Tag: Kit Log

EFL, League Two 21/22 – End of Season Report

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The 2021/22 League Two Season came to a close on Saturday 7th May 2022, with Champions being Forest Green Rovers, who gain promotion to Third Tier of English Football for the first time with Exeter City securing Runner’s Up spot, Bristol Rovers securing a final day promotion with a remarkable 7-0 victory against already relegated Scunthorpe United, a successful season for clubs in that region of the country in League Two. Northampton Town, Port Vale, Swindon Town and Mansfield Town will compete in the Playoffs for the final promotion place.

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

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 86 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 36% of Kit variations used
    • 25 Home Kits worn
    • 6 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 33% of variations used
    • 25 Away Kits worn
    • 3 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 26% of variations worn
    • 17 3rd Kits worn
    • 6 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 5% of variations worn
    • 4 Special Kits worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

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

  • Walsall wore 10 Kit Variations
    • Home x3, Away x3, 3rd x4
    • Full Details can be found here
    • 11.5% of all kits worn in League Two
  • Rochdale wore 6 Kit Variations
    • Home x2, Away, 3rd x3
  • 3 Teams wore 5 Kit Variations
    • Colchester United – Home, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Stevenage – Home x2, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Tranmere Rovers – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
  • Bradford City wore 4 Kit Variations
    • Home, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
  • 15 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
  • 3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits, 2 Kit variations
    • Carlisle United
    • Newport County
    • Scunthorpe United
  • Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits
    • Walsall – Red / White / Green, All Red, Red / Red / Green
  • Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
    • Walsall – Green / Green / Red, All Green, Green / Green / White
  • Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 4 Kits
    • Walsall – White / Green / White, White / Red / White, White / Red / Red. White / Red / Green
  • 12 Teams wore just Home, Away, 3rd (or Special) Kits
  • 17 Teams worn no variation of kits
    • Bradford City wore 4 kits with no variations
    • 3 Teams in just Home and Away kits
  • Mansfield Town wore two “Away” Kits, debuting their 2022 / 23 Away Kit in the final away league game of the season
  • Most worn Home Kit – 40, Mansfield Town
  • Most worn Away Kit – 19, Colchester United (22 including the one other variation used)
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 14, Salford City and Tranmere Rovers (who wore 3rd Kit 14 times in total. 13 default look and 1 variation)

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

In 2021/22 League Two teams wore 86 Kits, this was a huge reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 117 Kits were worn.  The reduction is linked to the number of times teams had variations of their kits, with only 15 variations of Home, Away, 3rd kits used (7 of which worn by Walsall) compared to 50 variations from the default look used in 2020 / 21 season.

Two Teams, Colchester United and Harrogate Town wore change kits in all 23 away game. Colchester United in their away kit for 22 times and 3rd Kit once, where Harrogate Town had more of an even split with their Away Kit used 11 times and 3rd Kit worn 12 times.

Stevenage had two different Home Kits through out the season, an inital kit which was only worn four times before their actual Home Kit for the season was used.

The was a subtle difference in sponsor layout and additional stripes across the chest of the shirt in the final home kit.

League Two was also the home of “Special Kits” in 2021 / 22, with four teams wearing a special kit for a variety of reasons.

Bradford City – Limited Edition 4th Shirt

Colchester United – Ukraine Solidarity Kit

Northampton Town – 125th Annivesary Kit

Stevenage – Season Ticket Holder Tribute Kit

Walsall worn a remarkable 10 different kit variations, using elements of the Home, Away and 3rd kits to build these variations, I have gone into detail about this in a seperate article which you can find here

Mansfield Town wore their home kit for 40 games through out the season, the most of any team in the top four English Leagues, only wearing their away kit six times including debuting their 22 / 23 Away kit in their final away of the season at Salford City.

There we have it, League Two’s End of Season Kit report for 2021/22, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

You can find other End of Season Reports below.

Premier League – End of Season Report

Championship – End of Season Report

League One – End of Season Report

EFL, League One 21/22 – End of Season Report

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The 2021/22 League One Season came to a close on Saturday 30th April 2022, with Wigan Athletic securing the title on the final day of the season, with Rotherham United securing Runner’s Up spot and therefore gaining Automatic promotion to The Championship. MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers will compete in the Playoffs for the final promotion place.

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

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 94 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 44% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 17 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 36% of variations used
    • 24 Away Kits worn
    • 10 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
    • 14 3rd Kits worn
    • 4 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kit – 1% of variations worn
    • 1 Special Kit worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

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

  • 3 Teams wore 6 Kit Variations
    • Accrington Stanley – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Cheltenham Town – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
    • Portsmouth – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
  • 4 Teams wore 5 Kit Variations
    • Ipswich Town – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
    • Morecambe – Home x2, Away x3
    • Oxford United – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Sheffield Wednesday – Home x3, Away x2
  • 5 Teams wore 4 Kit Variations
    • Cambridge United – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Charlton Athletic – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Doncaster Rovers – Home x2, Away, 3rd
    • Shrewsbury Town – Home x2, Away x2
    • Wycombe Wanderers – Home, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
  • Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits worn by 2 teams
    • Cheltenham Town, Black shorts / Red socks – Black shorts / White socks – White shorts / Red socks
    • Sheffield Wednesday, Black shorts & socks – White shorts & socks – Black shorts / white socks
  • Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
    • Moreambe, All Black – Black shirt, White shorts, Black socks – Black shirt, white shorts & socks
  • Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 2 Kits worn by 3 teams
    • Accrington Stanley
    • Ipswich Town
    • Portsmouth
  • 12 Teams wore 3 Kit Variations
  • 9 Teams only used Home and Away kits (no 3rd Kits), all used at least one kit variation of these two kits
  • 7 Teams wore kits with no varitations, just home, away and 3rd kits
    • Wycombe Wanderers wore 4 different kits with no variations
    • AFC Wimbledon, Lincoln City, MK Dons, Plymouth Argyle, Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic
  • Most worn Home Kit – 38, Gillingham (Most worn for 2nd season in a row)
  • Most worn Away Kit – 16, Plymouth Argyle
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 12, Lincoln City and Oxford United

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

In 2021/22 League One teams wore 94 Kits, this was a reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 98 Kits were worn. There were 9 teams that wore just home and away kits which was the most in the English Top Four Divisions, however each of these team wore at least one kit variation which gives us some different looks through out the season.

Wycombe Wanderers wore a special kit in their against Plymouth Argyle on 15th April 2022, the kit was in the colours of Ukraine and were auctioned off after the game to raise money for charties supporting those impacted by the situation.

There were some teams that wore change kits at home for a various reasons, some took part in The Shelter “No Home Kit” campaign, wearing change kits at home to highlight those people are homeless and raise money for the charity and other to offer support to Ukraine.

Bolton Wanderers in away kit at home to Morecambe

Doncaster Rovers in 3rd Kit at home to Wigan Athletic

Sunderland at home to Crewe Alexander in their away kit

Wycombe Wanderers wore four different kits through out the season and between 2nd April and 15th April wore these four kits in four games in 13 days.

Ipswich Town wore their home kit for their first 13 games of the season, it was only in their 13th game where they deviated from their first choice home kit, wearing all blue against Portsmouth, the went on to use five different kit variations. Ipswich Town also doned all blue in their game against Lincoln City, who wore their yellow 3rd kit in supprt of the People of Ukraine

Plymouth Argyle used change kits in 18 of their 23 away games, wearing their away kit 16 time which is the most of any team in The League, this may be surprising as they are the only team with a green home kit in the league but given there are 10 teams with elements of red in the home kit, this supports those colourblind supporters and viewers.

There we have it, League One’s End of Season Kit report for 2021/22, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

You can find other End of Season Reports below.

Premier League – End of Season Report

Championship – End of Season Report

League Two – End of Season Report

FA Cup – Quarter Finals, 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 5th Round of the 2021/22 season.

Details from Round 5 can be found here – FA Cup – Fifth Round, Kit Review

The Quarter Finals of the competition was held on 19th March and 20th March, with all games televised. The round consisted of 8 teams, 6 Premier League Teams and 2 Championship Teams.

No replays from now on in the competition, so all ties were concluded in these games by Extra Time / Penalities if needed.

Quarter Final Kit Log

Manufacturers

Only four manufacturers left in the competition at this round, it was the first time this season that Puma did not supply the most kits, that honour fell to Hummel with three teams out of the eight left and Macron the only supplier to provide just one team with their kit.

Kit Highlights

As there was only four games, let take each match…

Middlesbrough v Chelsea

Middlebrough in their kit for 3rd time (4 games), Chelsea have worn their home kit in all games so far.

Crystal Palace v Everton

Crystal Palace another team that have been in their home kit for 3 games, the only time not in their home colours they used their 3rd Kit, which has yet to be used in the Premier League in their 3rd Round tie at Local Rivals Millwall. Everton were in a change kit for the first time in the competition this season.

Southampton v Manchester City

Southampton have worn 3 kits in their 4 games, including a special one off white shirt in Round 4, this was their 2nd appearance in their home kit. Manchester City have used their Home, Away and 3rd kits before this game, so taking to the field in their 3rd kit was also the 2nd appearance of the kit.

Nottingham Forest v Liverpool

Nottingham Forest who have played all their games at City Ground, so have worn their home kit in all their 4 games. Liverpool where in their first away game, so took to the field in a change kit for the first time in the competition this season.

Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup Quarter Finals at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

FA Cup – Fourth 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 4th Round of the 2021/22 season.

Details from Round 3 can be found here – FA Cup – Third Round, Kit Review

The Fourth Round of the FA Cup was completed over the weekend of 4th / 5th / 6th February 2022, with 32 teams being left in the competition with Kidderminster Harriers being the lowest ranked team in the competition, currently in National League North (6th Tier of English Football Pyramid), they were joined by 14 Premier League teams, 12 Championship, 3 League One, 1 League Two and 1 National League team.

No replays from now on in the competition, so all ties were concluded in these games by Extra Time / Penalities if needed.

Fourth Round Kit Log

Manufacturers

11 Kit Manufacturers were used in the Fourth Round, this is a decrease from 14 in Third Round. Puma maintaining their run of most kits used in the round with 7 in total, 22% of total kits in this round.

There were 5 manufacturers with just one kit on show – Joma, Errea, Kappa, Castore and Oneils.

Kit Highlights

Looking at some of the highlights of the Fourth Round…

Another round saw another “Special” Kit on show, this time it was Southampton who used a white variation of their 3rd (Black) kit which has the St.Mary’s Stadium graphic running through the shirt in repeating pattern. This kit was to celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Saints Foundation.

There was a limited number of the shirts sold (500) which have now sold out.

Norwich City used their Away kit for the first time this season against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the black and neon blue kit gives a great alternative look and was a change needed against Wolves’ Old Gold.

Plymouth Argyle took Chelsea to Extra Time before losing, however they used a look that has not been seen in League One this season by combining their away kit with home socks (green / white) to avoid a clash of white socks with the European Cup Holders.

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The first game of the round on Friday 4th February saw an upset when Middlesbrough knocked out Manchester United on Penalities, however it should be noted that Manchester United changed their look to white shorts and socks, normally saved for European games however this change was aid those colourblind supporters.

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Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup Fourth Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek

EFL – Kit Round Up

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We are now just over half way through the season for the three EFL Leagues, I wanted to document the Kits Worn by each team at this stage of the season.

The Championship

  • 87 Kits worn
  • 33 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home Kits / 9 Variations)
  • 32 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away Kits / 8 Variations)
  • 20 3rd Kits worn (19 Regular 3rd Kits / 1 variation)
  • 2 Special Kits worn (Coventry City / Queen’s Park Rangers)
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  • Luton Town / Millwall in 6 Kit variations – Most in The Championship
  • 4 Teams with 5 Kit variations (Barnsley, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Fulham)
  • 5 Teams with 4 Kit variations
  • 9 Teams with 3 Kit variations
  • 4 Teams with 2 Kit variations (Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, Reading, Stoke City) – fewest in the league

League One

  • 82 Kits Worn
  • 34 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home kits / 10 variations)
  • 32 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away kits / 8 variations)
  • 15 3rd Kits worn (14 Regular 3rd Kits / 1 variations)
  • 1 Special Kit (Doncaster Rovers)
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  • 4 Teams with 5 Kit variations, most in League One (Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Oxford United, Portsmouth)
  • 4 Teams with 4 Kit variations (Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday)
  • 14 Teams with 3 Kit variations
  • 2 Teams in 2 Kit variations, fewest in the league (Bolton Wanderers, Gillingham)

League Two

  • 73 Kits worn
  • 29 Home Kits worn (24 Regular Home Kits / 5 variations)
  • 26 Away Kits worn (24 Regular Away Kits / 2 variations)
  • 18 3rd Kits worn (16 Regualr 3rd Kits / 2 variations)
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  • 2 Teams in 5 Kit variations in League Two (Rochdale, Walsall)
  • 3 Teams in 4 Kit variations (Colchester United, Stevenage, Tranmere Rovers)
  • 13 Teams in 3 Kit variations
  • 6 Teams in 2 Kit variations, fewest in the League

So just over half way through the season, we have seen 242 Kits used by the 72 teams in total, what have been your favourite kits on show, Kit Mash ups and Kit Match ups in the 2021/22 season, let me know over at @Kit_Geek

The Heat Press – Issue 4

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Time for Issue Number 4 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 3 click here

The Headlines

  • Arsenal – #NoMoreRed
  • Borussia Dortmund Kit Design Competition
  • Micheal Olise’s FA Cup look
  • Barcelona’s Senyara Kit

Arsenal – #NoMoreRed

Arsenal took to the field in their Third Round FA Cup match at Nottingham Forest on Sunday 10th January in an all white kit. The Kit was used to highligh the increase in knife crime within London and sees all the red removed from the kit. I have written a more detailed piece on this kit, which can be found here – Arsenal – #NoMoreRed

Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition

Borussia Dortmund are launching a competition which give fans, kit lovers and concept kit designers the opportunity to design the kit for German team for the 2023/24 seaon. Full details can be found on how to enter and to create the design, include templates here

Michael Olise’s FA Cup Look

Crystal Palace played local rivals Millwall on Saturday 8th January 2022 in FA Cup, The Eagles used their 3rd kit, a Sky Blue and White halved shirt with blue shorts and blue / white socks. This Kit was taken to another level by winger Michael Olise with his matching Nike boots, Olise topped this look off with a wonderful goal early in the second half to see his team through to the Fourth Round of FA Cup.

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Barcelona’s Senyera Kit

Kit sustainabilty has been a hot topic over recent weeks, so its worth calling out the Barcelona have used their “Senyera” kit for now the fourth calendar year… first used in 2019, it has seen action in 2020, 2021 and was used in the La Liga fixture against Granada on Saturday, so now been used in 2022 as well.

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And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

There is a new Podcast launched this week, the guys over at Kit Magazine have now released Episode 1 of their Podcast on Monday, along with some well known names in the Kit Community, this episode has a look at of the latest Kit News and in depth discussion about Forward Madison’s drip kit.

Tom, one half of the duo behind the wonderful @TheShirtUnion Twitter Account has pulled together one their handy Kit Grids for the African Cup of Nations with kicked off on 9th January, their grid show the shirts worn by each team taking part in the 2022 Competition.

The Guys over at @niclassicshirt have moved into their new premises in Newtownards, Northern Ireland and are now open for business, they were the winners of The Kitsman Award for “Best Independant Store” for 2021, all details can be found at their site for their in store and online options – https://www.niclassicshirtco.co.uk/

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

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 – @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

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 – 39% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 22 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 39% of variations used
    • 23 Away Kits worn
    • 23 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 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 – 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 – Highest in the league
    • Morecambe – 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 – Home x4, Away x2
    • Colchester United – 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 – Home x3, Away, 3rd
    • Crawley Town – Home, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Leyton Orient – 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 – White / Black / White – White / Claret / White – 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 – 36, Leyton Orient
  • Most worn Away Kit – 17, Cambridge United
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 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 – 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 Winners’ 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 Two’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 – 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/