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
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.
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
On Saturday 28th May 2022, Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League (European Cup) against Liverpool in the Final at Stade de France in Paris. I wanted to follow my overview of the kits worn in the Group Stages with a Kit Overview of the Knock Out Stages of the competition, as well as a final overview of the competition from The Group Stages
Knock Out Round Kit Stats
30 Kits worn in Knock Out Stages – 29 games
17 Home Kits (13 first choice / 4 variations)
5 Away Kits (3 first choice / 2 variations)
8 3rd Kits (7 first choice / 1 variation)
7 New Kit Variations used in Knock Out Stages
Overall Kit Stats (Including Group Stages)
96 Kits worn in Group Stages – 125 games
48 Home Kits (30 first choice / 18 variations)
30 Away Kits (21 first choice / 9 variations)
17 3rd Kits (15 first choice / 2 variations)
1 4th Kit used
Kit Overview
Group A / Group B
Group C / Group D
Group E / Group F
Group G / Group H
The 7 “New Kits Variations” seen in the Knockout Stages:
Atletico Madrid – Home Kit, with red shorts and socks at Manchester City
Real Madrid – Home Kit with away socks at Chelsea
Real Madrid – Away Kit at Manchester City
Benfica – 3rd Kit at Ajax
Benfica – Away at Liverpool
Lille OSC – Away with black socks at Chelsea
Chelsea – Away with alternative yellow shorts (at Lille OSC and Real Madrid)
Kit Variations Stats
Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Champions League Teams
Four Teams in 5 Kit variations
AC Milan (6 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Manchester United (8 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Atletico Madrid (10 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Villareal wore their home kit in 11 of their 12 fixtures
Atletico Madrid wore three different home kit variations in the Champions League all against English opposition.
Borussia Dortmund were the only team in the competition not to wear a change kit, only wearing their home kit with two pairs of shorts, default black and alternative fluro yellow.
There we have it, the final kit report of the 2021 / 22 Season, congratulation to Real Madrid on their victory.
Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the 2021 / 22 Champions League in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 