Tag: Kit Geek

Arsenal – #NoMoreRed

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On Sunday 9th January 2022, Arsenal will be taking on Nottingham Forest in the 3rd Round of the 2021/22 FA Cup but their look for the game will be a unique one, they will be wearing an all white kit – no coloured sponsors, no coloured trim, no other colour at all.

This kit is not there for the sake of change or for any commerical gain, its being used to deliver a powerful message, the removal of red from the kit is to highlight the increasing number of knife attacks and teenager murders in London which saw more than 10,000 knife crime offences between June 2020 and June 2021.

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Ian Wright one of the faces of the initiative

The campaign is being backed and promoted by Club Legend Ian Wright and Hollywood “A Lister” Idris Elba, who are promoting the work carried out by Arsenal in the Communityโ€™s work with young people in London and providing more safe, positive spaces for young people and spotlighting talented individuals who are making a positive difference in their community. 

The launch of Arsenal’s No More Red Campaign can be viewed below.

There are some powerful videos supporting the campaign which are well worth spending a few minutes watching to understand the impact of the initiative.

Idris Elba and Ian Wright video can be viewed below.

As mentioned above Arsenal are not looking for any commerical gain here and as a result of this the shirts will not be available for sale but the match worn shirts will be given to those organisations who are currently working to reduce knife crime in London, these organisations are:

  • Arsenal in the Community
  • The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation
  • Steel Warriors
  • Donโ€™t Stab Your Future (DSYF)
  • Box Up Crime
  • Copenhagen Youth Project
  • St Giles Trust
  • Abianda
  • Octopus Community Network
  • The Ben Kinsella Trust

All details can be found on Arsenal Website – click here

The shirt will have the club crest, Adidas Logo and 3 Stripes and all sponsorship in white, including a sleeve logo of “No More Red” and will be worn with white shorts and socks.

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For me this is using Football Kits in the most powerful way, this initiative makes me proud to be a Kit Enthusiast and I have nothing but respect for Arsenal, Adidas and all those that are behind the campaign and bringing this to life, congratulations to you all.

The Heat Press – Issue 3

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Happy New Year to you all….

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

The Headlines

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

Wrexham 3rd Kit

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

Teams leaving Kappa

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

Full details can be found at Footy Headlines here

Everton – Rainbow Warm up shirt

The special edition warm up shirt which was produced by Hummel for both Everton and Southampton in their opening game of the 2021/22 season. The proceeds from the Everton shirt sales has raised just under ยฃ12.5K for Everton’s LGBTI+ charity and awareness workshops, the shirts popularity meant it was sold out within 20 minutes of being on sale online.

Full details on the story can be found here

Inter Miami in the Pink

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

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

And Finallyโ€ฆ.

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

I like to end each issue with some of the โ€œgoing onsโ€ within the Kit Community.

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

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

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

Thread can be found here

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

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

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

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

The Heat Press – Issue 2

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

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

The Headlines

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

The Kitsman Awards

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

The categories…

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

Best Collection – @NorwichShirts

Knows their Kit – @museumofjerseys

Best Contributer – @LaCasacaBlog

Best Photography – @aleksandarjason

Best Charity Fundraiser – @fsfcUK

Best Concept Shirt Designer – @thekitfactor

Best Independent Store – @niclassicshirt

Best Mystery Shirt Box Company – @BundesligaBoxes

Best Video Content – @_Spark_Academy

Best Creative Content – @KitKingdom83

Best Artist – @yoniweisberg

Best Verified Account – @TyBracey

Best Audio / Podcast – @ShirtsPod

Best Twitter Account 2021 – @The_Kitsman

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

Shelter’s No Home Kit

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

Oldham Athletic at home to Scunthorpe United

Tranmere Rovers at home to Barrow AFC

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

Adidas to change logo?

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

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

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

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

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

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

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

The Heat Press – Issue 1

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

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

The Headlines

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

Shelter’s No Home Kit Initiative

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

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

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

Christmas Kits

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

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

Werder Bremem in Bundesliga 2

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

The Kitsman Awards

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

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

Marseille Extend Kit Deal

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

And finally…..

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

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

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

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

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

FA Cup – Second Round, Kit Review

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The FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed the 2nd Round of the 2021/22 season.

Details from Round 1 can be found here – FA Cup – First Round, Kit Review

The second round was made up of 40 Teams made up from the 31 from League One and League Two and just 9 teams from the Non-League English Football Pyramid, with Buxton being the lowest rank team in the round who play in the 7th Tier (Northern Premier League Premier Division).

There was only one game that went to a replay, Barrow AFC v Ipswich Town, so this gave us a total of 21 games for the round.

Second Round Kit Log

Manufacturers

16 Kit Manufacturers were on show in the Second Round, with Puma for the second round running supplying the most kits, with 9 this round (5 League and 4 Non League teams).

This was a reduction from 23 in the First Round, there were 8 manufacturers with just one kit on show, these included Nike and Umbro.

Kit Highlights

Looking at some of the kit highlights for the Second Round.

Carlisle United v Shrewsbury Town, surprisingly resulted in the away team using their home kit, on paper would appear to be kit clash (and we have seen changes for less of a clash) but the result was not too bad with Yellow in the Shrewsbury Kit really standing out in the fixture.

Latest Shrewsbury Town FC news | Shropshire Star

Barrow AFC and Ipswich Town were the only teams to go to a replay, the resulting replay on Wednesday 15th December saw Ipswich Town use their limited edition 3rd Kit, the Black and Grey striped shirt will not be available for sale to supports, so will definitley be a collectors item. It also meant that Ipswich Town have worn Home, Away and 3rd Kits in the FA Cup this season.

Rochdale played in their 3rd variation of Home kit in their 3rd game of competition (First Round, First Round Replay and Second Round), they have worn the Home shirt with white shorts and socks, white shorts and black socks and in their game with Plymouth Argyle wore black shorts and socks.

Rochdale v Plymouth Argyle - Emirates FA Cup - Second Round - Crown Oil Arena - PA Images

Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup Second Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter โ€“ @Kit_Geek

Champions League 2021/22, Group Stages – Kit Overview

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On Thursday 9th December 2021, the Group Stages of the Champions League wrapped up for another season. I wanted to take a look at the kits worn by the 32 teams competing in these group stages.

Overall Kit Stats:

  • 89 Kits worn in Group Stages โ€“ 96 games
  • 46 Home Kits (30 first choice / 16 variations)
  • 27 Away Kits (20 first choice / 7 variations)
  • 15 3rd Kits (13 first choice / 2 variations)
  • Just the 1 4th Kit used (but is it a 4th kit?)

Group A

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • Manchester City only team to use Home, Away and 3rd kits
  • RB Leipzig in two home kit variations
  • PSG Home kit most used, 5 out of the 6 Group matches

Group B

  • 14 Kits worn in the Group, most in 2021/22 Group Stage
  • AC Milan wore 5 kits out of 6 matches, these were worn in first 5 games including 3 variations of home kit
  • Atletico Madrid used 4 kit variations, 2 home kit variations and Away, 3rd kits
  • Liverpool only used 2 kits
  • FC Porto used 3 kits with 2 variations of home kit

Group C

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • None of the teams wore their home / away / 3rd kits
  • Borussia Dortmund only in home kit with 2 variations
  • Sporting Lisbon used 2 Home Kit variations
  • Beskitas used 2 Away kit variations

Group D

  • 8 Kits worn in the Group, least amount used in a group
  • Real Madrid only wore their home kit (2nd season in a row this as happened in the Group Stages)
  • Inter Milan only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd kits, each worn twice
  • Inter Milan away kit did not include the “snake” detailing that the away kit has in domestic competitions

Group E

  • 10 Kits worn in the Group
  • Barcelona in their “Senyera” 4th Kit twice, initially launched in 2019/20 season, this is the 3rd season it has been used in Champions League
  • Barcelona not using their Domestically registered Home and Away kits at all in competition
  • Bayern Munich only team to use Home, Away and 3rd Kits
  • Dynamo Kyiv using home kit for first 5 games

Group F

  • 12 Kits worn in the Group
  • Manchester United in 5 different kit variations, including 3 different home kits
  • Villarreal and Young Boys only wearing two kits
  • Manchester United only to wear a 3rd kit in the group
  • Villarreal wore home kit in 5 out of 6 games

Group G

  • 12 Kits worn in the Group
  • Each team in 3 different Kit Variations
  • Red Bull Salzburg only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd Kits
  • Sevilla in two home kit variations
  • Wolfsburg in two away kit variations
  • Lille in two 3rd kit variations

Group H

  • 13 Kits worn in the Group
  • No team wore all their Home, Away and 3rd kits
  • Zenit St.Petersburg used 4 kit variations, including 3 different away kits
  • Chelsea, Juventus and Malmo all used two home kit variations

Matchday Breakdowns:

Match Day 1

Match Day 2

Match Day 3

Match Day 4

Match Day 5

Match Day 6

Kit Highlights:

Looking at some of my favourite Kit highlights of the Group Stages.

UEFA stopped the use of elements of kits for two teams, Inter Milan were not allowed to use the “Snake” in their away kit which they opted for a plain version of their white away kit and Ajax were not allowed to use “Three Little Birds” motif on the back of their Bob Marley inspired 3rd kit.

Why Inter Milan had to remove snake from away kit for UCL tie | JOE.co.uk
The two Inter Milan away kits for 2021/22 Season
Ajax fans go wild for new 2021-22 'Three Little Birds' Adidas third kit inspired by music legend Bob Marley
Ajax’s Three Little Birds, not included in Champions League 3rd Kit

There were lots of examples of “Kit Mash Ups” in the Group Stages this season, this is when elements of a club’s home / away or 3rd kits are used to create a look to avoid kit clashes, some of my favourte on show were…

Wolfsburg – Away kit with Home socks, worn against Sevilla in Match Day 5

Malmo – Home kit with away socks, worn against Chelsea in Match Day 3

One of my favourite Kit Match Up of the competition so far was included Chelsea again, the Chelsea home kit is unique design and really stands out from other teams for me, with it’s use of vibrant blue works well for me and when they played Juventus in a more classic design than recently seen over the past few seasons, however in this match paired with black socks gave us a nice balance and constrast in kit designs and looks which worked well for me.

Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the Champions League Group Stages from 2021/22 Season in the comments below or 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

Harry Kane / England…. 48 & Counting

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On Monday 15th November 2021 the England Captain Harry Kane led his team to World Cup Qualification with emphatic 10-0 victory over San Marino, who themselves sporting their 90th Anniversay Kit based on their traditional flag. In the process of this victory, Kane bagged himself a four goal “haul” and becoming the joint 3rd highest goalscorer of the England National Men’s team.

  • Wayne Rooney – 53 Goals in 120 Games
  • Sir Bobby Charlton – 49 in 106
  • Gary Lineker – 48 in 80
  • Harry Kane – 48 in 67

Now, with me enjoying Kits and the stats behind the kits, I wanted to see a breakdown of these goals and the kits that were being worn by Kane.

Overview

Harry Kane made his debut on 27th March 2015 against Lithuania and marked his debut by scoring within 80 seconds of coming on as a second half substitute. The Kit England where wearing that evening was the All White Kit first introduced for the 2014 World Cup.

Harry Kane scoring his first England Goal

In the six and half years (and 66 caps) since that spring evening, Kane has worn 9 different England Kits used in a total of 14 Kit variations, which include the controversial Nike Vapor Templates used for Euro 2016 – One I actually quite like and thought it worked well in both Home and Away forms (but thats a discussion for another time), one 3rd Kit and a variety of different variations of the Home and Away kits.

Breakdown

  • Home Kits – 4 Kits used, 21 Goals Scored
  • Home Kit Variations – 3 Kits used, 13 Goals Scored
  • Away Kits – 3 Kits used, 7 Goals Scored
  • Away Kit Varations – 3 Kits used, 5 Goals Scored
  • 3rd Kit – 1 Kit, 2 goals

Highlights

The Kit that Kane has scored the most goals in is the first choice Home Kit used between 2018 and 2019, including the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Kane netted a total of 12 goals in this kit, including three Hat-Tricks against Panama (in the World Cup), Bulgaria and Montenegro in the Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign. There were also another 4 goals scored with this kit being used with white shorts.

The England Captain scoring a Hat-Trick against Panama at Russia 2018

The Nike Vapor Template has seen 3 different incarnations for England with Kane scoring in all three kits and counting the variations of socks that have been used a total of 5 different Kit Variations. In total Kane scored 9 goals in these kits

The 5 variations of Vapor Template used by England, all of which Kane scored in

2021 has seen Kane break the record for the most goals scored by an Englishman in a Calendar Year, with 16 goals in his 16 Appearences, this included 7 goals in his last two appreances, the final two qualiyfing matches for World Cup 2022, both games seeing all his goals scored in the first half of each match. In total in 2021, Kane scored 11 goals in the home kit, 5 in the default look with navy shorts and 6 in the all white look, the popular all blue away kit has seen 5 goals netted by the England Captain.

Kane netting a first half Hat-Trick against Albania, November 2021

If Harry Kane keeps this level of scoring up, the record is surely insight within the next year, a World Cup year… I hope to update this when the record is broken.

What are you favourite Kits worn by Harry Kane for England, let me know in the comments below of over at https://twitter.com/kit_geek

FA Cup – First Round, Kit Review

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The FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed its full First Round of the 2021/22 season.

The first round was made up of 80 Teams made up from the 48 League One and League Two teams and then 32 teams from the Non-League English Football Pyramid, with AFC Sudbury being the lowest rank team in the round who play in the 8th Tier (Isthmian League North Division).

First Round Kit Log

The 80 Teams were provided by 23 Kit Manufactures, with 5 manufactures only supplying a non league team and not a league team, this give us kit lovers plenty of different kits to admire.

Manufacturers

Puma supplied the most kits in this round with 15 kits, 9 from League teams and 6 from Non League teams, Macron supplying 13 kits with 8 League Teams and 5 Non League Teams

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

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

First Round Replay – Kit Log

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

Kit Highlights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kit Stats

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

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log โ€“ Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

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

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

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account โ€“ย https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exeter City in Home / Away mash up at Grimsby Town

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

Stevenage in Away / Home mash up at Port Vale

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

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

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

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

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