League teams being used as 3rd Kits in the 2021/22 season with two being 3rd kits last season and two being away kits.

Cardiff City – Last season’s away is this season’s 3rd Kit and the only kit of the four that appeared in The Championship last season, this has yet to be used this season.

Fulham – their yellow away from last season has been used this as the club’s 3rd kit.

Peterborough United – are using the same 3rd Kit in the 2020/21 Promotion winning season from League One in The Championship this season.

Sheffield United – The second team relegated from the 20/21 Premier League season are using their Green / Gold 3rd kit from last season as this season’s 3rd kit as well.

League One

League One is the first division where we see home kits being re-used for a second season, in total there are 10 kits that we have seen for two division.

Accrington Stanley – A big shout here for “Accy” who are using all three of their kits for second season…

AFC Wimbledon – Closely following Accrington Stanley’s lead, AFC Wimbledon are seeing their Home and Away used again this season.

Cheltenham Town – Promoted from League Two last season, they are also using their home shirts again this season, however pairing with black shorts for 21/22 campaign, it was used with white shorts last season.

Fleetwood Town – Their unique Hummel home kit design, gets its second season of use.

Wigan Athletic – The team retained their home kit for 21/22 League Campaign, the second in a row in their 3rd Tier.

Wycombe Wanderers – Another team relegated last season, Wycombe kept both their home and 3rd Kits from last season, both the classic quartered shirt look for The Chairboys.

League Two

There are another 10 kits being used again in League Two this season.

Bristol Rovers – They are using their away kit from last season as a 3rd Kit now.

Colchester United – The Essex team are using both their home and away kits from last again in 21/22, interestingly they used a different home kit in one of their final home games of last season as a “Fans Kit”

Crawley Town – Another team to repurpose their away kit from 2020/21 as their 3rd kit this season, with the all black giving a constraiting alternative to all red home and all blue away.

Exeter City – Exeter are another team that are pairing their shirt from last season with different colour pair of shorts, last season it was black, this season going for an red short / sock combo.

Forest Green Rovers – A club where sustainability is at its heart, have had their current 3rd kit in use for 3 seasons now, introducing it 2019/20 it has seen use in the each of those seasons (thanks to @achrislatham for pointing this one out to me).

Harrogate Town – In their second in the top four divisions, they are using their Away kit again, their 3rd kit this season also made an appearence last season in the delayed FA Trophy final from 2020.

Mansfield Town – their away kit is being used again this season.

Port Vale – Port Vale’s popular all black away kit (partially designed by Robbie Williams) is retained as this season’s 3rd kit.

Sutton United – In their first season in the top four divisions have retained the home and away kits from promotion winning season, they have also introduced a black 3rd kit that gives us all three kits from the same Macron Template for tidy uniform look.

Although not common practise for teams, this still gives us a total of 26 kits re-used in the 2021/22 season that were previously used last season, with Brentford’s annoucement today will this will see this number grow in the 2022/23 season, is Football Shirt Sustainability and increased shirt cycles the future, let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over at https://twitter.com/kit_geek

FA Cup – First Round, Kit Review

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The FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed its full First Round of the 2021/22 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 AFC Sudbury being the lowest rank team in the round who play in the 8th Tier (Isthmian League North Division).

First Round Kit Log

The 80 Teams were provided by 23 Kit Manufactures, with 5 manufactures 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 15 kits, 9 from League teams and 6 from Non League teams, Macron supplying 13 kits with 8 League Teams and 5 Non League Teams

There were 11 Manufacturers that provided just 1 kit in the First Round, 7 suppling League Teams and 4 supplying Non League Teams.

Uhlsport supplying 2 kits in the competition, both for Non League Teams.

First Round Replay – Kit Log

There 12 Replays in the First Round, only 4 of these games saw a repeat in kit match ups from their first ties.

Kit Highlights

I want to call out a few Kit Highlights from the total 52 First Round games.

Plymouth Argyle – The Pilgrims wore away shorts and socks in both games against Sheffield Wednesday, likely due to the clash of black shorts and dark socks but surpising they changed given that Sheffield Wednesday wore their pink away kit in their League One clash earlier in the season meaning Plymouth could wear their first choice home shorts and socks.

Leyton Orient v Ebbsfleet United – The New Balance Derby, New Balance only supplied 3 teams in First Round and two of them were drawn against each other but not one for those colourblind fans, with Red v Green (white shorts helping to distinquish the teams here).

Banbury United – They reached the First Round for the second season running and for the 2nd time in their unique kit from the team over at The Terrace, something wonderfully 90s about their red home kit.

AFC Sudbury – Had a one off kit for their historic appearence in the First Round, a Hummel Kit similar in design from the Coventry City kits from 2019/20 Season and of course based in their classic “Mexico” template. The goalkeeper kit is also worth calling out, the keeper wearing a red kit with the classic Hummel Template made famous by Tottenham Hotspur in the mid 80s

Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup First Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

EFL, League Two 20/21 – End of Season Report

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The 2020/21 League Two (4th Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 8th May, Cheltenham Town claimed the title, with Cambridge United (Runners Up) and Bolton Wanderers earning automatic promotion to League One, with Morecambe winning the the Play Off Final against Newport County for the final promotion place.

I wanted to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 117 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 39% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 22 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 39% of variations used
    • 23 Away Kits worn
    • 23 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
    • 17 3rd Kits worn
    • 5 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 3% of variations worn
    • 3 Special Kits worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the League One Teams

  • 4 teams wore 7 kit variiations – Highest in the league
    • Morecambe – Home x3, Away x4
    • Newport County – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Salford City – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd x2
    • Tranmere Rovers – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd x2
  • 5 teams wore 6 kit variations
    • Bolton Wanderers – Home x4, Away x2
    • Colchester United – Home, Away x2, 3rd x2, Special Kit
    • Exeter City – Home x4, Away, 3rd
    • Oldham Athletic – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
    • Scunthorpe United – Home, Away, 3rd x4
  • 6 Teams wore 5 kit variations
    • Barrow AFC – Home x3, Away, 3rd
    • Crawley Town – Home, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Leyton Orient – Home, Away x3, 3rd
    • Mansfield Town – Home x2, Away x2, Special Kit
    • Port Vale – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Southend United – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
  • Most variations of Home Kit
    • 2 teams wore 4 variations of Home Kit
    • Bolton Wanderers: White / Navy / White – White / White / Navy – All White – White / Navy / Navy
    • Exeter City – Full Home kit – Home / Red socks – Home / Away shorts, socks (Purple) – Home / Red shorts, socks
  • Most variations of Away Kit
    • Morecambe wore 4 variations of Away Kit
    • All Navy, Navy / White shorts, Navy / White shorts, socks, Navy / Navy shorts, white socks
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit
    • Scunthorpe United wore 4 variations of 3rd Kit
    • All White – White / Black / White – White / Claret / White – White / White / Sky Blue
  • 6 Teams wore just used home and away kits (no 3rd Kit)
    • Bolton Wanderers
    • Carlisle United
    • Cheltenham Town
    • Harrogate Town
    • Morecambe
    • Stevenage
  • 4 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
    • Bradford City
    • Forest Green Rovers
    • Grimsby Town
    • Walsall
  • Most worn Home Kit – 36, Leyton Orient
  • Most worn Away Kit – 17, Cambridge United
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 16, Walsall

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 – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

The 117 kits worn in League Two was the most amount of kits worn in the top four English Leagues, there were several examples of kits worn being in all variations (Bolton Wanderers Home Kit, Morecambe Away Kit, Scunthorpe United 3rd kit), as well as several other kit mash ups with teams combining their kits to form different looks.

Bolton Wanderers were a team that used their home kit well, using different variations to ensure they could avoid kit clashes. at one point in April they used four different home kit variations in four games. The result of this home kit usage meant they only wore change kits 5 times all season, they only used their registered away kit once and their away kit with white shorts and socks 4 times.

Port Vale were another team to use their Home kit, this time they would change the socks (and baselayers) used with their home kit when playing at home to avoid clashes with their visting opponents, using combinations of black and white to change the look

There were 3 Special Kits used during the season, each of these appearences resulted in the team winnig in their shirts, so could been seen as lucky shirts this season.

Colchester United wore their one off “Supporters” shirt against Southend United on 20th April 2020.

Mansfield Town wore their “Thank you NHS” Shirt on 23rd March against Forest Green Rovers

Newport County wore their anniversary shirt celebrating 40 years since their European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final against Carl Zeiss Jena, against Bradford City

Some of the more interesting kit mash ups seen in League Two in 2020/21…

Crawley Town in Away / 3rd Kit Combo at Exeter City

Exeter City in Home / Away mash up at Grimsby Town

Oldham Athletic in Away / 3rd shorts and socks at Carlisle United

Stevenage in Away / Home mash up at Port Vale

There we have it, League Two’s End of Season Kit report for 2020/21, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

If you have seen my End of Season Kit Report for the Premier League, Championship and League One please click on the link below

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/06/03/efl-league-one-20-21-end-of-season-report/

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/26/efl-championship-20-21-end-of-season-report/

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/24/premier-league-2020-21-end-of-season-kit-report/