The Premier League games are coming thick and fast, with another round of fixtures completed as we close in on the halfway point of the season! Here is our regular look at the Kits worn in these games.
There was just nine games this weekend, with The Merseyside Derby being postponed due to weather conditions and safety of the fans!
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 15 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 73 (+2 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 62 (+1 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were two new Kit looks this Matchweek..
Newcastle United in their Away kit with alternative white shorts and socks.
Arsenal in their 3rd kit’s default navy socks for first time.
The one new goalkeeper kit on show:
Arsenal – Black Adidas Trefoil Kit
Kit Highlights
Arsenal used their 5th Goalkeeper Kit of the season, using the black version of the Adidas Trefoil kit for the first time, having used green previously.
Newcastle United have now worn 6 different kit variations this season, the joint highest in the league however they have used 2 Home, 2 Away and 2 3rd Kit looks for a nice balance in this usage!
Chelsea wore their Away socks with Home Kit for the 2nd game in a row for an all blue look!
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, two great kits against each other gives a nice look on the pitch, only the 2nd time Manchester City have used their Away Kit in the Premier League this season!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 12 Home Kits, 4 Away Kit and 2 3rd Kits
There were three variations seen over these fixtures.
Newcastle United – Away with alternative white shorts and socks
Nottingham Forest – Away with alternative sky blue shorts, 2nd time used
Chelsea – Home / Away socks, all blue, 2nd time used
Kit Grid – Up to 10th December
Kit News
Interesting news breaking on Monday 9th December, with Manchester City offering fans the chance to design their 3rd Kit for the 2026/27 season by using Puma’s AI Creator, full details can found on the club site here and the goalkeeper shirt has already been planned with input from current Manchester City Goalkeepers Ederson and Stefan Ortega and Rico Lewis!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
As regular readers will know I am looking to document the England Men’s National Football Team’s Kit History from 1960 to The Modern Day, creating some reference articles and documents for those that like to have quick reference to these things.
England played 112 Games between 1990 and 1990, a slight reduction in matches from the 80s and which The Three Lions wore their Primary (Home) Kit 88 times and Change Kits again just 24 times, the most time change kits have been worn with 21.5% of the total games being played in change kits, including two different 3rd kits, but more on that later.
The 90s was a decade where England’s kits were solely supplied by Umbro but as we will see the frequency of changing these kits significantly changed from what we have seen in previous years!
1990
The 90s started with a brand new set of kits released by Umbro, the set was made up of Primary, Secondary and 3rd kit! A set of kits which remains a fans favourites with all three kits seen today at England games in various re-releases!
The Primary kit was first used against Brazil in March 1990 and in the 15 games England played in total in 1990 they wore this look 14 times!
The only game where England did not wear their classic primary look was a World Cup warm up game against Uruguay at Wembley, England using their change kits at Home was becoming something of a theme now!
1990 was also a World Cup year, with England performing well and reaching the Semi-Finals, this meant that they played seven games in total at Italia 90, however they did not change from the Primary kit wearing it all their games!
1991 – 1992
The Summer of 1991 gave us England in five different kit looks, in five games..
It started with the only use of the 3rd Kit from this latest Umbro range, a victory at Turkey in May.
Then wearing Primary Kit against USSR and Secondary Kit against Argentina at Wembley.
The classic Primary kit was used in other look was when the Secondary shorts were added to create an All White look against Australia, this was the first of two games in that Summer Tour of the Southern Hemisphere where all white was used and one of only three times when the all white look was used in the 90s (the last use was a lot more well known than these ones)!
The final kit in this run was playing against New Zealand when in the first of two games, they went for another mash up, with secondary kit combined with Primary shorts!
1992 gave us a replacement 3rd Kit, with the Primary and Secondary Kits remaining in place for a 3rd year (the last time this would happen in England Kit History)!
This 3rd Kit was worn twice in 1992, at Czechoslovakia and Spain and is another well loved and regarded kit with this design incorporating “The Three Lions” in it’s design of both shirt and shorts.
As regular readers will know, England in Sky Blue is one of my favourite Kit quirks and I have written a dedicated piece all about England in Sky Blue which you can find here.
1993 – 1994
1993 started with the launch of a new Primary Kit, which starts a run of a new kit being launched every year alternating between Primary and Secondary, which would be theme of kit launches for the majority of remaining years in which Umbro would be the England Kit Supplier!
This kit was one of the forgotten kits of this period, likely as it was never worn in major finals with England failing to reach World Cup 94, the kit was first worn in the World Cup Qualifier against San Marino! The kit included a larger shield around the crest that we have seen before and a lot more red in the shorts!
In the summer of 1993, England played in a tournament in the United States in preparation for the World Cup the following year, this tournament saw England play three games (USA, Brazil and Germany) with two of them in the Secondary Kit from 1990, meaning this kit spanned four years.
However there were some slight differences with this one, the new crest (with larger shield), the updated Umbro logo, with capital letters used for wordmark and the nameset numbers / player names used for that season.
This kit was also used with Primary shorts of the 1993 Kit against USA, for another kit variation look.
With the team failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, it meant The Three Lions only played six games in 1994, the fewest since 1967.
However there was time to launch a new Secondary Kit, another kit that often gets forgotten, this was a darker red than seen before and marketed as “wine red”. It also included red shorts for the first time in it’s default look and the first time England played in all red since early 1970!
1995 – 1996
1995 started with England visiting Ireland, wearing their red secondary kit for the 2nd time, however due to crowd trouble the game was abandoned after 27 minutes.
In March, England launched their new Primary Kit and the kit that would be worn when England hosted the Euros the following year. This kit was big change from the previous 20 years, with no red in the kit for the first time since 1974, however a new colour was introduced, turquoise was now incorporated into all three elements of the kit’s trim!
It used a central crest for the first time in England’s Kit History.
Another change was the introduction different colour nameset, traditionally England had always used red numbers with their Primary Kit, this kit used navy with turquoise trim.
1996 started with a new secondary kit and at the time one of the most controversial kits, certainly in England’s Kit History. The kit was not red, and was “Indigo”, almost grey in its look! It was peak 90s in terms of it’s design and was certainly planned with one eye on what fans would wear rather than keeping with tradition!
First worn against Bulgaria in March (actually with solid red numbers), it was most famously worn at Euro 96 in the Semi-Final against Germany which ended in penalty defeat. It was worn one more time at Georgia, meaning it made 3 appearances in it’s only season of use! Although not regarded so at the time, this kit is considered a classic nowadays by fans and kit lovers alike.
And remember that this may be the only football kit to feature in a number one single… “Tears for heroes dressed in grey”, 3 Lions ’98!
1997 – 1999
During 1997 England launched two new kits, first a new Primary kit and then a secondary kit replacing the much maligned Indigo Kit!
The Primary kit saw a return to red as part of the kit, including the nameset and was first worn against Italy in February of that year, one of three games against them in 1997. The central crest / logo remained in place from the previous kit! The Primary kit was used in 10 times in the 11 games of this year!
The new Secondary kit was launched in the summer and was a return to red, with a stripe included in the shirt, the only “striped” shirt in England kit history so far!
The one game the kit was worn in 1997 was at La Tournoi, a tournament in France which was part of the preparations for World Cup ’98, England lifted the trophy in this kit after winning the tournament!
1998, A World Cup year and it was in the World Cup that see some interesting use of the two current England Kits, in their opening two games the default Primary Kit was worn, however in the final Group match against Colombia, the Secondary Kit was combined Primary socks to create a red / white / white look, the first time this combination had been seen in 16 years, also at World Cup (v France, 1982).
The next game, the Last 16 game against Argentina was another mash up, this time Primary Kit with Secondary shorts, to create an “All White” look (only the 2nd time this was seen in the 90s). The only thing about this mash up was the numbers on the shorts, being different from the shirt was slightly jarring (probably just me I know!!).
The final year of the 90s was the only year in which England used two completely different Primary and Secondary Kits in this decade, starting the year in games against France (Primary) and Poland (Secondary) of the kits from 1997/98!
April saw the release of a new Primary Kit, which was a stripped back kit in terms of design from the previous years and return to a more a classic look of the 1960’s! A return to just white and navy, the crest returned to it’s traditional position on the shirt and there was a crew neckline for first time in 10 years.
The final kit released this decade was also one of the strangest, remaining red in it’s colour it was made of woolen material which I am not sure was the most efficient fabric for elite sportsmen and something that is unlikely to return!
Breakdown per year – 112 Games in Total
1990 – 15 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1991 – 12 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
2 Secondary Kit Variations
1 3rd Kit Variation
1992 – 12 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1 3rd Kit Variation
1993 – 11 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
2 Secondary Kit Variations
1994 – 6 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1995 – 9 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1996 – 12 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1997 – 11 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1998 – 14 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
2 Secondary Kit Variations
1989 – 10 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
2 Secondary Kit Variations
Well, that is the 1990s completed, 112 games in total, different kit looks and changes, five official primary and secondary kits used and two 3rd Kits!
I will return with a look back at the 2000s!
Let me know your thoughts and comments below or over at @Kit_Geek and a reminder that the overall visual page of the England Kit History is now also live on the site here
The Premier League’s first mid-week fixtures of the season have now taken place, with all teams playing over 3 days this week! Here is our regular look at the Kits worn in these games.
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 14 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 71 (+2 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 61 (+1 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were two new Kit looks this Matchweek..
Chelsea in their Home Kit with Away socks, to create an all blue look!
Nottingham Forest in alternative red shorts at Manchester City.
The one new goalkeeper kit on show:
Ipswich Town – White Umbro Template
Kit Highlights
Wolverhampton Wanderers have worn Home, Away and 3rd kits in their last three games!
Tottenham Hotspur have worn change kits just three times this season but have lost in all three of those games!
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, Forest in red shorts is one of the little kit things that I just love, so seeing them in this look was always going to be a winner for me!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 14 Home Kits, 6 Away Kit and no 3rd Kits
There were two variations seen over these fixtures.
Chelsea – Home / Away socks, all blue
Nottingham Forest – Home with alternative red shorts, all red
Kit Grid – Up to 6th December
Kit News
There was no significant Premier League Kit News this weekend and will be back after this weekend’s games!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
The Premier League Matchweek 13 is completed, a third of the way through the season and the return of Friday Night Football for just the 3rd time this season, let’s take a deeper look into the kits worn this weekend.
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 13 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 69 (+2 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 60 (+1 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were two new Kit looks this Matchweek..
Southampton wore their 3rd kit for the first time in the Premier League this season, having worn it in the Carabao Cup in the same look with alternative white shorts.
Aston Villa wore their Away shirt with Home shorts and socks for another away kit look for them this season!
The one new goalkeeper kit on show:
Crystal Palace – Fluro Yellow
Kit Highlights
Aston Villa are fast becoming my favourite team on the road this season, wearing the 4th different variation of their Away Kit this season, only wearing it look the one time. They are using the home kit to mash up their looks, we still have yet to see their 3rd kit used in the Premier League.
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, the Fulham away this season is a great look and worked well match up at Tottenham!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 15 Home Kits, 3 Away Kit and 2 3rd Kits
There were three variations seen this weekend
Southampton – 3rd with alternative white shorts
Aston Villa – Away with home shorts & socks
Everton – All Blue, 2nd time used this season
Kit Grid – Up to 1st December
Kit News
There was no significant Premier League Kit News this weekend and will be back on Friday after the first round of mid-week fixtures of this season!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
The 2024/25 Champions League returns for Match 5 of the League phase, the “super” league is now taking shape for the 36 teams competing!
The current Kit Overview for Kits worn by The Champions League Teams.
This gives 107 of the 108 Kits of the 36 Teams, (111 including Cup and 4th Kits).
Match 5 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 88 (+5 from Match 4)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were 5 new Kits on show this week
Slovan Bratislava – Home
Brest – Away
Feyenoord – Away / Alternative white socks
Atalanta – Away
Stuttgart – 3rd
Kit Highlights
Bayern Munich continue to appear to be using their 3rd Kit as the Champions League first choice kit, wearing it for the fourth time against PSG and the for third time in a Home game.
Slovan Bratislava wore their fourth different kit of the competition, after using their registered Home Kit for the first time in the Champions League this season, after previously wearing a special cup kit, away and 3rd kits!
Bologna wore their 3rd Kit at Home against Lille, the 3rd time they have worn the kit this season in the competition but the first time at home!
Although not an actual kit from the game, but as part of the build up to the game between AS Monaco and Benfica this wonderful graphic was created which incorparates the kits worn in the match as F1 Overalls.
Five Teams in total have worn four different kit looks in their opening five games.
My favourite Kit Match of the week was the game between Manchester City and Feyenoord, not only a cracking game on the pitch but the two kits used worked well together and I do enjoy constrasting socks, so both team in this look is a win for me!
Kit Stats
Overall this Matchweek we have seen the following kits…
22 Home Kits
7 Away Kits
5 3rd Kits
2 “Cup” Kits
There was just 1 Kit Variation used this week
Feyenoord – Away with alternative white socks
6 Clubs in total have worn the same kit in their opening five fixtures of the competition (Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Arsenal, PSG, Real Madrid, RB Salzburg).
Let me know your thoughts or other details you spotted this week in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and I will be back after next round of Champions League games.
The Premier League is back after the 3rd and final International Break of 2024 and as we ramp up to Christmas the fixtures will come around quickly with nine rounds of fixtures over the next six weeks!
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 12 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 67 (+3 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 59 (+1 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were three new Kit looks this Matchweek..
Nottingham Forest wore alternative Sky Blue shorts with their 3rd Kit!
Wolverhampton Wanderers were in their 3rd Kit for first time this season.
Manchester United wore alternative shorts and socks with their Home Shirt to create a Red / Black / White look at Ipswich Town.
The one new goalkeeper kit on show:
Wolverhampton Wanderes – Dark Purple
Kit Highlights
Brentford wore their Home Kit in an away game for the first time this season at Everton, they are final team to do this in 2024/25, it also was their first point in away game having lost the prevous five worn in change kits.
Chelsea continue their 100% record in their Away kit this season, making it 3 wins in 3 this weekend (2 with alternative socks, as worn here).
The four Umbro supplied team’s goalkeepers all wore the same template kit this weekend, with AFC Bournemouth, Brentford, Ipswich Town and West Ham United all using the yellow goalkeeper kit!
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between AFC Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion, mainly due this being the first match up this season by two teams in striped shirts… the Bournemouth Home Kit (sponsor aside) is fantastic this season, and seeing the contrast in stripes with Brighton shirt worked well for me!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 15 Home Kits, 3 Away Kit and 2 3rd Kits
There were three variations seen this weekend
Chelsea – Away with alternative socks, 2nd time worn this season
Nottingham Forest – 3rd, alternative Sky Blue Shorts
Manchester United – Home with black shorts and white socks
Kit Grid – Up to 26th November
Kit News
Leicester City’s front of shirt sponsor BC.Game announced this week that they have been declared bankrupt, however news from the club is that their sponsor is still committed to the club and will remain on shirts…. one to keep an eye on!
Tottenham Hotspur have annouced a “remastering” of their brand, the headline of this is course an amendment to the club crest which see the word mark of the club removed, leaving just the cockerel. However there is more to this change than just this, there is an re-introduction of a club “wordmark”, 7 Club “Hallmarks” created for the club, we will see these on the kits in the coming seasons!
The most interesting update for me is club introducing a colour palette, does this give us hint of the colours will club will use for their kits going forward, nothing surprising to see but they are closely linked to kits of the club’s past!
Wolverhampton Wanderers have announced a special kit to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of “Floodlight Friendly” win against Honved in 1954, a game that key in the creation of The European Cup. The reflective looking design with minimal branding will be worn against Ipswich Town on 14th December.
Full details can be found on the club website here
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
The Premier League has now reached the 3rd International Break of the season and the final one of 2024, Matchweek 11 is here and this is my look at the kits worn.
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 11 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 64 (+4 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 58 (+1 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were four new Kit looks this Matchweek..
Everton wore their 3rd Home Kit variation of the season, with an all blue look at West Ham United.
Aston Villa who followed their all white look (Home Shorts) in The Champions League, with same look in the Premier League for the first time this season!
Newcastle United are another team that wore a kit in the league that have previously worn in a Cup Competition with alternative white socks, both against Nottingham Forest.
Ipswich Town wore their 3rd Kit for the first time this season.
The one new goalkeeper kit on show:
Tottenham Hotspur – Purple
Kit Highlights
Southampton wore their Home Kit in an away game for the first time this season (after 6 games).
Everton made it 3 different Home Kit Looks in their last 3 games, this gives them 5 kit variations in total the joint highest in the Premier League so far this season!
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between Liverpool and Aston Villa, the all white Villa look gave us a nice clean kit match up.
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 16 Home Kits, 1 Away Kit and 3 3rd Kits
There were three variations seen this weekend
Everton – Home, All Blue
Aston Villa – Away with Home shorts, All White
Newcastle United – Home with white socks
Kit Grid – Up to 10th November
Kit News
There has been no significant Premier League Kit news in the past week.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and I will be back after the International break with in depth kit reviews!
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
The 2024/25 Champions League returns for Match 4 of the League phase, half way through this stage of the reformated competition!
The current Kit Overview for Kits worn by The Champions League Teams.
This gives 107 of the 108 Kits of the 36 Teams, (111 including Cup and 4th Kits).
Match 4 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 83 (+11 from Match 3)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were 11 new Kits on show this week
AC Milan – Home / Alternative black shorts & socks
Bayer Leverkusen – Away
Dinamo Zagreb – Away
Girona – 3rd / Away socks
Juventus – Away
Manchester City – Home / Alternative white socks
Monaco – 3rd / Charcoal shorts
Aston Villa – Away / Home shorts
Atletico Madrid – Away
Brest – Away / 3rd shorts
Benfica – Home / Alternative red shorts
Kit Highlights
The week’s fixtures started with a Kit Mash up on show, Girona using their 3rd Kit with Away socks for an interesting look at PSV! This was the first time they had used a change kit in this season’s competition.
AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City, are teams that have worn four different kit looks in their opening four games….
Levekusen in Away kit at Liverpool (a kit worn by their goalkeeper in the last round of fixtures).
Man City in Home / white socks at Sporting CP!
AC Milan in an alternative look for their Home Kit this season, but remains a classic AC Milan look with black shorts / socks, this also opens up more alternative possibiltes for future fixtures with their default white shorts / socks.
Bayern Munich used their 3rd Kit at Home for a second in this competition, this means they are yet to to wear their Home Kit in their opening 4 games!
12 Team in total have worn three different kit looks in their opening four games.
My favourite Kit Match of the week was the game between Sparta Prague and Brest, Brest another team in an interesting kit mash up, using 3rd shorts with their away kit for a look very much like a “Team USA” kit and paired with the lovely tri-colour kit of Sparta Prague made a good visual match up.
Kit Stats
Overall this Matchweek we have seen the following kits…
19 Home Kits
9 Away Kits
4 3rd Kits
4 “Cup” Kits
There were 7 Kit Variations used this week
Girona – Away / 3rd Socks
AS Monaco – 3rd / Charcoal shorts
Manchester City – Home / White socks
AC Milan – Home / Black shorts & socks
Aston Villa – Away / Home shorts
Benfica – Home / Red shorts
Brest – Away / 3rd shorts
7 Clubs in total have worn the same kit in their opening three fixtures of the competition (Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Arsenal, Atalanta, PSG, Real Madrid, RB Salzburg).
Let me know your thoughts or other details you spotted this week in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and I will be back after next round of Champions League games.
The Premier League has now in double figures with Matchweeks, dark evenings, winter balls and we are now over a quarter of the way through the season! So let’s take a more in depth look at Kits of this weekend!
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below.
Matchweek 10 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 60 (+2 Kits this Matchweek)
Goalkeeper Kits – 57 (+2 Kits this Matchweek)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were two new Kit looks this Matchweek.. both Home Kit variations!
Everton wore alternative blue socks for the first time.
Aston Villa used alternative claret socks with their home kit at Tottenham.
The two new goalkeeper kits on show
Everton – Aqua Blue
Leicester City – Pink Adidas Template
Kit Highlights
Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Everton wore Home Kits in away games for the first time this season. This means Brentford and Southampton remain the only teams to wear change kits in all their Away games!
There have been 7 instances of teams wearing home kit variations (all alternative socks) an no team in yet to win in their alternative look!
My favourite Kit Match Up of the weekend was the game between AFC Bournemouth and Manchester City, again Bournemouth’s clean looking kit (aside the sponsor) stands out, and matched up with Man City, both look great in action.
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 17 Home Kits, 1 Away Kit and 2 3rd Kits
There were four variations seen this weekend
Manchester City – Home, alternative white socks, 2nd time used
West Ham United – Away / Home socks, 2nd time used
Everton – Home with alternative blue socks
Aston Villa – Home with claret socks
Kit Grid – Up to 5th November
Kit News
Aston Villa annouced a collaboration with Rock Band Black Sabbath, this limited additional release will have just 250 shirts available, 200 outfield shirts and 50 goalkeeper. The shirt was worn against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, there is also a pair of specially designed Predator Boots linked to this partnership…!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and I will be back later this week with a review of Champions League Match 4 Kits!
If you liked this, then check out the below posts that have recently been published on the site…
As regular readers will know I am looking to document the England Men’s National Football Team’s Kit History from 1960 to The Modern Day, creating some reference articles and documents for those that like to have quick reference to these things.
England played 116 Games between 1980 and 1989, the most games in decade so far, saw The Three Lions wearing their Primary (Home) Kit 97 times and change Kits again just 19 times, the same number of times overall but only 16% of the total games.
The 80’s was also the decade where we started to see more regular changes in Kit Design.
1980 – 1981
The 1980s started with England in the same kits as they ended the 70s, however this was about to change with the second set of Admiral Kits introduced in May 1980 ready for the European Championships of that summer, the first tournament England qualified for in 10 years!
This Kit is one of England’s most well known and loved by the fans with it’s unique shoulder panels introducing more colour to the England shirt than had ever been seen before and huge leap from the Kit worn just six years before (Primary Kit of 1964-1974).
One thing to call out here was in the European Championship hosted by Italy, England wore a version of the Kit that was unbranded, to comply with UEFA laws of the time.
The team wore three different kit looks in 1980, with a return to all white look in the game against Romania, this was the first time in over 10 years since the team went for an all white combination, that was at The World Cup 1970 in Mexico!
1981 started with another all white look again and then in the next two fixtures both at Wembley (Romania and Brazil) saw the final outings of the first change kit from Admiral in it’s first use since 1979.
1982
1982 was a World Cup year and the first one England have played in for 12 years! It also gave us a new change kit from Admiral, the design mirrored the Primary Kit but used traditional red as the base colour. The first game it was used was the final warm up game before the World Cup in Spain against Finland, however it was its use in the World Cup that raised some eyebrows…
Against France in the opening game the shirt was paired with its default white shorts and white socks (from Primary Kit) for nice looking Kit Mash Up.
The interesting change was in the game against West Germany (2nd Group Phase of the competition) where there was slight change to the look of the shirt, with an extra white band appearing in the design.. also, this shirt carried the Admiral Branding!
Although not all players in the game had this alternative version….!
England meet West Germany in the Autumn of 1982 and went for another kit mash up, wearing change socks (red) with the Primary Kit… a look not seen since 1979, and just look at those wonderful numbers, might just be one of my favourites in England’s kit history.
1983 – 1984
In terms of kit usage 1983 was fairly uneventful, 11 games in total with the change kit used just once in its last outing was at Home to Greece in March, the final ever use of the famous kit design was in November when team played in Luxembourg, change was on its way…!
We are now into 1984, and a return of Umbro as the Kit Supplier for The Three Lions but this time carrying the “Double Diamond” branding for the first time, and they would provide kits for the next 29 years! The new look striped back the colour and design of the Admiral years and went for a more traditional look with a return of navy blue shorts! The kit was first worn against France in February 1984.
England toured South America in the summer of 1984 after failing to qualify for the Euros and this tour gave a first look of the new Umbro Change Kit, with the Secondary shorts and socks being worn at Brazil (remember that John Barnes goal) and Chile!
With the full Secondary kit being worn at Uruguay.
1985 – 1986
1985 gave us a return of the All White look again, mashing up Secondary shorts with Primary shirts / socks, this was worn in the game against United States that summer, not sure the light grey goalkeeper kit would be allowed to used with that kit nowadays!
The left over elements of primary / secondary kit were used in the game against Turkey later that year, with Secondary shirts and socks used with Primary shorts to give a red / navy / red look, one I particularly like England in! This also meant England went four games in a row with four different kit looks, the first time this had happened since 1974 and that included the change from Umbro to Admiral!
1986 was another World Cup year and like the last time tournament was held in Mexico there was an “airtex” version of the kit used for the tournament. By this team England had introduced a Sky Blue 3rd Kit, in the same template as the other two kits and for the actual tournament this kit was registered as the Secondary Kit for The Three Lions.
The only time elements of this kit were seen in action were in the Quarter-Finals against Argentina when they were worn with the Primary shirt to give us a unique white / sky blue / sky blue look, something never seen before or again!
This was the only alternative version of the England kits used that year!
1987 – 1989
1987 started with All white returning in a famous win at Spain, however by May of that year Umbro released their 2nd Primary Kit of their return for one of my favourite kit looks of all time.. first worn against Brazil! This would be the 4th and final official Primary Kit used in the 80s.
The change remained the same through 1987 was worn at West Germany and then for the final time in 1988 at Israel. The new change kit was introduced in Spring of that year and first worn against Colombia at Wembley in the lead up to Euro 88.
This was not the only change kit released, there was a 3rd kit in the same template. Regular readers and followers will know that this is my single favourite kit of all time and only got used in one U21 game, but we did get this wonderful Squad Picture of the Senior Team in this kit….. (so it had to be included)!
I have written a dedicated piece all about England in Sky Blue which you can find here.
These kits remain in place through 1989, were we got to see a couple of different kit mash ups, against Chile, white / white / red was used for the first time in 5 years!
This was followed by All White look against Sweden, however this game will be more remembered for how Terry Butcher’s kit looked at the end of the game…!
Breakdown per year – 116 Games in Total
1980 – 13 Games
3 Primary Kit Variations
1981 – 9 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1982 – 15 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
3 Secondary Kit Variations
1983 – 11 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1984 – 11 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1985 – 12 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
2 Secondary Kit Variations
1986 – 14 Games
2 Primary Kit Variations
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1987 – 8 Games
3 Primary Kit Variations
1 Secondary Kit Variation
1988 – 12 Games
1 Primary Kit Variation
2 Secondary Kit Variations
1989 – 11 Games
3 Primary Kit Variations
1 Secondary Kit Variations
Well, that is the 1980s completed, 116 games in total, different kit looks and changes, four official primary and secondary kits used and even the introduction of 3rd Kits! I will return with a look back at the 90s soon!
Let me know your thoughts and comments below or over at @Kit_Geek and a reminder that the overall visual page of the England Kit History is now also live on the site here
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 