Tag: EFL

Stoke City Kits – 2022 / 23

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As mentioned in the latest Edition of The Heat Press I called out this graphic from Stoke City which shows their Kit launch for 2022/23 and how they will be used as an overall set, it was something I wanted to take a little deeper look into.

On the 1st June The Potters launched their home kit, which was followed in the next two days with the two change kits (no kit designated as Away or 3rd), showing us these kits are being viewed as an overall set not three individual kits.

Macron have produced Stoke City’s kits since 2016 and in their 7th season as a partnership and for the first time since 2017/18 (their last in the Premier League) have produced three kits for the forthcoming season, having only had Home and Away Kits in the past four seasons and using alternative shorts and socks with these kits to avoid clashes.

However a rule was brought in by the EFL at the start of the 2021/22 season which requested clubs only have three shirts, three shorts and three socks in their “Kit Locker” for use, The Potters have shown this season how using these elements of kit sensibly and viewing the kit set as a whole kit can provide alternative that work well for the club and keeping a constant theme across all kit variations, we had an excellent example of this with Walsall in the 21/22 Season, details of that can be found here

Home Kit – The default Home Kit combines the traditional red and white striped shirt (this year seeing some detaling in the stripes) paired with white shorts and socks, the alternative of red shorts and socks (something we have seen regularly used over the past seasons) and a new look with black shorts and socks.

White Change Kit – The next kit launched was the white change kit, taking inspriation from the away kits of the 70s with the two coloured sash, this gives an unique look for the club (that kit being matched with black shorts and red socks). Looking at the club shop it appears this version will be used with black shorts and socks as default, with the red and white offering alternative looks.

Black Change Kit – The final kit lauched was the black kit, again using the club shop as the basis of this look will be paired with Red shorts and socks as a default look and this gives each short and sock colour block a first choice default look with one of the three kits.

So there we have it, currenly nine different kit variations offered with just three shirts, shorts and socks, we could even see up to a total of 27 kit variations possible if the shorts and socks are also mixed and matched, could we see a different look in each Away game in The Championship, part of me certainly hopes so.

Well done to Macron and Stoke City in delivering which is likely to be one of the best kit overall kit sets seen in the 2022/23 Season.

The Heat Press – Issue 18

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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

EFL, The Championship 21/22 – End of Season Report

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The 2021/22 Championship Season came to a close on Saturday 7th May 2022, with Champions being Fulham, who are returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking and scoring over 100 goals in the process. AFC Bournemouth secured the second automatic spot with a game to go to return to Premier League after two seasons in the Second Tier. The teams competing in the Play-Offs are Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United and Luton Town.

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)
  • 97 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 38% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 13 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 38% of variations used
    • 24 Away Kits worn
    • 13 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 22% of variations worn
    • 18 3rd Kits worn
    • 3 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 2% of variations worn
    • 2 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 Championship Teams

  • 5 Teams wore 6 Kit Variations, most in The Championship
    • Barnsley – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
    • Fulham – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
    • Luton Town – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Millwall – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
    • Queen’s Park Rangers – Home x3, Away x2, Special Kit
  • 4 Teams in 5 Kit Variations
    • AFC Bournemouth – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Birmingham City – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Coventry City – Home, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Huddersfield Town – Home, Away x3, 3rd
  • 5 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
  • 7 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
  • 3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits, 2 Kit variations
    • Middlesbrough
    • Reading
    • Stoke City
  • Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits
    • Barnsley – Red / White / Red (x2 – once with 3rd “Monochrome” shorts), Red / White / Purple (Charity Socks)
    • Millwall – Navy / White / Navy, All Navy, Navy / Navy / White
    • QPR – White shorts & socks, Blue shorts & socks, Blue shorts & white socks
  • Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
    • Fulham – Black / White / Black, All Black, Black / Black / White
    • Huddersfield Town – Navy / Navy / White, Navy / Navy / Black, Navy / White / Black
  • Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 2 Kits
    • Luton Town – All White, White / Navy / White
  • 10 Teams worn no variation of kits
    • 7 Teams in just Home, Away and 3rd Kits
    • 3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits
  • Most worn Home Kit – 38, Bristol City
  • Most worn Away Kit – 21, Reading
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 13, Nottingham Forest

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 Championship teams wore 97 Kits, this was a reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 110 Kits were worn.  The reduction is linked to the number of times teams had variations of their kits, with only 29 variations of Home, Away, 3rd kits used compared to 39 variations from the default look used in 2020 / 21 season.

Bristol City wore their home kit for 38 times, but a special mention to Middlesbrough who wore their home kit 37 times, to be the most used kits in League this season, both Red, Both Hummel.

A common theme in The Championship this season was the use of 3rd Kits, with five teams wearing their 3rd kit more than their away kit.

AFC Bournemouth – 3rd Kit worn 8 times

Blackburn Rovers – 3rd Kit worn 12 times

Huddersfield Town – 3rd Kit worn 10 times

Millwall – 3rd Kit worn 10 times

Nottingham Forest – 3rd Kit worn 13 times (most in worn in the League)

Millwall where the only team not use their default Home Kit (Navy / White / Navy) in any of their away games this season, in their 23 games away from The Den they used two variations of Home Kit (All Navy worn five times, Navy / Navy / White worn twice), two away looks (White / Navy / White worn four times and All white worn twice) and their 3rd kit ten times.

Reading wore their away kit in 21 of their 23 games, only wearing their home kit in an away game for the first time on 26th February 2022 at Blackpool, the other fixture was at Hull City in April.

There were two “Special Kits” worn through out the season, these were celebration kits worn by Coventry City and Queen’s Park Rangers and were both worn in home games for the clubs.

Coventry City – Return to Ricoh Kit

QPR – 140th Anniversary Kit

There were two 3rd Kits that we did not see in their default look, Hull City only used their 3rd kit once this season against Huddersfield Town where they wore the kit with black shorts (Home Shorts) rather than the default Amber Shorts, which robbed us Kit Lovers of a unique look!

Cardiff City were the second team that did not use their default 3rd Kit look, it was communicated that “The Bluebirds” would use their away kit from 2020 / 21 as their 3rd kit this season, however in its two uses this season it was worn with white shorts and socks and not navy that was used last season.

A final Kit “quirk” of the season was in the first game of season (and thanks for the tip off from an eagle eyed fan) was Barnsley took to the field in the game against Cardiff City in their 3rd kit shorts, also white but have a monochrome version of the club crest on them (Can be seen the image below).

There we have it, The Championship’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

League One – End of Season Report

League Two – End of Season Report

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

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 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