Kits – Page 21 – Football Kit Geek

The Heat Press – Issue 13

Apr 6, 2022Apr 6, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged AC Milan, Fiorentina, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Maradona2 Comments

Time for Issue Number 13 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 12 click here

The Headlines

AC Milan 4th Kit
Fiorentina Kit Design Competition
Maradona’s “Hand of God” shirt
Plymouth Argyle – Ginsters

AC Milan 4th Kit

AC Milan have released their 4th Kit for the 2021 / 22 Season, this kit is part of a larger collaboration with Italian fashion brand “NEMEN”, the Kit was designed by Leonardo Fasolo, Founder and Creative Director of NEMEN and lifelong AC Milan fan.

The kit has been given mixed reviews from fans and those in the Kit Community however this gives a unique look to the Rossonere and is getting people talking about kits, which in kit design is something I can get behind. The kit has been worn by both Women’s and Men’s team this weekend in likely its only appearences on the field.

Fiorentina Kit Design Competition

Staying in Italy, Fiorentina and Kappa are given people the chance to design the 4th Kit for next season, there are some guidelines that must be adhered to in the designs:

Primary colors cannot be purple or green.
You can also use more than 3 colours as long as one is dominant.
You can propose a circled, striped, banded or checked design… but there must always be a dominant color.
You cannot replicate the Fiorentina logo or its elements (for example you cannot use the lily, the V of Viola, the name “ACF Fiorentina”).
You cannot modify or move the Fiorentina logo, the Kappa logo or the Mediacom logo.
You cannot change the shape of the shirt (collar, sleeves … the structure must remain as it is).

So for you Kit Concept Designers out there your designs need to be submitted by 17th April 2022, full details can be found here

Maradona’s “Hand of God” shirt

It has been reported in The Guardian that the shirt worn by Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final against England, famously worn scoring two of the most memorible goals in World Cup History is being put up for sale.

The shirt was in the ownership of Steve Hodge (Pictured below) who swapped shirts with Argentinian Legend after the game and has been on display at the National Football Museum of the recent years will go sale at Sotherby’s Auctioneers and estimate to sell for £4m.

Full details on the story can be found here

Plymouth Argyle – Ginsters

One of the most famous sponsorship partnerships in English Football is coming to an end. Plymouth Argyle and local savoury snack maker Ginsters have been in partnership since 2002, so at the end of this season their 20 year association will be coming to an end with League One club sporting a new sponsor for the 2022/23 season… will Pymouth shirts ever look the same again!

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Firstly our Friends at Football Shirts for Charity have released some new Charity shirts for 2022, following up from their wonderful shirts from 2021, they are producing three shirts each with a different colour details and you can include a name and number for no additional charge.

I have ordered mine, to go with my white shirt of theirs last season… its the blue one this year for me and cannot wait to add it to my collection.

Check out their site and place your order here

As you will know I am a lover of “Kit Logs”, maintaining a record of the kits worn by teams through out a competion or season, there have been a couple of examples that I have seen in the last week that I want to call out and share here…

PABLO has created this fantastic illistration of Spainish Segunda División B Hércules CF kits worn this season.

Paint Kits produced this amazing graphic looking at the teams from South America in the CONMEBOL 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, with what teams wore what kit through out the qualification process… as a Kit Geek, I love it!

There has been a few updates to my site over the past week, I have now included a section where I will keep the Kit Grids from the 2021 / 22 season in one place, the Premier League has been added with EFL Leagues to be added over the coming days (example below, Premier League up to 5th April 2022).

The page can be found at the top of my site,

I have also now included a “Friends of Kit Geek” section as well, where you can find other Football Kit Related pages that may interest you, if you want to see your site here please let me know and I will add it the list.

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 – Quarter Finals, Kit Review

Mar 29, 2022Posted in GeneralTagged FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, KitsLeave a comment

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

The Heat Press – Issue 12

Mar 25, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged Barcelona, CanPL, Denmark, Football, Football Kits, Hummel, Kit Geek, Kits, Real Madrid, Soccer1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 12 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 11 click here

The Headlines

Real Madrid – 120th Anniversary Kit
Canada Premier League Kit Launch
Denmark
Colchester United – Special Kit
Inverness Caledonian Thistle – 2022/23 Kit Launch

Real Madrid – 120th Anniversary Kit

Real Madrid have released a special kit to celebrate their 120th Anniversary, the kit which was designed in collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto under the Y-3 Brand. The all black kit is one for collectors with the price of the shirt alone being £160 / €180 and if you wanted to pick the whole kit up it will cost over £300.

The kit was worn last weekend in “El-Clásico” against rivals FC Barcelona, who themselves wore their “Senyera” kit which is in it’s 4th calendar year of use, this gave us one of the world’s classic derby matches a very unique look…

Canada Premier League

The was a large kit launch across the Atlantic last week with the launch of the Primary Kits for the Canadian Premier League. All kits are produced by Macron and they have delivered some great looks for the eight teams in the competition…

My favourite looks are…

FC Valour

And York United

The “Secondary” kits are launched over the next week, ready for the League to kick off in the first week of April, so we will take a look at those kits in the coming weeks but interested to see what they produce in follow up to the “Primary” kits.

Denmark – Special Edition Kit

Hummel have teamed up with fashion brand “BLS Hafina” to produce a special kit for the Denmark’s national team, this kit is to pay tribute to a new generation and will be worn on 29th March 2022 in their friendly against Serbia.

Check out Hummel‘s tweet about the kit below….

Can you feel it? A breath of fresh air, a unique look for the new generation.
BLS Hafnia and hummel have come together to design a limited edition national team shirt for Denmark, which pays tribute to the new generation.#hummelsport #ForDanmark pic.twitter.com/E69M54yJ9m
— hummel (@hummel1923) March 19, 2022

Colchester United – Special Kit

On Monday 21st March, Colchester United took to the field in their League Two game against Forest Green Rovers in a special kit to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The team wearing the yellow and blue kit, as will has ticket proceeds and other fund raising raised over £65,000 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, via the British Red Cross.

Full details can be found here

Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Kit Launch

One of the first kit launches of the 2022 / 23 season has now happened, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle have launched their home kit for next season, which the club are stating…

“Inspired by the fans who follow the Caley Jags both at home and on our travels, our “Inverness is Wonderful” song” with the words “Inverness is Wonderful” wovern into the shirt.

More details can be found here but the team are currently in the playoff positions in the Scottish Championship so will be hoping this kit is one we see in the Scottish Premier League next season.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

The Spark Academy have now taken their wonderful “Kit Breakdown” across to YouTube where they are looking at the authenic and replica versions of the Manchester United 2021 / 22 home shirt.

Watch the video here

Our friends over at the Kit Mag have recent tweeted about contributing in future issues of their magazine, if you are interested take a look at their site and just follow the instructions laid out here – I think I might even try and submit something myself….

@ArsenalShirt shared an interesting tweet this week, where the club were offering fans who hold “fan tokens” the chance to vote for what kit the team should wear in their game against Southampton on 16th April… interesting to see and is this the future??? (I would go 3rd kit, the more we see that the better in my eyes)!

FA Cup – Fifth Round, Kit Review

Mar 16, 2022Mar 29, 2022Posted in UncategorizedTagged FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer1 Comment

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 4 can be found here – FA Cup – Fourth Round, Kit Review

The 5th Round of the competition was held mid-week between 1st March and 7th March, this meant as many games as possible could be televised. The round consisted of 16 teams, 9 Premier League Teams, 6 Championship Teams and Boreham Wood of The National League, the lowest ranked and final Non League team in the competition.

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

Fifth Round Kit Log

Manufacturers

Only six manufacturers left in the competition at this round, with a fairly even split across Puma (4), Umbro, Hummel and Nike (3), with Puma maintaining their record with the most kits in each round.

Kit Highlights

Looking at some of the highlights of the Fifth Round…

There were three teams wore have worn 3 different kits in their 3 games in the FA Cup so far, with Manchester City, Southampton and West Ham United

Boreham Wood were in a “One-off” kit for their game at Everton, this was made even more special with their Premier League hosts covering the costs of this kit, as well as other costs such as travel and hotels, a really nice touch and show of support of the Non League Team.

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

The Heat Press – Issue 11

Mar 15, 2022Mar 15, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged Adidas, Bury, Colourblindness, Dortmund, Football, Football Kits, Kits, Las Vegas, Podcast, Soccer1 Comment

After a little break its now time for Issue Number 11 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 10 click h ere

The Headlines

Teams supporting Ukraine
Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition
Italy confirmed to Adidas
Bury AFC Kit Vote
Las Vegas Lights x Meyba

Teams supporting Ukraine

There have seen several examples of English Football teams using their kits to show solidatory with Ukraine over the past few weeks.

Ipswich Town v Lincoln City – Ipswich Town in all blue and Lincon City in their 3rd kit to create a Blue / Yellow look for the match

Brighton and Hove Albion wore their 3rd Kit (last season’s away) at home against Liverpool in Premier League, the shirts were auctioned off after the game to raise money for supporting charities.

Sunderland wore their away kit at home against Crewe Alexandra

I would expect we continue to see similar shows of support over the coming weeks.

Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition

As discussed in Issue 4 of The Heat Press, Borussia Dortmund introduced a competition to design their home kit for 2023/24 season. This has now got the stage of the final designs, our friends at Kit Mag pulled together this wonderfull graphic to show the finalists in the competition.

Voting ends this week on 18th March, where you can vote for your top 3 kits – https://kit.bvb.de/en

For me its the Top Middle, and the bottom two as shown in the graphic!

Italy to Adidas

Following the rumours that have been circulating since the start of the year, it was confirmed that the Italian National team will have their kits supplied by Adidas from January 2023.

It will not be the first time that The Azzuri have kits supplied by Adidas having provided playing and training kit between 1974 and 1978, however this did not carry the classic “Three Stripe” branding and as all kit lovers, we are keen to see if they adopt the three colours of the flag in their stripes as seen with the Italian Rugby team in 2014.

Bury AFC – Kit Vote

Bury AFC, the fan owned Phoenix club are offering their fans the opportunity to vote on the clubs kit for the next season, with Hope+Glory providing the kits for the club, some interesting designs on offer, I would go for option E, there are some Admiral vibes to this shirt that I like. The final kit will be used for the following two seasons.

Las Vegas Lights – 2022 Shirts

Las Vegas Lights a team well known in the Kit Community, who play in the USL Championship in United States have released their Home and Away Kits for the 2022 Season. The kits are produced by Classic Spanish manufactuerer Meyba (think Gary Lineker at Barcelona) and take inspriation from the City in their design, the Home based on the famous “Las Vegas Strip” and Away based on the region around the city, each design using colour well to highlight these elements.

On a personal note, I am off to Vegas later this year, so hoping to take a game whilst I am there.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Episode 8 of The Football Kit Podcast is now out, in this episode Les, Denis and I discuss Change Kits, we look we each take a postive and negative view of change kits.

A snap shot of our discussion can seen below…

You can find the podcast here or at your Podcast App of choice

With the annoucement of Italy soon to be wearing Adidas Kits has seen many concept kit designs from the Community, I wanted to call out @hendocfc who produced this wonderful take on what the shirt would look like.

I particularly like the collar and after seeing it was inspired by another passion of mine Formula 1, with the current Alfa Romeo rear wing.

The Heat Press – Issue 10

Feb 24, 2022Feb 24, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged Arsenal, Everton, FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 10 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 9 click here

The Headlines

Boreham Wood FA Cup Kit
Cheslea World Club Champions
Luton Town Sponsorship
Schalke 04 Sponorship change

Boreham Wood FA Cup Kit

Boreham Wood the final Non League Team left in the 2021/22 FA Cup are facing Premier League side Everton in The Fifth Round of the competition on Thursday 3rd March. Due to a clash between Boreham Wood’s Home Kit (all white) and Away Kit (Sky Blue) with Everton’s Blue / White Home kit and new 3rd Kit has been comissioned for the game. In a gesture to their opponents Everton offered to cover the costs of the new kit to support the club.

The kit may look familar, this is same template used by Manchester City and Crystal Palace Goalkeepers. Full details of the story can be found on Boreham Wood’s website here

Cheslea World Club Champions

After winning the World Club Championship, Chelsea took to the field in the Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Saturday 19th February sporting the “World Club Champions” badge, this is likely to be the only time we will see this badge in the Premier League based on the current Premier League rules, however it will be used in European Competitions.

My personal opinion here is that is a real shame, I believe we should be proud to have The World Champions in the Premier League and they should be allowed to wear the badge until the next competition.

Luton Town – New Sponsor

Luton Town took to the field on 19th February with a new front of shirt sponsor for their home kit. Utilita replace JB Developments for the remander of the season.

Full details can be found on Luton Town’s website here

Schalke 04 Sponsorship amendment

FC Schalke 04 have made the decision to remove their current sponsor given the global situation and the links their current sponsor has with the Russian State. They will replace the sponsor with simple wording of “SCHALKE 04” (mocked up example below from our friends at @KITmagazine_

German Newspaper BILD also replaced the sponsor with another logo in their recent publication.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

The always wonderful @KitblissNZ has followed up his 100 Greatest Football Shirt Templates countdown with a podcast to accompany the first few enteries, well worth checking out Kitbliss Podcast

It will be worth keeping an eye on what Phil Delves is up to in the coming weeks, Phil recently used this tweet to not only deliver a power message but to give a sneak peek of upcoming project, definitely watch this space here

Masters Football is returning this summer, so I put a poll out about kits, would you prefer to see teams using their current kits or sport something that was more “Retro Inspired”… the results were very much one sided and not surprising, I wonder what we will see??

The Heat Press – Issue 9

Feb 18, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged EFL, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, MLS, Soccer, wordle2 Comments

Time for Issue Number 9 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 8 click here

The Headlines

Torres’ Barcelona Shirt
PSG x Jordan?
Huddersfield Town – Colourblindness Support
MLS Kit Launches

Torres’ Barcelona Shirt

In the Europa League tie between FC Barcelona and SSC Napoli on Thursday 17th February 2022, there was a rare kit detail that kicked up enough fuss that it was even trending on Twitter. Ferran Torres making his first appearence in Europe for the Club took to the field in a long sleeved shirt that had no club crest or Nike logo on the shirt…

According to @fcbarcelonacollection.com this was due to an manufacting error…

“Many of you wrote to me yesterday about Ferran Torres’ shirt & why there is no crest of Barça and the swoosh of Nike on it.
I share hypothetical reasons why did happen. Now I can confirm it again with more information.
As I wrote last night & the radio cope confirm it.

The shirt at the time of production was in the phase of applying the crest and the Nike swoosh, unfortunately the glue that the shirt had applied, was not apply correctly on the fabric and the both elements peeled off easily & were not noticed

The shirt did not pass full quality control at the Nike factory. Someone who is responsible for control has allowed human error to happen. Easily done?

Nike sends sports equipment to the club two times during the season + add orders. The kitman and staff missed the error. They realized it on the pitch after HT. The player himself did not even notice that error.

F. Torres changed shirts at half-time. Many players do this because of the sweaty from first half and other reasons. Ferran had two long-sleeved shirts match prepared and one short sleeve. Two long-sleeved shirts for each half of the game. Short sleeve shirt was exchanged

Apparently the Club and technical staff didn’t feel good about this failure and the they going to take action to avoid the same things in the future“

The full thread can be found here – @fcbarcelonacollection.com

PSG x Jordan

The release of the 2021/22 4th Kit for PSG this month may be the last of its kind as part of the Nike Air Jordan Brand. It is reported that the deal with Jordan has ended and this kit will be the last of its kind seen, however the details are vague and this could be just opening the door to other teams seeing something similar.

However, given the success of the tie up I am sure we will something something similar in future seasons and likely with more than just PSG sporting the brand.

The Kit was used for the first time in the League game against Rennes and is the same design (template?) as the current home kit and heavily influenced by basketball uniform designs.

Huddersfield Town – Colourblindness Support

Communication is the key and this was proved by Huddersfield Town on 8th February when they let their fans (and of course all Kit Fans) that they would be in a “Kit Mash Up” for their game against Preston North End to support those fans with colour vison deficiency.

Their look for the night combined their away shirt with their home shorts and socks to give a descintive look and provide a contraist to their hosts.

MLS Kit Launches

With MLS kicking off it’s 2022 season at the end of February this week has seen many of the teams launch their new kits for the season. Historically MLS teams launch one new kit per season keeping either their home or away kits from the previous season. I will be doing a more in depth look at kits in the coming weeks but wanted to call out some of the new kits we have seen released this week

LA Galaxy – Home Kit

Philadelphia Union – Home Kit

New York Red Bulls – Away

As mentioned, I will be doing a more of deep dive into MLS Kits once all kits are launched, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Tom at @TheShirtUnion has been putting the shirt updates in the last week or so, these updates are fantastic in keeping an eye on current shirt deals for English teams.

Championship Kits can be found here – Championship

League One can found here – League One

A wonderful collection of Cambridge United shirts was shared by @jamesdking76 from 1991 to 1993

Is Football Kit Wordle a thing… well I have given it go, here is my attempt at one… any kits you can create in this theme??

The Heat Press – Issue 8

Feb 8, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged England, Football, Football Kits, Football Podcasts, Kit Geek, Kits, Nike, Podcast, Podcasts, Premier League, Soccer1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 8 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 7 click here

The Headlines

Southampton – Special Kit
Northampton Town – 125 Year Anniversary Shirt
FA Cup Sleeve Patches
Slovenia – Kit Votes

Southampton – Special Kit

Southampton release a “Special” Kit to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their Saints Foundation, the Kit was worn in the FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Home to Coventry City and has the same detail on the kit as their current 3rd Kit which includes a detail of the St.Mary’s Stadium included in the print of the shirt in a repeating pattern. The white shirt was paired with red shorts and white socks.

Kyle Walker-Peters is congratulated after his goal by Jack Stephens, Ibrahima Diallo and Armando Broja.

There were 500 shirts available for purchase from the club in a presentation box for £99.

Northampton Town – 125 Year Anniversary

Meanwhile at the other “Hampton”, Northampton Town have released their shirt commerating their 125th Anniversary and is based on their kit from those early days, Hummel delivering a classic looking shirt for The Cobblers, The “Chocolate and Blue” will be worn in the game against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday 5th March 2022.

The includes the names of the all the season ticket holders who donated the cost of the ticket to the club in the 2020 / 21 Season.

FA Cup Patches

Something that was brought to my attention this week was that the teams that have won the FA Cup have the number of times they have won included on their Sleeve Patch. Further research shows this was introduced from last season but is one of those little kit details that give me a lot of joy…!

Also the holders appear to have a “Silver” Patch rather than the standard Red Patch that all other teams have (reversed colours) – Thanks to Tom from @ShirtUnion for pointing this out to me.

Slovenia – Kit Votes

The Football Association of Slovenia have included fans as part of the decision process with their new kits from Nike in 2022. Fans (30%), alongside Players (40%) and member of the Slovenian FA (30%) will make up the decision making process.

The options were designed by 8 different Kit Designers and 11 different designs for the Home and Away kits, full details can be found at Footy Headlines – here

Voting closed on 7th February 2022 for these kits.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

The latest Episode of The Football Kit Podcast is now out, in Episode 7 Denis, Les and I look at some Kit Templates, which each of us bringing a Template of Worship and Template of Doom….

Spoilers…. my Template of Worship and Template of Doom are below, have a listen to find out which one was which and the reason behind my choices….!

Make sure you check out the wonderful @_luke1878_ who is producing a “Kit Tracker” for Everton, the detail in the illustrations is fantastic… check out the detail on the patches (see above for reference)…!

The @PencilCraftsman created this amazing illustration of Manchester United kits over the years, a great piece of art celebrating all things Kit for The Red Devils.

A time-lapse of my latest shirt mashup illustration.

About 33 hours of work condensed into 30 seconds! pic.twitter.com/k3GqQB1qPD
— Liam Stokes-Massey (@PencilCraftsman) February 4, 2022

FA Cup – Fourth Round, Kit Review

Feb 7, 2022Mar 29, 2022Posted in GeneralTagged FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kits, Soccer1 Comment

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.

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.

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

The Heat Press – Issue 7

Feb 1, 2022Feb 1, 2022Posted in General, Kit News, The Heat PressTagged Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer1 Comment

Time for Issue Number 7 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 6 click here

The Headlines

Italy to Adidas
Umbro x New Order
Kit Leaks – coming soon

Italy to Adidas

It is being reported that European Champions Italy will be switching kit manufacturers from Puma to Adidas. The deal set to start in 2023, which means if the Italians qualify via the Playoffs the 2022 World Cup will be the final tournament we will see Azzurri in Puma kits, which have been their supplier for 18 years since 2004.

As pointed out by the good people at @Kit_Mag Adidas have previously supplied kit for Italian National team back in 1970s, however famously the Italian Federation did not allow kit manufacturers logo’s on the national kit until Kappa kits of 2000.

Umbro x New Order

Ok, not technically Kit News, however I wanted to call out this new range from Umbro in collabration with the Band New Order… Umbro x New Order

During last summer’s Euro 2020 Tournament there was a lot of love for The Score Draw blackout version of the 1990 World Cup 3rd Shirt… well here is again, this time by the original manufacturers Umbro, the detail in the shirt looks fantastic and fans of blackout shirts it could be one to add to your collection.

Kit Leaks

It is that time of year where we are seeing lots of kits leaks out there, those that have been following my content for a while know I do not tend to share or comment on kits until they are offically launched by clubs or manufacturers, so for those MLS Kits I will do a more deep dive feature when they are realised in the coming weeks and those 2022 / 23 kits will be looked at the appropiate time.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Episode 7 of The Football Kit Podcast was recorded earlier this week, you can expect lots more news about the podcast in the coming days, so watch this space…

@ArsenalShirt produced some wonderful graphics around kit usage so far this season, looking at Home, Away, 3rd and Goalkeeper kits for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, it is worth checking out their timeline of for these details…

Home Kit example can be seen below….

One of my favourite Kit Content creators out there @KitblissNZ has kicked off a new project for 2022, looking at The Top 100 Templates in shirt History, number 100 being the Umbro Template worn by Tottenham Hotspur between 1991 and 1994.

All details about how you can follow this and how it was created can be found at Chris’ site Kitbliss – 100 Greatest Football Shirt Templates

There was a great tweet from @BostonUtdStats who has collated all the kits worn in the History of Boston United, check out the tweet here and if you can help complete some of the gaps here please get in contact with Christian.