On Wednesday 15th Decemeber 2021 Sergio Aguero announced his retirement from professional football after being diagonsed with a heart condition.
Aguero was a player that I always enjoyed watching through out his career after discovering the “Wonder Kid” being one of those must have players in Football Manager 2004 and 2005 games as a teenager from Independiente.
Although retiring at the tender age of 33, Aguero’s career last 18 years where he played for four teams across three different countries but will always be remember for 10 successful years at Manchester City winning the Premier League five times including his first and last seasons, as well the FA Cup and six League Cups.
A selection of Kits worn by Sergio Aguero
Aguero played 685 club games, scoring a total of 386 goals which included a club record 260 goals at Manchester City, added this to International career with Argentina that spanned 15 years with 101 Caps and 41 goals at full Senior Level and representing the country at three World Cups on three different continents, as well as appearences and goals for his national team at Under 17, Under 20 and Under 23 level. This meant Aguero ends his career with well over 400 goals.
A wonderful career for World Class player…. some of Aguero’s Kit Highlights below.
Celebrating with Independiente
In the classic Atletico Madrid colours
Manchester City’s Nike Vapor Template
In Paisley in 2020
In one of his final appearences, wearing Barcelona’s Champions League kit for 2021
What are your favourite Aguero Kit Highlights, let me know in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter.
On Thursday 9th December 2021, the Group Stages of the Champions League wrapped up for another season. I wanted to take a look at the kits worn by the 32 teams competing in these group stages.
Overall Kit Stats:
89 Kits worn in Group Stages – 96 games
46 Home Kits (30 first choice / 16 variations)
27 Away Kits (20 first choice / 7 variations)
15 3rd Kits (13 first choice / 2 variations)
Just the 1 4th Kit used (but is it a 4th kit?)
Group A
10 Kits worn in the Group
Manchester City only team to use Home, Away and 3rd kits
RB Leipzig in two home kit variations
PSG Home kit most used, 5 out of the 6 Group matches
Group B
14 Kits worn in the Group, most in 2021/22 Group Stage
AC Milan wore 5 kits out of 6 matches, these were worn in first 5 games including 3 variations of home kit
Atletico Madrid used 4 kit variations, 2 home kit variations and Away, 3rd kits
Liverpool only used 2 kits
FC Porto used 3 kits with 2 variations of home kit
Group C
10 Kits worn in the Group
None of the teams wore their home / away / 3rd kits
Borussia Dortmund only in home kit with 2 variations
Sporting Lisbon used 2 Home Kit variations
Beskitas used 2 Away kit variations
Group D
8 Kits worn in the Group, least amount used in a group
Real Madrid only wore their home kit (2nd season in a row this as happened in the Group Stages)
Inter Milan only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd kits, each worn twice
Inter Milan away kit did not include the “snake” detailing that the away kit has in domestic competitions
Group E
10 Kits worn in the Group
Barcelona in their “Senyera” 4th Kit twice, initially launched in 2019/20 season, this is the 3rd season it has been used in Champions League
Barcelona not using their Domestically registered Home and Away kits at all in competition
Bayern Munich only team to use Home, Away and 3rd Kits
Dynamo Kyiv using home kit for first 5 games
Group F
12 Kits worn in the Group
Manchester United in 5 different kit variations, including 3 different home kits
Villarreal and Young Boys only wearing two kits
Manchester United only to wear a 3rd kit in the group
Villarreal wore home kit in 5 out of 6 games
Group G
12 Kits worn in the Group
Each team in 3 different Kit Variations
Red Bull Salzburg only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd Kits
Sevilla in two home kit variations
Wolfsburg in two away kit variations
Lille in two 3rd kit variations
Group H
13 Kits worn in the Group
No team wore all their Home, Away and 3rd kits
Zenit St.Petersburg used 4 kit variations, including 3 different away kits
Chelsea, Juventus and Malmo all used two home kit variations
Matchday Breakdowns:
Match Day 1
Match Day 2
Match Day 3
Match Day 4
Match Day 5
Match Day 6
Kit Highlights:
Looking at some of my favourite Kit highlights of the Group Stages.
UEFA stopped the use of elements of kits for two teams, Inter Milan were not allowed to use the “Snake” in their away kit which they opted for a plain version of their white away kit and Ajax were not allowed to use “Three Little Birds” motif on the back of their Bob Marley inspired 3rd kit.
The two Inter Milan away kits for 2021/22 Season
Ajax’s Three Little Birds, not included in Champions League 3rd Kit
There were lots of examples of “Kit Mash Ups” in the Group Stages this season, this is when elements of a club’s home / away or 3rd kits are used to create a look to avoid kit clashes, some of my favourte on show were…
Wolfsburg – Away kit with Home socks, worn against Sevilla in Match Day 5
Malmo – Home kit with away socks, worn against Chelsea in Match Day 3
One of my favourite Kit Match Up of the competition so far was included Chelsea again, the Chelsea home kit is unique design and really stands out from other teams for me, with it’s use of vibrant blue works well for me and when they played Juventus in a more classic design than recently seen over the past few seasons, however in this match paired with black socks gave us a nice balance and constrast in kit designs and looks which worked well for me.
Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the Champions League Group Stages from 2021/22 Season in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek
The Ballon d’Or is an annual award presented to best player in the world of that calendar year. Orginally introduced and presented by French magazine “France Football” it is considered the most prestigious individual award for footballers. The award returned in 2021 after not being presented in 2020 due to COVID Pandemic, with Lionel Messi being named the winner for a 7th time.
First awarded in 1956, I thought I would take a look back at the kits worn by the winners over the past 55 years – I will take the kit worn by the winner when presented not the previous season and they club they were playing for when awarded, not country.
1950s
The inaugural Ballon d’Or was won by Englishman Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956, the following three years was won by players from the leading team of the early European Competitions Real Madrid, with Alfredi Di Stefano winning two of these awards. A simple look for kits in these early days but the Blackpool kit did provide a unique look for any winner so far of the award.
1960s
The 60s was the first full decade of the award, with the ten winners coming from eight different countries, with Manchester United providing three winners each from different countries from The United Kingdom. Lev Yashin was also the first (and so far only) goalkeeper to claim the award in 1963, famous for his classic all black look when in goal. Again a simple look to the kits used, Barcelona with their hooped socks being some that sounds out from the other kits used. Manchester United’s three winners all appearing in the same kit across the five years between wins.
1970s
The 70s was dominated by players from German Clubs, with 6 of years won these players, Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich) and Kevin Keegan (Hamburg SV) winning the award twice, of the other four years Johan Cruyff won three of these with both Ajax and Barcelona with Dynamo Kiev’s Oleg Blokhin being the other winner in this decade. This is the first decade where we see a significant change in kit design for one team, Bayern Munich’s first winners in a red / white striped shirt and then later in the decade a classic all red Adidas kit was now in use.
1980s
In the 80s it was Italian Clubs turn to dominate, with two clubs providing seven winners in the 10 years with two players Michel Platini (Juventus) and Marco Van Basten (AC Milan) winning 5 awards between them. Karl Heinz Rummenigge also claim two awards in 1980 and 1981 which completed 6 straight years if German Club dominance of the award until the Italian clubs won 7 of the next 8… the only difference being in 1986 when not who you would think would win in that World Cup year but Igor Belanov of Dynamo Kiev picked up the award. The Juventus kit used by their four winners was their classic kit of the 80s, which included its deep placket.
1990s
Although players from the Italian Clubs won six of the ten awards of the 1990s there seemed to more variety across the decade with no team having winners in consecutive years. There were winners from France, Germany and Spain and this was the first decade where we saw significant kits design changes with more regularity, this can be seen with the two winners from Juventus (Roberto Baggio and Zinedine Zidane) and Barcelona (Hristo Stoichkov and Rivaldo) appearing in very different looks for their respective clubs. Also Matthias Sammer’s win in the fluorescent yellow Nike kit for Borussia Dortmunt introduced a very different colour palette to the historical Ballon d’Or winners.
2000s
The first decade of the 21st Century again so a fairly even spilt of players across some of Europe’s largest clubs, Spain providing five of the winners from Real Madrid and Barcelona, a sign of things to come in the future years. English clubs provided winners for the first time since the 1960s with Liverpool (Michael Owen) and Manchester United (Cristiano Ronaldo). AC Milan provided two winners (Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka) but in very different looks for Italian giants.
2010s
The 2010s Ballon d’Or was dominated by two men, with Lionel Messi taking five award (making it six in total) and Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award four times (five in total), with the other award being that of Luka Modric in 2018 but this meant that the Ballon d’Or did not leave spain through out the decade. This is also showed the change in kit design for the big two Spanish sides, Barcelona changing their traditional stripes look with a variety of thickness of stripe, including one kit with just one central stripe and variety of shades of blue used, as well the one season with horizonital stripes. On the other hand, Real Madrid sticking with their classic all white look but changing the accent colours through the decade with black, orange, different shades of blue and pink all used for their winners kits.
2021
After being cancelled in 2020, and announced on Monday 29th November 2021 the returning Ballon d’Or was won by Lionel Messi, his 7th award overall and the first time he would have received the award not in the colours of Barcelona but of Paris St.Germain. Wearing a less than traditional PSG look but one based on their Air Jordan range with the shorts also designed in the iconic basketball shorts style.
Let me know your favourite kits worn by the winners of Ballon d’Or in the comments below or @Kit_Geek on Twitter.
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
On Monday 15th November 2021 the England Captain Harry Kane led his team to World Cup Qualification with emphatic 10-0 victory over San Marino, who themselves sporting their 90th Anniversay Kit based on their traditional flag. In the process of this victory, Kane bagged himself a four goal “haul” and becoming the joint 3rd highest goalscorer of the England National Men’s team.
Wayne Rooney – 53 Goals in 120 Games
Sir Bobby Charlton – 49 in 106
Gary Lineker – 48 in 80
Harry Kane – 48 in 67
Now, with me enjoying Kits and the stats behind the kits, I wanted to see a breakdown of these goals and the kits that were being worn by Kane.
Overview
Harry Kane made his debut on 27th March 2015 against Lithuania and marked his debut by scoring within 80 seconds of coming on as a second half substitute. The Kit England where wearing that evening was the All White Kit first introduced for the 2014 World Cup.
Harry Kane scoring his first England Goal
In the six and half years (and 66 caps) since that spring evening, Kane has worn 9 different England Kits used in a total of 14 Kit variations, which include the controversial Nike Vapor Templates used for Euro 2016 – One I actually quite like and thought it worked well in both Home and Away forms (but thats a discussion for another time), one 3rd Kit and a variety of different variations of the Home and Away kits.
Breakdown
Home Kits – 4 Kits used, 21 Goals Scored
Home Kit Variations – 3 Kits used, 13 Goals Scored
Away Kits – 3 Kits used, 7 Goals Scored
Away Kit Varations – 3 Kits used, 5 Goals Scored
3rd Kit – 1 Kit, 2 goals
Highlights
The Kit that Kane has scored the most goals in is the first choice Home Kit used between 2018 and 2019, including the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Kane netted a total of 12 goals in this kit, including three Hat-Tricks against Panama (in the World Cup), Bulgaria and Montenegro in the Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign. There were also another 4 goals scored with this kit being used with white shorts.
The England Captain scoring a Hat-Trick against Panama at Russia 2018
The Nike Vapor Template has seen 3 different incarnations for England with Kane scoring in all three kits and counting the variations of socks that have been used a total of 5 different Kit Variations. In total Kane scored 9 goals in these kits
The 5 variations of Vapor Template used by England, all of which Kane scored in
2021 has seen Kane break the record for the most goals scored by an Englishman in a Calendar Year, with 16 goals in his 16 Appearences, this included 7 goals in his last two appreances, the final two qualiyfing matches for World Cup 2022, both games seeing all his goals scored in the first half of each match. In total in 2021, Kane scored 11 goals in the home kit, 5 in the default look with navy shorts and 6 in the all white look, the popular all blue away kit has seen 5 goals netted by the England Captain.
Kane netting a first half Hat-Trick against Albania, November 2021
If Harry Kane keeps this level of scoring up, the record is surely insight within the next year, a World Cup year… I hope to update this when the record is broken.
What are you favourite Kits worn by Harry Kane for England, let me know in the comments below of over at https://twitter.com/kit_geek
On Wednesday 24th November 2021 Brentford FC announced that their home kit for their inaugural Premier League Season will also be rolled over for a second season and will be their home kit for 2022/23 Season.
𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
Our first ever @UmbroUK#PL Home kit will roll over to be our first choice kit for the 2022/23 season as well
This is unusual for top flight teams, the last time this was seen in the Premier League was between 2012 and 2014 when Arsenal used their Home kit for two season in a row but this is something more common place in League One and League Two.
So I wanted to share with you the kits that have been used in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.
Arsenal’s Home Kit used for 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons
Premier League
There are two examples in this season’s Premier League of kits from last season being used for this season, both are third kits and one is yet to be used yet, these are the all white third kit from the team that kicked off this piece Brentford and the second team is Brighton & Hove Albion, who’s yellow away kit from last season is registred as their 3rd kit this season.
Championship
There are four examples in The Championship this season, all four of these are again as the Premier League teams being used as 3rd Kits in the 2021/22 season with two being 3rd kits last season and two being away kits.
Cardiff City – Last season’s away is this season’s 3rd Kit and the only kit of the four that appeared in The Championship last season, this has yet to be used this season.
Fulham – their yellow away from last season has been used this as the club’s 3rd kit.
Peterborough United – are using the same 3rd Kit in the 2020/21 Promotion winning season from League One in The Championship this season.
Sheffield United – The second team relegated from the 20/21 Premier League season are using their Green / Gold 3rd kit from last season as this season’s 3rd kit as well.
League One
League One is the first division where we see home kits being re-used for a second season, in total there are 10 kits that we have seen for two division.
Accrington Stanley – A big shout here for “Accy” who are using all three of their kits for second season…
AFC Wimbledon – Closely following Accrington Stanley’s lead, AFC Wimbledon are seeing their Home and Away used again this season.
Cheltenham Town – Promoted from League Two last season, they are also using their home shirts again this season, however pairing with black shorts for 21/22 campaign, it was used with white shorts last season.
Fleetwood Town – Their unique Hummel home kit design, gets its second season of use.
Wigan Athletic – The team retained their home kit for 21/22 League Campaign, the second in a row in their 3rd Tier.
Wycombe Wanderers – Another team relegated last season, Wycombe kept both their home and 3rd Kits from last season, both the classic quartered shirt look for The Chairboys.
League Two
There are another 10 kits being used again in League Two this season.
Bristol Rovers – They are using their away kit from last season as a 3rd Kit now.
Colchester United – The Essex team are using both their home and away kits from last again in 21/22, interestingly they used a different home kit in one of their final home games of last season as a “Fans Kit”
Crawley Town – Another team to repurpose their away kit from 2020/21 as their 3rd kit this season, with the all black giving a constraiting alternative to all red home and all blue away.
Exeter City – Exeter are another team that are pairing their shirt from last season with different colour pair of shorts, last season it was black, this season going for an red short / sock combo.
Forest Green Rovers – A club where sustainability is at its heart, have had their current 3rd kit in use for 3 seasons now, introducing it 2019/20 it has seen use in the each of those seasons (thanks to @achrislatham for pointing this one out to me).
Harrogate Town – In their second in the top four divisions, they are using their Away kit again, their 3rd kit this season also made an appearence last season in the delayed FA Trophy final from 2020.
Mansfield Town – their away kit is being used again this season.
Port Vale – Port Vale’s popular all black away kit (partially designed by Robbie Williams) is retained as this season’s 3rd kit.
Sutton United – In their first season in the top four divisions have retained the home and away kits from promotion winning season, they have also introduced a black 3rd kit that gives us all three kits from the same Macron Template for tidy uniform look.
Although not common practise for teams, this still gives us a total of 26 kits re-used in the 2021/22 season that were previously used last season, with Brentford’s annoucement today will this will see this number grow in the 2022/23 season, is Football Shirt Sustainability and increased shirt cycles the future, let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over at https://twitter.com/kit_geek
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
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
The 2020/21 League One (3rd Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 9th May, Hull City (winners) and Peterborough United (Runners Up) earning automatic promotion to The Championship, with Blackpool winning the the Play Off Final against Lincoln City 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)
98 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
Home Kits – 42% of Kit variations used
24 Home Kits worn
17 Home Kit variations worn
Away Kits – 39% of variations used
24 Away Kits worn
14 Away Kit variations worn
3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
15 3rd Kits worn
4 3rd Kit variations 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
1 team wore 9 kit variiations – Highest in the league
Oxford United – Home x4, Away, 3rd x4
2 teams wore 6 kit variations
Accrington Stanley – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
Blackpool – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
3 Teams wore 5 kit variations
Northampton Town – Home, Away x3, 3rd
Sunderland – Home x3, Away x2
Swindon Town – Home x3, Away x2
Most variations of Home Kit
Oxford United wore 4 variations of Home Kit
Yellow / Navy / Yellow – All Yellow – Yellow / Navy / Navy – Yellow / White / White
Most variations of Away Kit
2 Teams wore 3 variations of Away Kit
Blackpool / Northampton Town
Most variations of 3rd Kit
Oxford United wore 4 variations of 3rd Kit
All White – White / Navy / White – White / Navy / Navy – White / White / Navy
Bristol Rovers only used 2 variations of kit, Home and Away
6 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
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
League One teams used 98 Kits through out 2020/21 season, this was the lowest amount of kits worn in the Top Four Leagues in England, it also saw a more classic look for teams in terms of kit usage, 7 teams only had Home and Away kits (Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town, Gillingham, Shrewsbury Town, Sunderland and Swindon Town).
Lincoln City did not wear their full home kit in an away game, the only game they wore their Home Kit was at Plymouth Argyle and was worn with 3rd shorts (white).
Bristol Rovers wore their away kit home against Shrewsbury Town when the away team wore their all white away kit.
Doncaster Rovers worn a 3rd Kit at Home against Hull City, this kit was commerate the career of James Coppinger, who has spent 17 years at the club and made nearly 700 appearences for them. The player himself designing the kit with his sons to celebrate his time with club.
Accrington Stanley, who wore 6 kit variations in total wore 5 different kits in 5 games (Match 25 to Match 29) – All White (Away variation), Black / White / White (3rd), All Red (Home), White / Black / White (Away), Black / Black / White (3rd variation).
Oxford United, who wore the most kit variations in the league with 9 different kits used, started the season with 5 different kits in their first 5 games… this became 6 kits in 8 games and 7 in 16 games, 8 in 19 games and they wore their 9th variation in their 38th game.
There were some classic kit mash ups in League One in 20/21…
Gillingham at Portsmouth…
Swindon Town again at Portsmouth
Sunderland at Plymouth Argyle
There we have it, League One’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 or Championship, please click on the link below.
The 2020/21 Championship (2nd Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 8th May, Norwich City (winners) and Watford (Runners Up) bouncing straight back to The Premier League, with the Play Off Final to be played between Brentford and Swansea City 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)
110 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
Home Kits – 44% of Kit variations used
24 Home Kits worn
24 Home Kit variations worn
Away Kits – 32% of variations used
24 Away Kits worn
11 Away Kit variations worn
3rd Kits – 23% of variations worn
21 3rd Kits worn
4 3rd Kit variations worn
Special Kits – 2% of variations worn
2 Special Kits worn (Coventry City, Norwich City)
Overview of Kits Worn
Kit Overview
Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15
Kit Log, Match 16 to Match 30
Kit Log, Match 31 to Match 46
Kit Variations
Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the Championship Teams
3 teams wore 7 kit variations – Highest in the league
Luton Town – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd x2
Middlesbrough – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd x2
QPR – Home x3, Away x3, 3rd
2 teams wore 6 kit variations
Barnsley – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
Coventry City – Home, Away x2, 3rd x 2, Special Kit
6 Teams wore 5 kit variations
AFC Bournemouth – Home x3, Away, 3rd
Brentford – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
Bristol City – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
Rotherham United – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
Stoke City – Home x3, Away x2
Watford – Home x2, Away, 3rd
Most variations of Home Kit
7 Teams wore 3 variations of Home Kit
AFC Bournemouth, Barnsley, Middlesbrough, QPR, Reading, Stoke City, Watford
Most variations of Away Kit
2 Teams wore 3 variations of Away Kit
Luton Town, QPR
Most variations of 3rd Kit
4 Teams wore 2 variations of 3rd Kit
Birmingham City, Coventry City, Luton Town, Middlesbrough
Special Kits
Coventry City Supporters Shirt
Norwich City Supporters Shirt
4 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
Huddersfield Town, Millwall, Preston North End, Wycombe Wanderers
Most worn Home Kit – 39, Norwich City
Most worn Away Kit – 13, Blackburn Rovers
Most worn 3rd Kit – 17, Preston North End
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
Huddersfield Town wore change kits in all of their 23 away game this season, wearing their away kit 9 times and their 3rd kit 14 times
Several teams elected to use their 3rd more than their away kit this season. The teams are Barnely, Birmingham City, Cardiff City, Derby County, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End and Watford.
Queen’s Park Rangers used their away kit in three different variations – Black shorts and socks, white shorts and socks, blue shorts and socks.
Three teams did not have 3rd Kits, Blackburn Rovers (3 variations – Home x2, Away), Reading (4 variations Home x3, Away) and Stoke City (5 variations – Home x3, Away x2).
Coventry City played the first 14 games in their home kit, the last team in the league to use a change kit, they ended the season using 6 variations of kit – joint 2nd most in the league
Barnsley wore purple socks in their home game with Reading on 2nd April to raise awareness for Weston Park Cancer Charity.
Luton Town’s Umbro kits were the most interchangable of the season, by using 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and 3 pairs of socks in just three colours (Orange / White / Navy Blue) the team created 7 different kit variations (joint highest in the League).
MIllwall took inspriation from the main sponsor with their 3rd Kit, using the Huski Chocolate Mountain theme into their unique shirt.
There were two “Supporters” Shirts used this season, Coventry City released a navy kit for their club members which was used at home against Brentford and Norwich City used their supporters shirt as a thank you in their final league at Carrow Road against Reading.
There we have it, The Championship 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, please click on the link below.
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 