The second International Break is completed and the Premier League returns reaching Matchweek 9 and we around a quarter of the way through the season..!
As always you can find Matchweek 8’s review – here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.
Matchweek 9 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 60 (+4 from Matchweek 8)
Goalkeeper Kits – 47 (No Change from Matchweek 8)
New Kits this Matchweek
There was quite a few new kits on show this Matchweek, with four new looks seen!
Brighton & Hove Albion were used their Away Kit for the 2023/24 season for the first time, this was the first time they have used any change kit this season.
Luton Town used another different combination of their Away kit, this one paired with Home Shorts created the third different look on the road this season with their change shirt!
Manchester United used their Away kit for the second time, this time paired with bespoke alternative White Shorts and socks. We will talk about this kit a bit more in the Kit Highlights….
West Ham United used their Away for the fourth time this season, however this look was paired with Alternative light blue shorts, likely to be also available to use with Home Kit too.
Kit Highlights
As with most weeks we will start with Manchester United, who wore their 7th Kit Variation in the opening 9 games of the season, with their Away Kit with alternative shorts and socks at Sheffield United
There was some controversy around this shirt choice given the impacts to colourblind fans / viewers (impacting 12% of Male population, 5% Female population), arguably it could be considered that the 3rd All “Off-White” Kit may have been a more suitbale alternative given the prodomentaly red Sheffield United Shirt.
Although there was no “new” goalkeeper kit on show, there was an interesting detail highlighed by Museum of Jerserys with Manchester United’s goalkeeper kit, with André Onana has now worn both the Competition and Pro versions of the yellow Tiro 23, wearing the Pro version of the shirt this weekend
Details of differences can be seen below in the illistration from MoJ. There is also a difference in fit, with the competition version being a more form fitting shirt, could this be the reason behind the choice in style of shirt?
Luton Town have now used their Away Kit with three different combinations and yet to use it in its default All White look. Each variation has only been used the once but we have seen the following (SHIRT / SHORTS / SOCKS):
Away / Away / 3rd at Chelsea
Away / Home / Home at Everton
Away / Home / Away at Nottingham Forest
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was the game was the Claret / Blue Derby with Aston Villa and West Ham United, the use of the alternative shorts by West Ham and the claret details in collar / cuff of their away shirt gave a nice overall balance against Aston Villa in their home kit, very pleasing on the eye (for me anyway).
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 13 Home Kits, 5 Away Kits and 2 3rd kits in action in this Matchweek.
However there were a few variations on show as we looked in the new kits of the week!
Arsenal in alternative red socks with their home kit for the 2nd time
Luton Town, Away with Home shorts
Manchester United, Away with alternative white shorts and socks
West Ham United, Away with alternative blue shorts
Liverpool are now the only team to wear just one kit this season, now 9 games since the start of season in their Home Kit, being at Home Next week means this is streak will continue for 10 games.
And again Everton have used just the one Goalkeeper kit
Kit Grid – Up to 24th October
Kit News
A very quiet week on the Premier League Kit News front.
The only story that peaked our interest was after signing for Luton Town Andros Townsend is going for a slight change of name on his shirt for his new club, adding “Sr” to as a tribute his son (Andros Junior).
That wraps up Matchweek 8 and a few new kits on show, some interesting kit highlights.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek Kit Review will return next week.
The Premier League reaches Matchweek 8 and it’s second International Break of the season, overall a reasonably quiet week in terms of Kits in terms of usage and new but let’s take a look at the Kits from this weekend.
As always you can find Matchweek 7’s review – here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.
Matchweek 8 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 56 (+1 from Matchweek 7)
Goalkeeper Kits – 47 (+1 from Matchweek 7)
New Kits this Matchweek
As we start to get into the season, the new kits on show contunue to slow down and this was seen again this week where there was just one new kit look on show.
Tottenham Hotspur used their 3rd kit for the first time in the Premier League, having worn the Kit in the Carabao (League) Cup against Fulham.
1 New Goalkeeper Kit:
Burnley – Two Tone Blue (worn against Luton Town on 3rd October)
Kit Highlights
Again, as last week there is only place to start, is Manchester United “SOCK WATCH” ….
And it is the Teamwear socks again with the Adidas Wordmark… this is two games in a row for these socks, so could they be the sock of choice from now on… who knows!
Another notable Kit Highlight from this game was that Brentford have been in change kits for all their away games so far, using their 3rd Kit for the third time this season at Manchester United, and used change kits four times overall.
Sheffield United continued their use of their away kit when playing on the road this season, their yellow second choice kit was used for the fourth time.
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was the game between Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool, mainly because both clubs have only used their Home / Primary Kits so far in the Premier League this season, so this match up means that run will continue into Matchweek 9!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 15 Home Kits, 3 Away Kits and 2 3rd kits in action in this Matchweek.
However there were just one variation on show!
Manchester United in those teamwear socks again
We still have two teams who have only worn 1 kit this season in the opening 8 games
Brighton and Hove Albion
Liverpool
And again Everton have used just the one Goalkeeper kit
Kit Grid – Up to 3rd October
Kit News
There has been both confirmation of Newcastle United leaving Castore and rumours of Aston Villa ending their deal with the manufacturer earlier but it looks a current Premier League Club will be joining their stable from next season, with Everton set to move to them when their deal with Hummel coming to an end this season. This has been reported in the media with sources at the club confirming this.
That wraps up Matchweek 8 and a quiet week in terms of Kits.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek Kit Review will return after the International Break
The Premier League is now seven weeks into the season and it is time to have a more in depth look at the kits worn this weekend and some of the stories and news around Premier League Kits.
As always you can find Matchweek 6’s review – here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… still waiting for confirmation of the shorts that will be used with Luton Town’s 3rd.
Matchweek 7 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 55 (+1 from Matchweek 6)
Goalkeeper Kits – 46 (+1 from Matchweek 6)
New Kits this Matchweek
As we start to get into the season, the new kits on show will of slow down and this was seen this week where there was just one new kit look on show this weekend…
Luton Town in a nice looking kit mash up with Away shirt with Home shorts and socks, celebrating this new look with their first ever Premier League victory.
1 New Goalkeeper Kit:
Manchester City (Purple / Pink)
Kit Highlights
The only place to start, is Manchester United “SOCK WATCH” ….
This week it was a return to the Adidas Teamwear socks that include the Adidas Wordmark! This becomes the first look that Manchester United have used more than once in Premier League this season.
Cheslea’s kit was used for the first time with their new front of shirt sponsor, more details below but worth calling out as a kit highlight for the week.
Sheffield United have played all three of their away games this season in their All Yellow Away Kit.
They are not the only team to play in change kits in all their Away Games so far, with both Brentford (Away x1, 3rd x 2) and Crystal Palace (Away x2, 3rd white Away socks x2) continuing their use of change kits on the road this weekend.
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was the game between Everton and Luton Town, the mash up of the Luton Kit working really well and giving a nice balance with the Everton Home Kit, something very nostalgic for me with this game, so calling this one as my favourite of the week!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 14 Home Kits, 5 Away Kit and for the 4th time this season just one 3rd kit in action.
However there were just variations on show, one home and one away kit.
Manchester United in those teamwear socks
Luton Town in their Away / Home Kit Mash up (as mentioned above).
We still have two teams who have only worn 1 kit this season in the opening 7 games and with both teams playing each other next weeked, likely to make it 8 games in just the one kit!
Brighton and Hove Albion
Liverpool
And again Everton have used just the one Goalkeeper kit
Kit Grid – Up to 3rd October
Kit News
Chelsea have finally confirmed their front of shirt sponsorship with “Infinite Athlete”, the Sports Technology Company was much rumoured to take the spot on the Chelsea shirt in the past few weeks after initial sponsors Paramount were not sanctioned by the Premier League due to their Broadcast deal with NBC in USA and then fans reacted negatively to the rumours of Stake becoming the headline sponosor of the club.
The Sponsorship with Infinite Athlete was debuted in the West London Derby with Fulham on Monday 2nd October.
Hummel have launched a range of shirts called the “Equality Jersery” to celebrate equality and inclusion in the world of sports. Several of the teams in the Hummel stable will have this shirt, likely to be a pre-match shirt… Premier League’s Everton included in this group. The shirt is the classic “Mexico” template in rainbow colours and goes on sale on 29th September 2023.
There were reports last week coming from Aston Villa that players were unhappy with the quality of the shirts from Castore and that they were impacting performance but holding sweat within the shirt. Added to this, the often seen ripping of Castore shirts certainly brings the quality of the products into the spot light, with Newcastle United already confirmed to moving away from the manufacturer next season, will Aston Villa be the next team?
The game between Luton Town and Burnley which was postponed from Matchweek 2 is being played on Tuesday 3rd October, any additional kit details will be added in next week’s Kit Review.
That wraps up Matchweek 7 and a lot to consider from this recent round of fixtures.
And a final reminder, that the latest Episode of The Football Kit Podcast is out now, we have a chat with @TinyJerserys about all things minitaure kit and create our own “Mount Kitmore”, find it at your Podcast Catcher of choice here
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek 8 will be out next week!
The Premier League hits it sixth week of the season and it is time to have a more in depth look at the kits worn this weekend and some interesting kit usage to take a look into.
As always you can find Matchweek 5’s review – here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have all 60 shirts released… with Luton Town’s 3rd shirt being unveiled in the last week, shorts are still to be confirmed and we are assuming the socks were the navy socks worn at Chelsea.
Matchweek 6 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 54 (+6 from Matchweek 5)
Goalkeeper Kits – 45 (+3 from Matchweek 5)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were another 6 new kit looks on show this weekend…
Fulham in Home Kit with alternative white socks, their first kit variation of the season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers debuted their 3rd kit for this season.
Nottingham Forest in alternative red shorts with their Home Kit, creating a classic all red look, something not seen used by the team since 2019/20 season.
Manchester United used their wonderful 3rd kit for first time this season, it was used with alternative white socks (default being red), to give a nice all white look.
Tottenham Hotspur, used their home shirt with alternative navy shorts and socks (these are not the Away shorts / socks) and contain similar pattern to home kit.
Newcastle United used their 3rd kit for the first time and were another team that used alternative shorts and socks, to create a Navy / Yellow / Yellow look (default being Navy / Navy / White) and what a debut it was!!
3 New Goalkeeper Kits:
Arsenal – Green with black shorts
Newcastle United – All Blue
Sheffield United – All White
Kit Highlights
Let’s start with Manchester United, who used their 6th different kit variation in their first 6 games… with four home kits (check out last week’s report about those socks), one away and this 3rd kit from Saturday’s game against Burnley…
Another Kit that was used for the first time this season was Arsenal’s green goalkeeper kit, I want to call this one out as although it is the standard Adidas Goalkeeper template, this is only version of the kit seen in the Premier League that has different colour shorts paired with it, with black shorts being the default look!
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was Manchester City against Nottingham Forest, Forest in all red is a great look in my eyes for the club, especially combined with those Adidas stripes and matched against Man City’s home kit gave a nice overall match up for me!
There were only two games this weekend with both teams in their default Home Kits…
Brentford v Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion v AFC Bournemouth
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 16 Home Kits, 1 Away Kit and 3, 3rd kits in action.
However there were plenty of variations on show, with six alternative looks seen this weekend, five already mentioned above as they were new looks for their respective teams.
Fulham / Nottingham Forest / Manchester United / Tottenham Hotspur / Newcastle United
Aston Villa used alternative claret socks for the 2nd time this season
There are still only two teams who have only worn 1 kit this season in the opening 6 games.
Brighton and Hove Albion
Liverpool
And again Everton have used just the one Goalkeeper kit
Kit Grid – Up to 24th September
Kit News
The final Kit release of the 2023/24 Premier League Season has now happened with Luton launching their 3rd shirt this week, the shirt design being based on the aerial view of their Kenilworth Road Stadium.
However we still do not know what the full kit will look it, although the navy socks used at Chelsea appear to be part of this kit, will it “All Navy” or maybe pink shorts to match the pink detailing on shirt and socks.
Newcastle United who returned to the Champions League last week, confrmed that they will wear a slighlty different design of home shirt in that competition, with UEFA rules requiring a space for the nameset when the stripes are of “Light / Dark” combinations. I am very glad to see the red numbers remaining, in my humble opinion Newcastle United should always use a red namset with their home kit.
That wraps up Matchweek 6 and a lot to consider from this recent round of fixtures.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek 7 will be out next week!
Matchweek 4 is now complete and we have made past the Transfer Deadline Day and to the first International Break of the season, all 20 teams were in action this weekend and again we have some Kit talking points.
This is the fourth weekly review of the kits in the Premier League, you can find last week’s here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we now have 58 out of the 60 Kits released so far… just 2 to go…Chelsea and Luton Town 3rd Kits.
Matchweek 4 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 42 (+5 from Matchweek 3)
Goalkeeper Kits – 40 (+5 from Matchweek 3)
New Kits this Matchweek
There were another 5 new kit looks on show this weekend…
Aston Villa – Default Away Kit Look
AFC Bournemouth – 3rd Kit
Fulham – 3rd Kit
Manchester United – Away Kit
Newcastle United – Away Kit with Home socks (white)
5 New Goalkeeper Kits:
Burnley (Pink)
Manchester United (Yellow)
Sheffield United (Black)
Tottenham Hotspur (Yellow)
West Ham United (Yellow)
Kit Highlights
Two teams, Aston Villa and Manchester United have worn 4 kits in the opening 4 fixtures of the season…
Aston Villa, in two home kit looks (different socks) and two away kit (different shorts).
Manchester United in three Home Kit Looks (Alternative Shorts / Socks used) and 3rd Kit.
Staying with Manchester United and their game with Arsenal once again brought up the issue of “red / green” kit clashes and their impact on colour blind football fans, fellow Co-Host of Football Kit Podcast Denis from Musuem of Jerseys showed the impact of this on those fans (1 in 12 Male and 1 in 200 Female) with this powerful graphic to show the kit clash.
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was the game between Manchester City and Fulham, Fulham in their 3rd kit for the first time and together with Manchester City’s home kit gave a nice balance of colours on show.
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 13 Home Kits, 5 Away Kits and for the first time this season more than one 3rd kit, with 2 seen in action. There were just two kit variations used, both away kits.
Tottenham Hotspur who used home socks with their away for the 2nd time this season
Newcastle United who also used home socks (white) in their first use of their away kit in Premier League
There are still four teams who have only worn 1 kit this season
Brighton and Hove Albion
Burnley
Chelsea
Liverpool
And just two teams who have used just 1 Goalkeeper kit
Brighton and Hove Albion
Everton
This means that Brighton and Hove Albion are the only team this season to use the same kit look for whole team in the opening four games of the season.
Kit Grid – Up to 28th August
Kit News
There were four kit launches over the past week.
Chelsea Away kit, an interesting black kit with blue pattern.
Everton 3rd Kit, part of the 100 Year Hummel celebrations and many of their teams having verisons of their famous “Mexico” template and return of the simple “Prince Rupert’s Tower” which was also seen on their 3rd Kit from last season.
Fulham 3rd Kit, it had been rumoured all summer that Fulham would use their away kit from last season as their 3rd kit for this year, so the release of a new third kit took a lot people by surprise but have delivered a really nice black kit with pink details and will have alternative pink shorts and socks for plenty of kit options…. interesting it’s a different shade of pink seen in the away kit, I would have thought similar shades would have been used to mix / match away and 3rd kits.
Tottenham Hotspur 3rd kit, an interesting choice of colour Spurs’ 3rd kit this season, described as “natural tone” in colour, it appears to be almost a pale brown which is a colour that has some history with Tottenham kits.
Finally we got confirmation from last week’s teasing information that Adidas will return to produce Newcastle United kits from next season, news that has seemed to delight fans and kit lovers alike.
There we have it, all of Kit thoughts from this weekend.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek 4 Review will be published after next round of games after the International Break
We are back with all 20 teams in action this weekend and there is plenty to talk about in terms of the kits on show and kit usage this matchweek.
This is the third weekly review of the kits in the Premier League, you can find last week’s here
The current Kit Overview for Premier League is below, we have seen 54 out of the 60 Kits released so far…
Matchweek 3 Fixtures
Total Kits Used
Kits Worn in Total – 37 (+4 from Matchweek 2)
Goalkeeper Kits – 35 (+6 from Matchweek 2)
New Kits this Matchweek
We are now hitting the 3rd Matchweek of the season, so the new kits on show are starting to slow up this week
Luton Town – Away Kit with Navy socks (from yet to be released 3rd Kit??)
Manchester United – Home Kit with Teamwear Black socks (we’ll get to this….)
Wolverhampton Wanderers – Away Kit
Aston Villa – Away Kit with alternative white shorts (not home shorts)
6 New Goalkeeper Kits:
Arsenal (Blue)
Crystal Palace (Green)
Fulham (Green)
Luton Town (Pink)
Manchester City (Fluro Yellow / Green)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (Yellow)
Kit Highlights
So, there is only one place to start… Manchester United….
Another Premier League season and yet another Manchester United sock drama. So after using their default home socks in their opening two games, which are black with the similar pattern as seen in the home shirt, this weekend’s home game with Nottingham Forest saw The Red Devils in plain Black Adidas Teamwear socks, is it supply issues or something else, regarding Premier not “signing off” on the sock design as I saw mentioned on Social Media this weekend, only time will tell but if we can get the default socks back that would be great in my humble opionion, they worked really well with the kit and help elevate the overall design!
See the difference below…
The result of this means its 3 different kit looks in 3 games of Manchester United, only matched by Aston Villa, who have worn 2 home kit looks and now an away kit with alternative white shorts (including the monochorm Club Crest).
There is another team that has used 3 different kits in their opening 3 games and that is Wolverhampton Wanderers and their use of Goalkeeper kits, using all 3 already this season…
My favourite kit match up of the weekend was the game between Brentford and Crystal Palace. Palace in their Black 3rd kit with away socks for the second time this season and balance of red / white / black of Brentford gave a nice overall kit match up in my eyes!
Kit Stats
Overall we have seen 15 Home Kits, 4 Away Kits and again just the one 3rd kit used this weekend but plenty of variations on show with 4 teams moving from default looks:
Home, Manchester United
Away, Aston Villa and Luton Town
3rd, Crystal Palace
Kit Grid – Up to 28th August
Kit News
There was just the one kit launch this week, with Aston Villa releasing their 3rd kit for this season on Friday 25th August.
I will be back again next week with Matchweek 4’s Kit Review, what we will see in the final week of games before the first International Break of the season!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or at @Kit_Geek and Matchweek 3 Review will be published after next weekend’s games.
The 2022 / 23 Premier League season ended on Sunday 28th May 2023 with Manchester City securing their 3rd Premier League in a row with 3 games still to play. At the foot of the table, Everton survivied with a final day victory which means that Leicester City and Leeds United will be joining already relegated Southampton.
As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.
Kit Stats
760 Kits worn (380 Games)
Home Kit used 73% of the time (67% Default, 6% Variations)
Away Kit used 15% of the time (12% Default, 3% Variations)
3rd Kit used 12% of the time (9% Default, 3% Variations)
109 different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
Home Kits – 43.1% of total Kit Variations used:
25 Home Kits worn (5 teams wearing 23/24 Home Kit this season)
22 Home Kit variations used
Away Kits – 29.4% of total Kit Variations used:
19 Away Kits worn
13 Away Kit variations used
Aston Villa did not use registered Away kit, wearing 2 different variation
3rd Kits – 26.6% of total Kit Variations used:
19 3rd Kits used
10 3rd Kit variations used
Manchester United did not use registered 3rd kit, wearing alternative shorts
Goalkeeper Kits:
68 Goalkeeper used
2 Teams (Liverpool and Manchester City) in 5 different Goalkeeper Kits
4 Teams in 4 Goalkeeper Kits (Arsenal / Leicester City / Liverpool in 23/24 GK Kits)
Overview of Kits Used
Kit Overview
Kit Log, Match 1 to Match 19
Kit Log, Match 20 to Match 38
Kit Variations
Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Premier League Teams:
Two Teams in 9 Kit variations
Manchester United – Home Kit x6, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Newcastle United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit x2, 4th Kit
Two Teams in 8 Kit variations
Leeds United – Home Kits x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x4
Southampton – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
West Ham United in 7 Kit variations – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
Arsenal – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
Liverpool – Home Kit x2 (including 23/24 Kit), Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
Four Teams in 4 Kit variations
Four Teams in 3 Kit variations
Most variations of Home Kit – 6
Manchester United
Most variatons of Away Kit – 3
Newcastle United
Southampton
Most variations of 3rd Kit – 4:
Leeds United
Six Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away or 3rd Kits
AFC Bournemouth
Brentford
Leicester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
Manchester City (Including 23/24 Home Kit)
Nottingham Forest
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Home Kit – 31, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Most worn Away Kit – 9, Nottingham Forest
Most worn 3rd Kit – 9, Brentford and Manchester City
Most worn 4th Kit – 1, Newcastle United
Liverpool and Manchester City used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations including 23/24 GK Kits
Most worn GK Kit – 31, Tottenham Hotspur (Yellow GK Kit)
Kit Grid
Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek
Kit Tables
One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 6 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.
Home Kits
No surprises at the top of table, with Manchester City heading the table up with 2.48 points per game in their Home Kit, followed by Arsenal (2.31) and Manchester United (2.21). Both Manchester Clubs scoring 62 Points in Home Kits.
Chelsea can sum up their disappointing season by scoring less 1 point per game (0.93), only managing 28 points in their 30 games in their home kit, one of four teams (Everton, Leicester City and Southampton) in managing less than 1 point per game.
Away Kits
Newcastle United’s Champions League qualifying season was supported by their performance in their Navy Away kit, worn in 3 different variations The Magpies managed 2.67 points per game in their 6 games.
Arsenal scored the most points in an Away Kit, they managed 18 points in their two away kit looks which was used across 10 games in total.
Only 7 teams managed more than 1 point per game, with Everton who only secured their Premier League status on the final game scored 1.4 points per game in their away kit and remained unbeated in their two away kit looks this season.
Fulham, who used their away kit 3 times, did not manage to score any points in these games.
3rd Kits
Rumour has it that Mikel Arteta did not like the Arsenal Pink 3rd kit this season, however in its two appearences they won both games giving the kit a maximum 3 points per game.
Champions Manchester City, who were the joint highest wearers of a 3rd kit this season score 20 points in total, finishing 2.22 points per game.
Fulham were more productive in their 3rd kit, were the 4th highest points per game scorers in 3rd kits, with a total of 9 points won in 5 games wearing 2 variations of their 3rd Kit.
There were 3 teams that did not score any points in their 3rd Kit (Leeds United x5, Southampton, x5 and Nottingham Forest x2).
Summary and Highlights
There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:
Lets start with Manchester United, who wore a staggering 6 variations of their Home Kit, the key to this was the socks… they started the season using alternative black away socks and it was not until teams returned from the World Cup on 27th December where the default Home Socks were finally used… see the difference in the socks below? One of the Kit Mysteries of 2022/23 Season
The other four looks for Manchester United were…
As briefly mentioned above, another Kit Mystery for the season is Arsenal 3rd Kit, initally popular with fans when it was first released, however it only made two appearences this season (both victories) and was used in two of Arsenal’s first three games, so its final use in the Premier League was on 20th August in the game against Bournemouth… rumour was the Mikel Arteta did not like the kit but there is no confirmation of that!
Newcastle United ended the season unbeaten in their change kits, they played a total of 12 games in change kits.
6 games in Away Kit (3 Variations)
5 games in 3rd Kit (2 Variations)
1 game in 4th Kit
Leeds United, ended the season with the most variations of a 3rd Kit, using 4 different looks in just 5 games unfortunatley not scoring a point in any of these looks but as a Kit Geek, I did enjoy they use of this kit!
This season was the first since 2019/20 where a 4th Kit was used. However Newcastle United’s 4th was not a traditonal 4th Kit but a training shirt that was matched prepared and partnered with Home Shorts and Socks, the reason being that their designated kits of this season were all considered to clash when they visited Brighton & Hove Albion in just the second game week of the season and their first away game!
Crystal Palace did not use their 3rd Kit in the Premier League in 2021/22 season and it took until their 23rd game of this season against Brentford in February to wear one this time, a total of 651 days and 64 League games between wearing 3rd Kits (both Black with Red / Blue details).
There were some interesting Kit Mash Ups used this season…
Arsenal, using grey Goalkeeper Socks with their Black Away kit… a look they used three times against Manchester United, Liverpool and Brentford!
When Manchester City visited Crystal Palace, their goalkeeper socks were considered a clash with Crystal Palace’s, so Ederson took to the field in white outfied away socks of Palace!!
Leeds United, followed a similar look to Arsenal when they played Manchester United with their Goalkeeper look using grey socks with their black keeper kit, they wore this look in both games against Manchester United… which were in the space of 4 days!
There we have it, The Premier Leagues’s End of Season Kit report for 2022/23, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek
Time for Issue Number 16 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 15 click here
The Headlines
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
RKC Waalwijk Charity Kit
Manchester United x Adidas – 1990 / 92
FC Barcelona Kit Mash up
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
It is that time of the year when the Kit Launches have begun, now I am sure that will not be able to keep up with them all over the coming months but let’s give it a go with this week’s launches…
Liverpool (Home) – Liverpool, a team who traditional launch their home kit around this time of the season, normally debuting their new Home kit in their last home game, although not confirmed I expect to see that happen against in final game against Wolverhampton Wanderers…
The Nike kit sees a return to plain red, although there is nice detail in the shirt and the cuff are one of favourite part of the shirt. Also this is the first look at the Nike Goalkeeper Template for next season, Liverpool opting for the “Lilac” version of the kit…
Walsall (Home, Away, 3rd) – Walsall, who produce one of my favourite kit sets of 2021 / 22 season, which allowed 10 Kit variations to be used as the kits were designed to be whole kit set (a very happy Kit Geek Here) have launched their range of kits for next season already, again produced by Errea see the home kit being in all red, with no confirmation of the full look for away and 3rd kits but I would expect all white and all black, again giving us potential mash up options.
Barrow AFC (Home / Away) – Barrow AFC are the first team to release new kits from a new kit supplier, moving from Joma to Puma. Both shirts are an interesting look, with the home in particular something new using two shades of blue and white to create the look, the away being a black with a star like / paint splatter pattern (depending on your view).
Bayern Munich (Home) – One of Adidas flagship teams Bayern Munich have launched their home kit, a team that often mix up their look at home, will next season go for a shirt that includes white horizontal stripes, which are of various thickness..
RKC Waalwijk Charity Shirt
RKC Waalwijk played in special shirts their match against FC Groningen.
The shirts were designed by a 10 year old fan and were auctioned, the proceeds will go to Villa Pardoes, a charity that suports ill children and their families with holidays. Quite possibly the first shirt to include a snail in its design….
Manchester United x Adidas (1990 / 92)
It was confirmed this week that Adidas will be re-issuing their home shirt and goalkeeper shirt from 1990 to 1992, the designs look faithful to their originals and will be part of the Adidas Original range, the Goalkeeper shirt is a real highlight for me, not often we see these shirts reproduced.
FC Barcelona – Kit Mash Up
Although not their first team, FC Barcelona “B Team” wore a mash up of their current away kit with home shorts, for an interesting and likely a one off look…!
And Finally….
What’s happening in the Kit Community.
I like to end each issue with some of the “going on’s” within the Kit Community.
The latest Football Kit Podcast is now out, Episode 10 see Les, Denis and I return to discussion about Templates, each nominating a “Template of Doom” and “Template of Worship”, you can find the episode here or Download from your Podcast App of choice and remember to subscribe, like and give your feedback!
I was lucky enough to be give a very limited edition shirt this week, to celebrate the launch of his book “Kit and Caboodle”, Matt Riley has designed and got produced a limited number shirts. There is a competition to win one of these shirts, where you need to guess the attendance of Exeter City’s game against Port Vale on 7th May, so be quick and get your guesses in!
On Thursday 5th May, there was an evening dedicated to all things Football Shirt Design, with our friends at Spark Academy along with Subside Sports and The Anfield Wrap. Although the event has now passed, there are some great videos and chat from members of the Kit Community to check out on the Subside Sport Timeline, with another friend of ours Chris Chats Shirts making some wonderful videos so those of us that could not attend the event still get a feel of the goings on and feel part of this great event.
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
The Premier League is now in full flow, the recent weekend (15th – 17th September) or known as “Match Day 5” in some corners has now been and gone with no great surprises in terms of results but did give us some interesting talking points in terms of kits, so lets dive in and have look at some of the kit talking points in more detail.
Fulham – 4th Kit of the season
There is only one place to start and that is Fulham who wore their 4th different kit of the season and in fact it has been 4 kits in 4 games, quite possibly a record within the Premier League era.
This run of kits started with the introduction of a red third kit in the game against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on 18th August 2018. This kit was no surprise giving that a change was needed with Fulham’s home and away kits not providing a contrast to Tottenham’s current home kit. This was not a new kit but last season’s third kit, updated with this season’s shirt sponsor.
In the next game, Fulham’s home game against Burnley played on 26th August 2018 there was no surprise that they would play in their traditional White shirts / Black shorts / White socks combination.
The next game, away at Brighton and Hove Albion on 1st September 2018 is the one that took the our little kit world by surprise, again as with the game against Spurs, Fulham’s home and away kits would potentially cause a clash with the blue and white stripes worn by Brighton but assumption would be that the red 3rd kit would then make an appearance providing an adequate alternative, however in this game they wore last season’s black away shirt with this season’s home shorts and socks, providing them with a 4th kit for the 2018/19 season.
This brings us to this past week (15th September 2018), where Fulham away at Champions Manchester City would see the first appearance of their new navy blue away kit, however the full away kit was not worn it was paired with what appears to be the home socks, the registered socks with their away kit this season are also navy blue.
I am unaware of a reason behind the choice of kits, particularly in the Brighton game but it creates good conversation and debate around this and football kits, for me a simple Kit Geek this is indeed a wonderful thing.
Crystal Palace – New 3rd Kit
As expected when Crystal Palace visited Huddersfield Town this season we would need to see an alternative to their Home and Away kits, this was launched at the weekend with a fantastic all yellow kit, with a faded red / blue stripe running down the centre of the shirt.
With the additional of this kit, I believe Crystal Palace have one of the best set of kits in the Premier League this season.
Away kit variations
Another area of the world of kits that I enjoy is those variations within a team’s kit, different shorts and socks worn with each kit. This weekend we saw six different variations for team’s kits, West Ham United and Arsenal wore variations of their home kits. Fulham (which we have already discussed), Manchester United, Cardiff City and Brighton & Hove Albion all wore variations of their away kits.
West Ham’s home kit combined with sky blue shorts and socks, is one that really works for me and a variation that I like to see on the pitch.
Manchester United wore their pink away kit for the second time game in a row and for the second time varied from the Pink – Black – Pink combination, this time surprisingly wearing white shorts with the Pink shirts and socks. I was surprised that when moving from the registered black shorts that they did use pink shorts as an alternative but the white seemed to work okay as a contrast.
Plenty of discussion points from this week’s Premier League fixtures in terms of Kits, let me know your thoughts on this.
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 