Kits – Page 28 – Football Kit Geek

Journeyman Series #1 – Freddy Adu, Football Manager Legend

Aug 30, 2018Aug 30, 2018Posted in Journeyman SeriesTagged FM, FM2005, Football, Football Kits, Football Manager, Journeyman, Kits, Soccer, USA, USMSTLeave a comment

I wanted to start looking at football kits in a slightly different way and was thinking on how best to approach this, so here goes the Journeyman Series. Where I will be taking some time to review the kits worn of those players we regard as a “Journeyman”.

Journeyman Series #1 – Freddy Adu

For those Football Manager addicts, the name Freddy Adu needs no introduction, the “Wonderkid” first hit the headlines when he signed a contract with the MLS at the tender age of just 14 in 2003 and was picked up by DC United in the 2004 player draft as number one pick.

The eyes of the world were on the youngster, photo shoots with Pele, high profile trial at Manchester United all followed and heaped the pressure on the his shoulders, unfortunately that weight of expectation was never truly fulfilled.

However we are here to talk about the kits worn by Mr Adu not his footballing career. From his first club, DC United in 2004 he has played for 14 different clubs in 8 countries in 14 years (including a year out of the sport), as well as representing United States at Under 17, Under 20, Under 23 and Senior teams.

* on loan from Parent Club

Above you can see a selection of the kits worn through out the ongoing career of Freddy Adu, he is still playing at Las Vegas Lights and only 29, so I would expect to see a couple more clubs added to this list over the coming years.

Some Kit Highlights:

DC United, 2004

The first home kit worn by Freddy Adu, a classy Adidas kit, simple black with the “3 stripes” in white, including the band across the chest.

United States, 2006

There is something about United States kits that I really like, the combination of colours and the way often change these colours around just works well for me.

United States, 2012

Another example of United States kit, this time revisiting the historic “Sash” and using a deep red for the home kit.

Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2015

Any chance I get to take a look at a Tampa Bay Rowdies shirt I will take it, this one using a basic Nike Template was worn in 2015 and for me just works and enhancing the template.

Las Vegas Lights, 2018

Looking at this Las Vegas Lights kits, one word springs to mind…. unique! Flashes of neon against the black, screams Vegas at night and made by Australian sportswear manufacturers BLK, famously known for they Rugby League kits.

So my Journeyman series starts here, let me know what you think…. any kit highlights for you from Freddy Adu’s career, anything from the teams he played for in Turkey, Finland or Brazil.

And if there is a Journeyman you would like to see featured in this series, then please let me know.

Premier League, Kit Log – Match Day 2

Aug 22, 2018Aug 22, 2018Posted in Premier League Kit LogTagged EPL, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kits, Premier LeagueLeave a comment

We are now two games into the 2018/19 Premier League Season and based on what happened in the World Cup with the number of Countries using there both Home and Away in the opening games (World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 2), I thought it would be a good time to look at the kits worn this season so far.

The Kit Log….

Surprisingly (well maybe just for me) we have seen 30 home kits worn out of a possible 40 kits from the first 20 games and of these 30 kits, 29 have been the full home kit with no variation, the only team to wear a variation of their home kit… Arsenal wore red socks when playing Chelsea on 18th August.

Kit Breakdown after Match Day 2:

Home – 75% (29 Full kits, 1 Variation – Arsenal)

Away – 12.5% (4 Full kits, 1 Variation – Burnley)

3rd – 12.5% (5 Full kits)

As we approach Match Day 3, there are 10 teams that have worn two different kits so far, will any of these make it 3 kits in 3 games…. West Ham United are likely to based on their fixture away at Arsenal and having not used their blue away kit yet.

Overall my initial feelings of the kits on show have been great, I always prefer to see a kit in action before passing any judgement but 2018/19 feels like a good season…. and my favourite kit so far…. Manchester City Away, worn against Arsenal on 12th August.

Any thoughts about what we have seen so far this season, let me know?

EFL, Kit Log 2018/19

Aug 9, 2018Posted in EFLTagged EFL, England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, League One, League TwoLeave a comment

The EFL kicked off last week so that gives me 72 teams kits to look at, so lets keep this brief and look at some of my kit highlights:

The Championship

Bristol City’s 2018/19 kit selection
West Bromwich Albion’s Yellow/Green “Change” kit
Middlesbrough returning to Hummel
Blackburn Rover’s home kit
Queen’s Park Rangers’ Pink Away kit

League One

Charlton Athletic’s away kit, another Hummel beauty
Plymouth Argyle making green work in home and away kits
Gillingham’s 125th Anniversary (3rd) kit
Bristol City’s Home and 3rd Kits
AFC Wimbledon kit selection

League Two

Colchester United’s camouflage away kit
Forest Green and their Hummel home and away kits
Newport County’s simple but effective home and away kits
Carlisle United (A), Exeter City (3rd), Grimsby Town (3rd), Port Vale (A) rocking purple kits
Lincoln City’s home kit, stripes and pin-stripes

This is a work in progress and I will continue to update as we move through season.

I will also be keeping a log of the kits worn within the Championship, similar to what I have done in The Premier League over previous seasons – Premier League Kit Log – END OF SEASON UPDATE

Let me know your favourite kits in the EFL.

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 3

Jun 29, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Russia 2018, Soccer, world cupLeave a comment

48 games….. 8 completed groups…. 32 teams and 62 kits used….!!

We have reached the end of the Group Stage with the final rounds completed and the biggest take away for me in this, is that 30 of 32 teams have worn both their kits. There has been some interesting choices in using the “Second” choice kits for clashes and in some cases both team turning to their “Second” kits when there would have no real clash in using their “First” choice kits, FIFA or Manufacturer’s marketing their products, we will probably never know.

Kits used for the first time in the Competition in this round:

Russia, Second kit
Spain, First kit
Morocco, Second kit
France, Second kit
Peru, Second kit
Germany, Second kit

I want to call out the Germany kit here, this kit really is magnificent and for me one of the best kits seen produced in the recent years and unfortunately due to the team’s performance at this World Cup will always be remembered as the kit that was worn when they were knocked out the Competition

We are still yet to see the full Colombia first choice kit, both appearances of the shirt have been matched with white shorts and socks, a surprising choice as not sure the blue shorts/red socks would have clashed too much with the all green kit of Senegal.

Japan and Poland meet in their final Group games, a game that saw the only two teams to wear their “First” choice shirts for all three games in the group, however Poland did use white shorts, to create an all white kit which was a variation from their home kit, leaving Japan on their own as the only team to use one full kit for the Group Stage.

Round 3 kit highlights:

Germany’s kit, a thing of beauty that will now be remember for the wrong reasons
Japan wearing the full kit for all three games, only team to do so.
Finding out that teams have to nominate bib colours as well each game

My favourite kit of the round is the Germany kit.

To see my look at the previous games in the Group Stage check these posts out…

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 1

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 2

Jun 25, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged 2018, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Russia 2018, world cup2 Comments

In what seems to be a flash of the eye we have reached the end of round 2 of the group games in the 2018 World Cup is over, no more 3 games spread over the day!

Looking at the kits used, the biggest thing that stands out for me is 24 out of the 32 teams have worn both there kits and there has been question as to reason that Countries have made these changes, especially as in the past the same teams have met and been able to wear their first choice kits. Is this also a marketing ploy by kit manufacturers to maximise sales of kits or stricter FIFA ruling in terms of kit usage or maybe a combination of both….

Russia’s socks were changed from the first game, on of my highlights of the first round of games (World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 1) this was reported due to the top of the sock would clash with Egypt’s socks. Another team that used their “First” choice kit for a second time with a variation was France, who wore a striking combination against Peru, with the dark blue shorts combined with the dark blue shirt and red socks for one of the complete kit highlights of the tournament so far for me.

Nigeria used their much talked about “first” choice kit, this really is something completely new and I think the reason why it works so well and looks great in action. I also really like the Sweden “second” choice kit, the rich blue and yellow complimented each other perfectly and really stood out as a great kit.

The highlight of these games for me was Mexico’s kit, a stunning kit, the deeper shades of Red and Green used in a classic style and design not often seen with the two horizontal stripes on the shirt, just stands out as a class kit.

My final highlight is Colombia, that stunning blue kit based from the kit worn by many teams in 90s but interestingly not Colombia as far as I can tell, match with the bright orange trim, orange tonal badge, throw in the sea of yellow, blue and red in the crowd it just looks amazing all round and then David Ospina’s goalkeeper kit which is a call back to the Rene Higuita’s kit, a black kit with purple, green detailing and pink tonal badge…. Colombia creating a festival of colour!

Round 2 Kit Highlights:

France’s variation of “first” choice kit against Peru
Mexico’s kit… stunning!
Sweden in Blue
Colombia and all the colours….!

I am going to split my favourite kit of this round of game between two… including a goalkeeper kit… Mexico and the Colombian Goalkeeper kit.

And so on to Round 3 of group games….!

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 1

Jun 19, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged FIFA, Football, Kits, Russia 2018, world cup2 Comments

The World Cup is well and truly underway, we have now seen each of the 32 teams take to the field, so time to review the kits worn so far by each of the teams.

I am still not 100% sure whether the “Home” and “Away” kit labels are completely correct when it comes to International Tournaments, I think for the time being I will refer to them as “First” and “Second” choice kits.

A few stats….

For the total of 32 kit appearances, we have seen “First” Kits (and variations) used 66% and “Second” kits (and variations) used 34% of the time.

First Choice – 15

First Choice variations – 6 (Egypt, France, Denmark, Croatia, Costa Rica, Colombia)

Second Choice – 8

Second Choice variations – 3 (Uruguay, Argentina, England)

It is nice to see some of these kits finally in action, the Adidas kits have stood out to me, in particular the Argentina kit and the Mexico kit, I also want to call out the Iceland kit here as well, whether it was the contrast with the black Argentinian kit or the bright white kit on a summer’s day but it really seemed to work, coupled with a goalkeeper kit that is of the same template in red, the package just works for me….. well played Errea.

England went for an all red kit, the first time they have worn an away kit (which also was all red) at a World Cup since 2010, to be fair that was only three games! I thought this looked great, the red shorts and in particular the red tonal badge and Nike “swoosh”, really worked and gave the kit a more modern balance in terms of colour.

Overall kit highlights for me…

Russia’s socks
Argentina v Iceland…. (maybe the new Scotland v Denmark in Mexico 86 for World Cup kit match up perfection… I have gone too far, I know)
Mexico’s kit
England all in red

For me, my favourite kit on show so far, is this combination of “Second” choice shirt and socks, with “First” choice away shorts from Argentina

Round 1 of games is now complete, what are your favourite kits on show and will we see more variations of kits through out round 2 of games.

England and some “Sky Blue” thinking….

Jun 11, 2018Sep 12, 2023Posted in GeneralTagged England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Sky Blue, umbro7 Comments

When talking about kit perfection, for me there are a few things that spring to mind, Manchester United’s “Newton Heath” 3rd kit from Umbro, 1984 French Adidas kits and England wearing Sky Blue to name a few. So I thought I would take a little bit of time to look back at those wonderful kits worn by the Three Lions.

England have only ever had five Sky Blue kits, all produced by Umbro and only worn a full sky blue kit only 4 times, with two of these kits not making an appearance with the Senior team.

Kit 1, 1970

England wore three different kits in the 1970 World Cup and their group game against Czechoslovakia saw them in a Sky Blue kit for the first time.

Umbro reproduced this kit in the early 2000’s (yes, I brought and still have one) but the reproduced version included a number 6 on the back but in white, not the red numbering used with the actual kit.

Kit 2, 1986

The second Sky Blue kit was again produced as part of a kit package for a World Cup staged in Mexico, this time in 1986. However the full kit was never worn but we did get to see the shorts and socks in the Quarter-Final match up against Argentina where arguably the full kit could have been worn.

In fact the kit would not have been out of place if used in the last 16 game against the red and white stripes of Paraguay.

Kit 3, 1988

The third kit seen, was the 1988 3rd kit from Umbro. At this time all three England kits had the same template. This is my favourite of the all the Sky Blue kits that England have but unfortunately did not see action with the Senior Team, it did make an appearance for the U21’s though.

However the Senior Team did pose for this wonderful team photo…. which I also use as my cover picture on my twitter account (@kit_geek)

Kit 4, 1990

One of the most famous Sky Blue England kits and only the 2nd time that England wore a full Sky Blue kit in a Senior game, this kit made its one and only appearance in the 1991 in the Euro 92 qualifier against Turkey.

This kit was also part of the Italia 90 World Cup kit line up and was famously worn in the video of “World in Motion” by New Order front man Bernard Sumner.

The shirts design and pattern also formed part of the England training kits at the time and was often seen here with just a large central Umbro logo within the shirt.

Kit 5, 1992

Arguably the most famous of the Sky Blue England kits and I would say in many people’s eyes one of the most popular of all England kits not just the blue ones.

This kit also is the only Sky Blue kit to be worn more than once, making two appearances in 1992 against Czechoslovakia and Spain. The shirt, including it’s “Three Lions” is what makes this such an iconic kit.

Although Sky Blue has featured on several other home and away kits over the past years, I hope that the colour will be revisited as main kit colour in future, unlikely I know given that the “rules” state that second (or third) choice kits should be a contrast to the first choice kit and not sure that Sky Blue and White fit that model however as a simple kit geek I can hope…..!!

Sites I used to research this article:

Historical Football Kits

England Football Online

Kit Log – World Cup, USA 1994

Mar 23, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged Adidas, Brazil, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer, USA, world cup2 Comments

With an explosion and colour and design The 1994 World Cup rolled into new territory and into a new market when 15th Tournament headed off to the USA!

For the third time the tournament format remained unchanged which meant between 17th June and 17th July 1994 there were 24 teams taking part, split into six groups of four teams, followed by the knock out stage of competition to give us a total of 52 games to look at.

In terms of kits there was a leap from the 1990 World Cup in terms of designs, almost all kits had some form of added splashes of colour (for example, the Adidas three strips in Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania), design element (seen with Nigeria, South Korea, Morocco) and even the plain kits had elements of water mark contained within the shirt (think Netherlands, Italy, Brazil).

In terms of manufacturers, Adidas again led the way supplying the most teams playing but their number declined from 1990 World Cup where they had 15 countries in their ranks, this time round they had 10 countries. Umbro appear next on the list supplying 4 countries, all from Central and South America, something of surprise with a brand that is historically linked with the Home Nations. Other brands such as Lotto, Diadora, Reebok, Mitre also graced the field but there were significant absentees from the manufacturers that we see today in Puma and Nike, who where to enter the market in big way after this tournament.

We need to talk about Adidas, wow…. in my opinion some of their greatest designs appeared at USA 94 and none more-so than the hosts themselves. USA’s classic “Stars” and “Stripes” kits, which I think should be discussed as a pair, as they were seamlessly interchangeable with their respective shorts and socks, any combination which they took to the pitch just worked beautifully, in their 4 games they used 3 different combinations of kit, a true World Cup classic kit up there with Denmark in 1986 – click here for that tournament’s kit log

Other classic kits seen from Adidas were Nigeria’s second choice kit, a unique design and something that is now the inspiration behind their 2018 World Cup Kit, one of the best we have seen so far this year. Ireland also had unique designs from Adidas and I believe these kits, particularly the away kit being underrated as one of the best away kits Ireland have had, they were also short lived designs with Ireland moving across to Umbro shortly after the conclusion of the World Cup.

Adidas also introduced some template designs which at the time I did not like but have grown on me over the years, particularly Sweden’s away kit and Argentina’s away kit, although when I think of that kit I have an image of Maradona screaming into the camera after scoring (the less said about that the better).

There was some unusual sights in both Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals, where there games with both teams wearing the “away” strips, Netherlands v Brazil, Romania v Sweden and Sweden v Brazil, a common theme of yellow there but after looking into the reason behind this, there is no clear reason why this choice was made, if anyone has any thoughts or ideas about this please let me know.

Eventual winners, Umbro wearing Brazil wore they home kit 4 times including the final and away 3 times, where they combined the away shirt and socks with home shorts to give us a smart all blue (although slightly different shades blue, ahead of their time?) variation.

The West Germany 1990 shirt theory

Mar 16, 2018Mar 16, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged 1990, Adidas, Football, Football Kits, Kits, West GermanyLeave a comment

Well I guess timing is everything, whilst writing my Italia 90 post today (see the post here) I was listening to the latest episode of Totally Football Show where resident host James “AC Jimbo” Richardson was discussing the Fabric of Football event that took place over last weekend (9th / 10th March) and mentioned an interesting theory about the West Germany Shirt used at Italia 90….

West Germany’s World Cup performances in the previous tournaments before 1990:

1974 – Winners

1978 – Group Stage

1982 – Runners Up

1986 – Runners Up

1990 – Winners….. (from the expectation by kit designers)

and here is that theory in graphical format…!!

German efficiency and expectation or just coincidence……

Kit Log – World Cup, Italia 90

Mar 16, 2018Mar 16, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged 1990, Adidas, Football, Football Kits, Germany, Italy, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer, umbro, West Germany, world cup2 Comments

Italia 90… the birth of modern football and Adidas Designs start breaking the mould….

The World Cup parade returned to Europe in 1990 with Italy hosting for second time after the 1934 tournament. The 14th World Cup was held between 8th June and 8th July within 12 host cities. the format was the same as previous World Cup in Mexico, see my Kit Log for that edition here – Mexico 1986

So we see 24 teams, taking part in six groups of four teams, followed by knock out rounds giving us again a total of 52 games to look at.

In terms of kits, the 90’s hit us in a big way at this World Cup and in particular Adidas who introduced some very views on the traditional international kits that we seen in previous tournaments, we also saw 19 teams wear both their first and second choice kits through the tournament.

At this point although not in a World Cup I do feel I have to make special mention to Euro 88 and those kits worn by The Netherlands and USSR, take a quick moment to reflect on those shirts…….. and now back into Italia 90!

Adidas, who supplied 15 of 24 teams kits really caught the eye with some outstanding kits and several different templates and styles gracing the pitch. Some more classic templates, think Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and then some real “modern” designs for USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Colombia, not forgetting of course the eventual Winners West Germany who wore a kit that was then unique and instantly iconic, a kit that often comes into contention when discussing greatest kits of all time.

Another iconic shirt from the tournament was England, who only wore their home kit through out the tournament but thanks to efforts of Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne taking the team to Semi-Finals made this kit a real fans favourite. Umbro reproduced the shirt in 2010 including Gazza’s No.19 on the back (and yes, I do have this version of the shirt).

In that Semi-Final West Germany wore their away kit for only time in the tournament and again it was a classic kit, similar in design to previously mentioned Euro 88 shirts of The Netherlands and USSR and something if reports are to believed will be the basis of the German away kit at Russia 2018.

For me special mentions need to be made to Scotland, with a stunning pair of kits from Umbro, that away kit….. and also the Colombia kits from Adidas, again as mentioned with Germany, these kits are basis of the shirt that will be worn this summer in Russia.