As regular “Twitter / 𝕏” Followers will know I share updates after Premier League Matchweeks with Kit Updates and my Kit Grid, showing what kits were worn in those games.
For the 2023 / 24 Season I want to take this post a little deeper and will be sharing a more detailed review, the high level detailed posts will remain for Premier League and EFL for that snapshot view but for those that are interested in a little more detail, these Matchweek Posts will be here.
There will be a structure to this posts, so you can revisit any Matchweek and know where to find the information or details you are interested in…
Overview of the Kits worn in that week’s fixtures
Total Number of Kit Variations for both Outfield and Goalkeeper Kits
Looking at any “New” Kit Variations used by the Premier League Teams
Kit Highlights from the Matchweek
Any relevant Kit Stats from the Matchweek
Updated “Kit Grid” showing total Premier League Fixtures
Any relevant Kit News
Is there anything else you would like to see in these reviews, let me know??
All feedback, ideas can be shared in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek
The 2022 / 23 Premier League season ended on Sunday 28th May 2023 with Manchester City securing their 3rd Premier League in a row with 3 games still to play. At the foot of the table, Everton survivied with a final day victory which means that Leicester City and Leeds United will be joining already relegated Southampton.
As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.
Kit Stats
760 Kits worn (380 Games)
Home Kit used 73% of the time (67% Default, 6% Variations)
Away Kit used 15% of the time (12% Default, 3% Variations)
3rd Kit used 12% of the time (9% Default, 3% Variations)
109 different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
Home Kits – 43.1% of total Kit Variations used:
25 Home Kits worn (5 teams wearing 23/24 Home Kit this season)
22 Home Kit variations used
Away Kits – 29.4% of total Kit Variations used:
19 Away Kits worn
13 Away Kit variations used
Aston Villa did not use registered Away kit, wearing 2 different variation
3rd Kits – 26.6% of total Kit Variations used:
19 3rd Kits used
10 3rd Kit variations used
Manchester United did not use registered 3rd kit, wearing alternative shorts
Goalkeeper Kits:
68 Goalkeeper used
2 Teams (Liverpool and Manchester City) in 5 different Goalkeeper Kits
4 Teams in 4 Goalkeeper Kits (Arsenal / Leicester City / Liverpool in 23/24 GK Kits)
Overview of Kits Used
Kit Overview
Kit Log, Match 1 to Match 19
Kit Log, Match 20 to Match 38
Kit Variations
Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Premier League Teams:
Two Teams in 9 Kit variations
Manchester United – Home Kit x6, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Newcastle United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit x2, 4th Kit
Two Teams in 8 Kit variations
Leeds United – Home Kits x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x4
Southampton – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
West Ham United in 7 Kit variations – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
Arsenal – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Liverpool – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
Four Teams in 4 Kit variations
Four Teams in 3 Kit variations
Most variations of Home Kit – 6
Manchester United
Most variatons of Away Kit – 3
Newcastle United
Southampton
Most variations of 3rd Kit – 4:
Leeds United
Six Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away or 3rd Kits
AFC Bournemouth
Brentford
Leicester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
Manchester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
Nottingham Forest
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Home Kit – 31, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Away Kit – 9, Nottingham Forest
Most worn 3rd Kit – 9, Brentford and Manchester City
Most worn 4th Kit – 1, Newcastle United
Liverpool and Manchester City used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations including 23/24 GK Kits
Most worn GK Kit – 31, Tottenham Hotspur (Yellow GK Kit)
Kit Grid
Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek
Kit Tables
One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 6 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.
Home Kits
No surprises at the top of table, with Manchester City heading the table up with 2.48 points per game in their Home Kit, followed by Arsenal (2.31) and Manchester United (2.21). Both Manchester Clubs scoring 62 Points in Home Kits.
Chelsea can sum up their disappointing season by scoring less 1 point per game (0.93), only managing 28 points in their 30 games in their home kit, one of four teams (Everton, Leicester City and Southampton) in managing less than 1 point per game.
Away Kits
Newcastle United’s Champions League qualifying season was supported by their performance in their Navy Away kit, worn in 3 different variations The Magpies managed 2.67 points per game in their 6 games.
Arsenal scored the most points in an Away Kit, they managed 18 points in their two away kit looks which was used across 10 games in total.
Only 7 teams managed more than 1 point per game, with Everton who only secured their Premier League status on the final game scored 1.4 points per game in their away kit and remained unbeated in their two away kit looks this season.
Fulham, who used their away kit 3 times, did not manage to score any points in these games.
3rd Kits
Rumour has it that Mikel Arteta did not like the Arsenal Pink 3rd kit this season, however in its two appearences they won both games giving the kit a maximum 3 points per game.
Champions Manchester City, who were the joint highest wearers of a 3rd kit this season score 20 points in total, finishing 2.22 points per game.
Fulham were more productive in their 3rd kit, were the 4th highest points per game scorers in 3rd kits, with a total of 9 points won in 5 games wearing 2 variations of their 3rd Kit.
There were 3 teams that did not score any points in their 3rd Kit (Leeds United x5, Southampton, x5 and Nottingham Forest x2).
Summary and Highlights
There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:
Lets start with Manchester United, who wore a staggering 6 variations of their Home Kit, the key to this was the socks… they started the season using alternative black away socks and it was not until teams returned from the World Cup on 27th December where the default Home Socks were finally used… see the difference in the socks below? One of the Kit Mysteries of 2022/23 Season
The other four looks for Manchester United were…
As briefly mentioned above, another Kit Mystery for the season is Arsenal 3rd Kit, initally popular with fans when it was first released, however it only made two appearences this season (both victories) and was used in two of Arsenal’s first three games, so its final use in the Premier League was on 20th August in the game against Bournemouth… rumour was the Mikel Arteta did not like the kit but there is no confirmation of that!
Newcastle United ended the season unbeaten in their change kits, they played a total of 12 games in change kits.
6 games in Away Kit (3 Variations)
5 games in 3rd Kit (2 Variations)
1 game in 4th Kit
Leeds United, ended the season with the most variations of a 3rd Kit, using 4 different looks in just 5 games unfortunatley not scoring a point in any of these looks but as a Kit Geek, I did enjoy they use of this kit!
This season was the first since 2019/20 where a 4th Kit was used. However Newcastle United’s 4th was not a traditonal 4th Kit but a training shirt that was matched prepared and partnered with Home Shorts and Socks, the reason being that their designated kits of this season were all considered to clash when they visited Brighton & Hove Albion in just the second game week of the season and their first away game!
Crystal Palace did not use their 3rd Kit in the Premier League in 2021/22 season and it took until their 23rd game of this season against Brentford in February to wear one this time, a total of 651 days and 64 League games between wearing 3rd Kits (both Black with Red / Blue details).
There were some interesting Kit Mash Ups used this season…
Arsenal, using grey Goalkeeper Socks with their Black Away kit… a look they used three times against Manchester United, Liverpool and Brentford!
When Manchester City visited Crystal Palace, their goalkeeper socks were considered a clash with Crystal Palace’s, so Ederson took to the field in white outfied away socks of Palace!!
Leeds United, followed a similar look to Arsenal when they played Manchester United with their Goalkeeper look using grey socks with their black keeper kit, they wore this look in both games against Manchester United… which were in the space of 4 days!
There we have it, The Premier Leagues’s End of Season Kit report for 2022/23, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek
I like to look at Football Kits and Kit Stats in many ways, one way that I wanted to revisist for the previous season was a Top Trump format.
So for those of a certain age will know all about Top Trumps, so for this set I have looked at the kits of each of the 20 Premier League Teams, Home, Away and Third kits and stats around these kits, the stats I have picked are the following:
League Games Worn – How many league games was the kit (and variations) worn in 21 / 22 Season
Variations of Kit – The number of variations of that kit were worn in 21 / 22 Season
Games Won – Number of games won wearing the kit
Points Won – Numner of points won wearing the kit
Points per game – The average number of points per game (total points / games worn) per kit
The cards by each team….
There we have it, any surprises in there, Brighton’s Points per game, Leicester City’s lack of games won in their Away and 3rd Kit?
What would you consider as the overall “Top Trump” card, Liverpool Home Kit or Manchester City Home Kit or something else?
Are there any other stats that you think I should haved used for future Top Trump looks at Football Kits.
Please let me know over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter or in the comments below.
My initial attempt at this was for 2018 / 19 Season can be found here
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
After a small break to complete the End of Season Kit Reports, its time for Issue Number 17 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 16 click here
The Headlines
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
Red Star Kit Competition
UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme x Errea
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
Kit Launches are coming thick and fast, so here some of the releases these past few weeks, now I am sure I will miss a lot but here we go…
Arsenal – Arsenal launched their kit ready to be used in the last game of the season against Everton, so one of the only 22/23 Kits we have seen in action already. Influenced by the Nike kits of 1994-96 see a collar return to their home kit since 2017/18 so this being only the second collared home kit at The Emirates Stadium.
Manchester City – Man City have launched another kit that is inspired from the past, this time we are going back to the 70s with this shirt. This is a less is more kit for me and the details of claret / maroon in the shirt to give a different look… the best Home Kit produced by Puma for Premier League Champions so far in my humble opinion. A big call out here, is the alternative shorts that will be used with the home shirt, they will be claret / maroon, so give a unique look to the team.
York City – A design that has already got the Kit Community buzzing with excitement, a bespoke design to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the club… there is a really interesting interview with the designer of the shirt on Episode 20 of Kit Mag Podcast, it is worth having a listen to.
Coventry City – Hummel have really delivered the goods for Coventry City and continue this wonderful partnership with their new kit. Again taking influence from the past, this kit is re-imagining of those wonderful tramlines from Admiral in the late 70s…
There was also an interesting tweet from @tyscopey which gives us a little bit of insight into how long the design process of a shirt takes.
Sutton United – In their second season in EFL, Sutton United will be changing kit suppliers moving from Macron across to O’Neills, who produce the club a quartered looking kit for their home and away kits, very similar in design to another club they supply Wycombe Wanderers.
England – The Lionesses have launched their kits for upcoming Euro 2022 Competition and the following seasons, again a bespoke design for national team and an interesting look, especially with the crest and logo on the home kit, the away design is my favourite, in particular the socks.. which give a nice balance to the overall look.
Red Star Kit Competition
As mentioned in Issue 14 of The Heat Press, Red Star FC in partnership with Fiverr created a competition to design a shirt for the club. The finalists have been selected and you can vote for your favourite here
Our friend Phil Delves is one of the final five with his design…
UEFA Assistance Kit Scheme x Errea
The UEFA Assistance Kit Scheme is something that UEFA brought in which sees “lower ranked” European Countries get kit deals as a whole group, there are currently eight countries in this scheme and they have launched their new kits for 2022-24, the first in a new deal with Italian Manufacturer Errea.
Countries included – Luxembourg, San Marino, Faroe Islands, Cyprus, Andorra, Malta, Liechtenstein, Belarus.
And Finally….
Whats happening in the Kit Community.
I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.
Forgive the self promotion, however my Kit Reports for 2021 / 22 Season are all now available, check out my home page for all the details but a big thank to both @UniWatch and @FootyHeadlines for picking up the report and sharing the Premier League Report
Our friend Chris at Kitbliss is continuing his countdown of Top 100 Templates, with number 82 being this classic look from Hummel – check this out and of course the templates already discussed here
Lots of Kit Trackers for 2021/22 have come to close for the season, here some great ones to check out…
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 2021 / 22 Premier League season ended on Sunday 22nd May with a thrilling last round of fixtures which ended with Manchester City pipping Liverpool to the title, winning their 4th Premier League in the last five seasons. At the foot of the table, Leeds United survivied with a final day victory which means that Burnley will be joining already relegated Norwich City and Watford.
As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.
Kit Stats
760 Kits worn (380 Games)
Home Kit used 74% of the time (68% Default, 6% Variations)
Away Kit used 16% of the time (14% Default, 2% Variations)
3rd Kit used 10% of the time (9% Default, 1% Variations)
101 Kits different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
Home Kits – 42.6% of total Kit Variations used:
21 Home Kits worn (Arsenal wearing 22/23 Home Kit this season)
22 Home Kit variations used
Away Kits – 30.7% of total Kit Variations used:
20 Away Kits worn
11 Away Kit variations used
3rd Kits – 26.7% of total Kit Variations used:
18 3rd Kits used
9 3rd Kit variations used
Crystal Palace did not use 3rd Kit in 21/22
Manchester United did not use registered 3rd kit, only variations (x3)
Goalkeeper Kits:
65 Goalkeeper used
Arsenal used Away Kit as a Goalkeeper kit for the second season running
Wolverhampton Wanderers were only team to use alternative socks with Goalkeeper kits, using alternative black socks for both 2nd / 3rd choice Keeper Kits
Overview of Kits Used
Kit Overview
Kit Log, Match 1 to Match 19
Kit Log, Match 20 to Match 38
Kit Variations
Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Premier League Teams:
Manchester United in 11 Kit variations – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x4, 3rd Kit x3
Aston Villa in 8 Kit variations – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
Two Teams in 7 Kit variations
Arsenal – Home Kits x4 (including 22/23 Home Kit), Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
Newcastle United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
West Ham United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
Five Teams in 5 Kit variations
Burnley – Home Kit, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
Chelsea – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Leeds United – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Manchester City – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Southampton – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Most variations of Home Kit – 4:
Arsenal (inclucing 22/23 Home Kit)
Aston Villa
Manchester United
Most variatons of Away Kit – 4:
Manchester United
Most variations of 3rd Kit – 3:
Manchester United
However they did not wear their default 3rd Kit (Dark Blue shirts, Black shorts, Yellow socks)
Six Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away or 3rd Kits
Burnley
Crystal Palace (only wore Home and Away Kits)
Leicester City
Liverpool
Norwich City
Watford
Most worn Home Kit – 32, Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Away Kit – 14, Brentford
Most worn 3rd Kit – 6, Burnley
No Fourth Kit used this season, second season in a row.
Wolverhampton Wanderers used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations
Three teams used 4 Goalkeeper Kit Variations
Arsenal (including outfield Away Kit)
Brentford
Manchester City
Kit Grid
Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek
Kit Tables
One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 4 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.
Home Kits
As you would expect Manchester City and Liverpool head up the “Home Kit” table with a points per game score of 2.44 and 2.43 respectively, Arsenal making up the top three with 1.96 points per game in their Home Kits.
Liverpool scored the most points overall, with 73 points in their 30 games in their home kits.
Only two teams scored under 1 point per game in their Home Kit and again no surprises that it was the relegated Teams of Watford and Norwich City.
Away Kits
The top two slots in the Away Kit table are again taken up by Manchester City and Liverpool, however here there was a larger gap between the two, with “City” scoring 16 points in the six games away kits were used, only dropping points once in the draw at Crystal Palace, the most points won in an Away kit.
Tottenham Hotspur had a good season in their change kits, ended undefeated in their away kit to complete the top 3 in the “Away Kit” Table, Brighton & Hove Albion also ended the season unbeaten in their away kit wearing the kit 7 times in total and scoring 13 points to end joint 5th with Chelsea in this table.
There were 7 teams who averaged 1 point or lower in their away kit, including Mid table finishers Brentford, Crystal Palace and 8th placed Leicester City who only managed 4 points in their away kit.
3rd Kits
The 3rd Kit table has a different look to it, with Chelsea who only wore their 3rd Kit once in The Premier League and were victorious end with a maxium 3 points per game, Tottenham Hotspur (unbeaten in their 3rd Kit) finished second with 10 points from 4 games, only dropping points in their draw with Southampton.
Manchester City scored the most points again, completing the change kit league double!
Two teams scored “0” points in their 3rd Kit, with Aston Villa (5) and Watford (2), with a total of 9 teams scoring an average of 1 point or lower, this does not include Crystal Palace did not use their 3rd Kit.
Summary and Highlights
There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:
Crystal Palace only used two kit variations through out the season, just their home and away kits, this meant we did not see their wonderful 3rd kit in action in the Premier League, it was used in the Cup however.
Wolverhampton Wanderers went 23 League games in row in their home kit, this meant the last time they wore a change kit was on Saturday 11th December 2021 against Manchester City. They wore their home kit a total of 32 times, which was joint highest in the Premier League this season.
In their first season in The Premier League, Brentford wore change kits in 18 of their 19 away games, wearing their away kit 14 time and 3rd kit 4 times, the only time they wore their home kit away from The Community Stadium was against Manchester City on Wednesday 9th February 2022.
Tottenham Hotspur ended the season unbeaten in change kits, wearing their away kit 3 times (2 wins and 1 draw) and their 3rd kit 4 times (3 wins and 1 draw). A great season for two designs that have divided kit lovers but in this Kit Geek’s opinion are two great looking kits.
Brighton & Hove Albion wear undefeated in their “Hyper-Turq” Away kit, wearing it a total of 7 times (3 wins and 4 draws), interestingly they only worn the default version of the kit with black shorts once, at Everton.
There were three teams that wore four distinct goalkeeper kits…
Arsenal
Brentford
Manchester City
There we have it, The Premier Leagues’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
Breaking News from Kit Geek Towers on Friday 21st January 2021…
I am really pleased to confirm that I am joining The Football Kit Podcast, teaming up with legends of the Kit Community Les, aka @SombreEthyl and @HullCityKits and Denis aka @museumofjerseys and @squadnos
I was lucky enough to be invited on to the show last summer to talk kit and specifically about the Kits worn at The 2020 European Championship, you can find that show here
It was great to be part of that Euro 2020 show and was one of my highlights of the year for my Kit Geek persona, so being able to join the Podcast as a regular member of the team is wonderful opportunity and something I am truly honoured to be part of.
There are some exciting plans in the works for upcoming Pods and I will of course be letting you know all about them as they come up.
I have also added a link directly to the Podcast, which can be found in the “Menu” section of this site, where you can find previous episodes of The Football Kit Podcast
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
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.
𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
Our first ever @UmbroUK#PL Home kit will roll over to be our first choice kit for the 2022/23 season as well
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
Starting on 12th September 2020 and finishing on 23rd May 2021, the 2020/21 season was completed within the quickest amount of time in Premier League history, which we saw the 380 games completed in just 253 days and concluded with Manchester City winning their third title in four seasons.
As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.
Kit Stats
760 Kits worn (380 Games)
Home Kit used 71% of the time (63% Full, 8% Variations)
Away Kit used 16% of the time (13% Full, 3% Variations)
3rd Kit used 13% of the time (11% Full, 2% Variations)
109 Kits different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
Home Kits – 42% of total Kit Variations used:
23 Home Kits worn (Brighton & Hove Albion, Leicester City, Liverpool wearing 21/22 Home Kits this season)
West Ham United – Home Kit x4, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
Five Teams in 6 variations of Kit:
Brighton HA – Home Kit x2, Away kit x3, 21/22 Home Kit
Chelsea – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
Fulham – Home Kit x4, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Sheffield United – Home Kit, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x3
Southampton – Home Kit x2, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x3
Most variations of Home Kit:
5, Manchester United (Including 2 different pairs of Black socks used)
Everton, Fulham, West Ham United used 4 variations of Home Kit
Most variatons of Away Kit:
3, Aston Villa, Brighton HA and Manchester United
Manchester United did not full Away (all dark green, only variations with white shorts / socks)
Most variations of 3rd Kit:
3, Manchester United, Sheffield United and Southampton
Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion only two teams not to use any Kit Variations, just their standard Home, Away and 3rd Kits
Most worn Home Kit – 32, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Away Kit – 12, West Bromwich Albion
Most worn 3rd Kit – 9, Burnley
No Fourth Kit used this season, first time since 2017/18
Arsenal used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations, including away shirt as part of all white GK Kit
Kit Grid
Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/kit_geek
Kit Tables
One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 5 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.
Home Kit
As expected Manchester City head up this table with 2.28 Points, 0.45 points more than Manchester United. The three relegated teams within the bottom three positions, Burnley the only other team with less than 1 point per game in their Home Kit.
Away Kit
Liverpool head the Away Kit Table, with 2.25 points per game for their 4 uses of “Teal” Away kit, Leicester City and Manchester United both with 2.00 points per game but Leicester City in their away 5 times compared to Manchester United’s 4.
Newcastle United scored 13 points in their away kit, which was the highest in the league throughout the season but their 8 uses average 1.63 points per game.
Wolves only used their away kit once in 2020/21 and lost, so did not score a single point in their away kit, a total of 8 teams average less than point per game in their away kit, including West Ham who finished 6th in the League
3rd Kit
Manchester City finished the season with a 100% win record in their 3rd Kit, with 7 wins and maximum 3.00 points per game.
Sheffield United and Fulham did not score a point in their 3rd kits, with Sheffield United losing all 6 games in their Green / Gold Kit.
Brighton & Hove Albion did not use a 3rd Kit this season (their black away from 2019/20 was registered as their 3rd kit),
Summary and Highlights
There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:
Manchester United used two different pairs of black socks with their Home Kit, the original sold which had the same “flecked” pattern as the home shirt and contained the wording “Manchester United” and were only worn in the first game of the season at Home against Crystal Palace, the 2nd pair of black socks used were standard Adidas Teamwear socks and used throughout the rest of the season in the league
Arsenal first Premier League team to use an outfield shirt as a Goalkeeper Kit, when it was deemed that their 3 goalkeeper kit options were two much of clash for their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aresenal used their away shirt to create an all white goalkeeper kit
Leno using Arsenal’s Away kit as a GK Kit
When Manchester United visited Liverpool on 17th January 2021 they elected to use their dark green away kit, however it was consided that the two teams would be indistinguishable for those fans with colourblindness. Manchester United used white socks to break these colours up.
Aston Villa who used 8 Kit variations overall, at one stage used 7 different kit variation in 8 games which included 6 kits in 6 games.
There we have kit, the end of season report for 2020/21 Premier League season, let me know your favourite kit details and thoughts in the comments below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 