I like to look at Football Kits and Kit Stats in many ways, one way that I wanted to revisist for the previous season was a Top Trump format.
So for those of a certain age will know all about Top Trumps, so for this set I have looked at the kits of each of the 20 Premier League Teams, Home, Away and Third kits and stats around these kits, the stats I have picked are the following:
League Games Worn – How many league games was the kit (and variations) worn in 21 / 22 Season
Variations of Kit – The number of variations of that kit were worn in 21 / 22 Season
Games Won – Number of games won wearing the kit
Points Won – Numner of points won wearing the kit
Points per game – The average number of points per game (total points / games worn) per kit
The cards by each team….
There we have it, any surprises in there, Brighton’s Points per game, Leicester City’s lack of games won in their Away and 3rd Kit?
What would you consider as the overall “Top Trump” card, Liverpool Home Kit or Manchester City Home Kit or something else?
Are there any other stats that you think I should haved used for future Top Trump looks at Football Kits.
Please let me know over at @Kit_Geek on Twitter or in the comments below.
My initial attempt at this was for 2018 / 19 Season can be found here
As mentioned in the latest Edition of The Heat Press I called out this graphic from Stoke City which shows their Kit launch for 2022/23 and how they will be used as an overall set, it was something I wanted to take a little deeper look into.
On the 1st June The Potters launched their home kit, which was followed in the next two days with the two change kits (no kit designated as Away or 3rd), showing us these kits are being viewed as an overall set not three individual kits.
Macron have produced Stoke City’s kits since 2016 and in their 7th season as a partnership and for the first time since 2017/18 (their last in the Premier League) have produced three kits for the forthcoming season, having only had Home and Away Kits in the past four seasons and using alternative shorts and socks with these kits to avoid clashes.
However a rule was brought in by the EFL at the start of the 2021/22 season which requested clubs only have three shirts, three shorts and three socks in their “Kit Locker” for use, The Potters have shown this season how using these elements of kit sensibly and viewing the kit set as a whole kit can provide alternative that work well for the club and keeping a constant theme across all kit variations, we had an excellent example of this with Walsall in the 21/22 Season, details of that can be found here
Home Kit – The default Home Kit combines the traditional red and white striped shirt (this year seeing some detaling in the stripes) paired with white shorts and socks, the alternative of red shorts and socks (something we have seen regularly used over the past seasons) and a new look with black shorts and socks.
White Change Kit – The next kit launched was the white change kit, taking inspriation from the away kits of the 70s with the two coloured sash, this gives an unique look for the club (that kit being matched with black shorts and red socks). Looking at the club shop it appears this version will be used with black shorts and socks as default, with the red and white offering alternative looks.
Black Change Kit – The final kit lauched was the black kit, again using the club shop as the basis of this look will be paired with Red shorts and socks as a default look and this gives each short and sock colour block a first choice default look with one of the three kits.
So there we have it, currenly nine different kit variations offered with just three shirts, shorts and socks, we could even see up to a total of 27 kit variations possible if the shorts and socks are also mixed and matched, could we see a different look in each Away game in The Championship, part of me certainly hopes so.
Well done to Macron and Stoke City in delivering which is likely to be one of the best kit overall kit sets seen in the 2022/23 Season.
Time for Issue Number 18 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 17 click here
The Headlines
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
New Kit Deals
Adidas International Men x Women
England’s 4th Goalkeeper Kit
2022 / 23 Kit Launches
Kit Launches are coming thick and fast, so here some of the releases these past few weeks…
Newcastle United – The 2nd home kit produced by Castore, see a thinner stripe to the home shirt return and with some blue accents on all elements of the kit. The one question remains the sponsor, with rumours that the sponsorship will change before the start of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur – Now in their 6th season with their partnership with Nike, the new Spurs home kit sees a return of flashes of yellow in the shirt and socks, however one thing this does do in introduce another colour to the shirt, with Navy, Red, Purple already appearing on the white shirt, too much?? Maybe for some!
West Ham United – The Hammers look to the past for influence to their 22/23 kit, which is based on the Bukta kit from 1991/93 with its unique sleeve pattern.
A surprise to the kit was to see it match with blue shorts and claret socks, the shorts being a highlight for me, reminding me of the Umbro shorts from late 80s.
Wolverhampton Wanderers – Wolves are another team going into their 2nd season with Castore, this kit seems to a simplier version of their last home kit, with just a small amout of black detailing on the shirt this coming season.
Stoke City – It is going to take a lot to beat the way Stoke City have advertised and launced their new kit range, launching Home, Away and 3rd kits over a course of few days but showing how they intend to use their kits this season in a variety of mash ups, this Kit Geek was very excited to see this graphic!
This will be the first time that Stoke City have released a 3rd Kit since their 2017 / 18 season, their last in the Premier League.
Cambridge United – Hummel delivering another bespoke kit for The U’s, a nod to the “Influence” kits from 1991/93 with pattern within the shirt itself…
Stevange – Launching both home and away shirts, the away see the purple remaining as a change colour for the club who used it as their 3rd kit colour last season but the home is a radical change in look with black forming a significant part of the shirt in the body and sleeves for a unique look for the League Two Club.
FC Barcelona – I mentioned on Twitter that I believe this is one of the best home kits produced by Nike for the Catalans, a wonderful take on their classic look, with use of Navy across all elements of the kit working perfectly for me… a great kit!!
New Kit Deals
Although no kits been launched as yet, there has been some confirmation of new kit deals for some clubs over the past week or so…
Aston Villa x Castore
Aston Villa also took to Social Media to thank Kappa for their support, a nice touch I thought.
Ipswich Town x Umbro – This will be interesting to see if they take any influence from the shirts of the early 90s, a return of the laced collar!
MK Dons x Castore
Oxford United x Macron
Adidas International Men x Women
Adidas used some of their International Men’s teams to help launch their new Kit range for the International Women ahead of the upcoming Euros in England.
Belgium – A great look with Black / Red / Red
Germany – who may be in spot of bother with FIFA, as the Women’s shirt only has two stars, not the four that normally appear on the Men’s kit!
Spain – Something classic about this Spanish Shirt!
England’s 4th Goalkeeper Kit
In their Nation’s League Game against Germany, England and Jordan Pickford used a red version of the Nike Goalkeeper template, this was the 4th variation used after Yellow, Green and Black..
And Finally….
Whats happening in the Kit Community.
I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.
The latest Episode of The Football Kit Podcast is now out, this time we take a more detailed look at one club’s kits, with Newcastle United being that club, Les, Denis and I were joined by Gavin Haigh for a wonderful dicussion about The Magpies’ kits over the years, you can check out the podcast on my page or use this link to listen directly here
Another Podcast to check out is The Price of Football, in general a wonderful podcast looking into the “Finances Behind the Beautiful Game”… one episode I really want to recommend is from Thursday 2nd June where there is a facsinating interview with Hummel’s Mark Underwood. The podcast can be found here
Our Friends over at Talking Kit have ended their first series of “Full Kit Rankers”, make sure you check out their YouTube Channel, check out their episodes discussing kits from AFCON to EFL to Champions League
I have always considered Football Kits as a form of art work, well Christopher K Art has taken this one step further, with this wonderful abstract painting of the 2021/22 Millwall Home shirt, I might be biased (I know I am) but this would be fantastic hanging on my wall…!
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
On Saturday 28th May 2022, Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League (European Cup) against Liverpool in the Final at Stade de France in Paris. I wanted to follow my overview of the kits worn in the Group Stages with a Kit Overview of the Knock Out Stages of the competition, as well as a final overview of the competition from The Group Stages
Knock Out Round Kit Stats
30 Kits worn in Knock Out Stages – 29 games
17 Home Kits (13 first choice / 4 variations)
5 Away Kits (3 first choice / 2 variations)
8 3rd Kits (7 first choice / 1 variation)
7 New Kit Variations used in Knock Out Stages
Overall Kit Stats (Including Group Stages)
96 Kits worn in Group Stages – 125 games
48 Home Kits (30 first choice / 18 variations)
30 Away Kits (21 first choice / 9 variations)
17 3rd Kits (15 first choice / 2 variations)
1 4th Kit used
Kit Overview
Group A / Group B
Group C / Group D
Group E / Group F
Group G / Group H
The 7 “New Kits Variations” seen in the Knockout Stages:
Atletico Madrid – Home Kit, with red shorts and socks at Manchester City
Real Madrid – Home Kit with away socks at Chelsea
Real Madrid – Away Kit at Manchester City
Benfica – 3rd Kit at Ajax
Benfica – Away at Liverpool
Lille OSC – Away with black socks at Chelsea
Chelsea – Away with alternative yellow shorts (at Lille OSC and Real Madrid)
Kit Variations Stats
Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Champions League Teams
Four Teams in 5 Kit variations
AC Milan (6 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Manchester United (8 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Atletico Madrid (10 Games) – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
Villareal wore their home kit in 11 of their 12 fixtures
Atletico Madrid wore three different home kit variations in the Champions League all against English opposition.
Borussia Dortmund were the only team in the competition not to wear a change kit, only wearing their home kit with two pairs of shorts, default black and alternative fluro yellow.
There we have it, the final kit report of the 2021 / 22 Season, congratulation to Real Madrid on their victory.
Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the 2021 / 22 Champions League in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek
The 2021/22 Championship Season came to a close on Saturday 7th May 2022, with Champions being Fulham, who are returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking and scoring over 100 goals in the process. AFC Bournemouth secured the second automatic spot with a game to go to return to Premier League after two seasons in the Second Tier. The teams competing in the Play-Offs are Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United and Luton Town.
I want to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).
Kit Stats
1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
97 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
Home Kits – 38% of Kit variations used
24 Home Kits worn
13 Home Kit variations worn
Away Kits – 38% of variations used
24 Away Kits worn
13 Away Kit variations worn
3rd Kits – 22% of variations worn
18 3rd Kits worn
3 3rd Kit variations worn
Special Kits – 2% of variations worn
2 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 Championship Teams
5 Teams wore 6 Kit Variations, most in The Championship
Barnsley – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
Fulham – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
Luton Town – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
Millwall – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
Queen’s Park Rangers – Home x3, Away x2, Special Kit
4 Teams in 5 Kit Variations
AFC Bournemouth – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
Birmingham City – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
Coventry City – Home, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
Huddersfield Town – Home, Away x3, 3rd
5 Teams in 4 Kit Variations
7 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits, 2 Kit variations
Middlesbrough
Reading
Stoke City
Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits
Barnsley – Red / White / Red (x2 – once with 3rd “Monochrome” shorts), Red / White / Purple (Charity Socks)
Millwall – Navy / White / Navy, All Navy, Navy / Navy / White
QPR – White shorts & socks, Blue shorts & socks, Blue shorts & white socks
Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
Fulham – Black / White / Black, All Black, Black / Black / White
Huddersfield Town – Navy / Navy / White, Navy / Navy / Black, Navy / White / Black
Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 2 Kits
Luton Town – All White, White / Navy / White
10 Teams worn no variation of kits
7 Teams in just Home, Away and 3rd Kits
3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits
Most worn Home Kit – 38, Bristol City
Most worn Away Kit – 21, Reading
Most worn 3rd Kit – 13, Nottingham Forest
Kit Grid
Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek
Kit Highlights and Summary
In 2021/22 Championship teams wore 97 Kits, this was a reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 110 Kits were worn. The reduction is linked to the number of times teams had variations of their kits, with only 29 variations of Home, Away, 3rd kits used compared to 39 variations from the default look used in 2020 / 21 season.
Bristol City wore their home kit for 38 times, but a special mention to Middlesbrough who wore their home kit 37 times, to be the most used kits in League this season, both Red, Both Hummel.
A common theme in The Championship this season was the use of 3rd Kits, with five teams wearing their 3rd kit more than their away kit.
AFC Bournemouth – 3rd Kit worn 8 times
Blackburn Rovers – 3rd Kit worn 12 times
Huddersfield Town – 3rd Kit worn 10 times
Millwall – 3rd Kit worn 10 times
Nottingham Forest – 3rd Kit worn 13 times (most in worn in the League)
Millwall where the only team not use their default Home Kit (Navy / White / Navy) in any of their away games this season, in their 23 games away from The Den they used two variations of Home Kit (All Navy worn five times, Navy / Navy / White worn twice), two away looks (White / Navy / White worn four times and All white worn twice) and their 3rd kit ten times.
Reading wore their away kit in 21 of their 23 games, only wearing their home kit in an away game for the first time on 26th February 2022 at Blackpool, the other fixture was at Hull City in April.
There were two “Special Kits” worn through out the season, these were celebration kits worn by Coventry City and Queen’s Park Rangers and were both worn in home games for the clubs.
Coventry City – Return to Ricoh Kit
QPR – 140th Anniversary Kit
There were two 3rd Kits that we did not see in their default look, Hull City only used their 3rd kit once this season against Huddersfield Town where they wore the kit with black shorts (Home Shorts) rather than the default Amber Shorts, which robbed us Kit Lovers of a unique look!
Cardiff City were the second team that did not use their default 3rd Kit look, it was communicated that “The Bluebirds” would use their away kit from 2020 / 21 as their 3rd kit this season, however in its two uses this season it was worn with white shorts and socks and not navy that was used last season.
A final Kit “quirk” of the season was in the first game of season (and thanks for the tip off from an eagle eyed fan) was Barnsley took to the field in the game against Cardiff City in their 3rd kit shorts, also white but have a monochrome version of the club crest on them (Can be seen the image below).
There we have it, The Championship’s End of Season Kit report for 2021/22, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek
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
As many you of you know I am Millwall supporter and have been over 30 years now, when it comes to posting and writing articles I always look to remain neutral and do not tend to focus on my own club, however for one post I need to make an exception and here’s why….
Today (Wednesday 20th April 2022), Millwall announced a new Kit Partnership with Hummel and honestly this makes me feel like I am 10 years old again…. in fact, the closest feeling to this is when Millwall first had their kits produced by ASICS, which at the time I found amazing that we had the same kit manufacturer as two of the biggest clubs at the time, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers (1994)
Looking at my years of supporting the club the Kits have been produced by likes of Spall, Errea, Bukta, Macron and even a brand owned by then club owner Theo Paphitis (Strikeforce), so the thought of my club having what I would view as a World Class Kit Manufacturer really makes this Millwall Supporting Kit Geek excited.
Over the past few seasons in Macron’s second spell with the club have really delivered some wonderful kits, very much taken their influence from kits from late 80s, early 90s and I thank them for this, so there are decent size “shoes” to fill but given some of kits designed and produced over the past few seasons for clubs in English Football I cannot wait to see what this iconic brand have in store for my club.
The deal is a long-term deal for the next five years, starting from 2022 / 23 season and will provide “Bespoke” kits for the club’s teams and coaching staff, as well as taking control of Club Shop and online retail, this is a huge step for the club.
In the meantime, here is a Concept Kit design created by a “Friend of Kit Geek” @KonceptKitz just to give you an idea of what Millwall x Hummel kit could look like!
Let me know your thoughts, especially you Millwall fans out there!
Thank you for indulging me in this little love in… normal service will resume.
Time for Issue Number 12 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 11 click here
The Headlines
Real Madrid– 120th Anniversary Kit
Canada Premier League Kit Launch
Denmark
Colchester United– Special Kit
Inverness Caledonian Thistle – 2022/23 Kit Launch
Real Madrid – 120th Anniversary Kit
Real Madrid have released a special kit to celebrate their 120th Anniversary, the kit which was designed in collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto under the Y-3 Brand. The all black kit is one for collectors with the price of the shirt alone being £160 / €180 and if you wanted to pick the whole kit up it will cost over £300.
The kit was worn last weekend in “El-Clásico” against rivals FC Barcelona, who themselves wore their “Senyera” kit which is in it’s 4th calendar year of use, this gave us one of the world’s classic derby matches a very unique look…
Canada Premier League
The was a large kit launch across the Atlantic last week with the launch of the Primary Kits for the Canadian Premier League. All kits are produced by Macron and they have delivered some great looks for the eight teams in the competition…
My favourite looks are…
FC Valour
And York United
The “Secondary” kits are launched over the next week, ready for the League to kick off in the first week of April, so we will take a look at those kits in the coming weeks but interested to see what they produce in follow up to the “Primary” kits.
Denmark – Special Edition Kit
Hummel have teamed up with fashion brand “BLS Hafina” to produce a special kit for the Denmark’s national team, this kit is to pay tribute to a new generation and will be worn on 29th March 2022 in their friendly against Serbia.
Can you feel it? A breath of fresh air, a unique look for the new generation. BLS Hafnia and hummel have come together to design a limited edition national team shirt for Denmark, which pays tribute to the new generation.#hummelsport#ForDanmarkpic.twitter.com/E69M54yJ9m
On Monday 21st March, Colchester United took to the field in their League Two game against Forest Green Rovers in a special kit to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The team wearing the yellow and blue kit, as will has ticket proceeds and other fund raising raised over £65,000 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, via the British Red Cross.
One of the first kit launches of the 2022 / 23 season has now happened, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle have launched their home kit for next season, which the club are stating…
“Inspired by the fans who follow the Caley Jags both at home and on our travels, our “Inverness is Wonderful” song” with the words “Inverness is Wonderful” wovern into the shirt.
More details can be found here but the team are currently in the playoff positions in the Scottish Championship so will be hoping this kit is one we see in the Scottish Premier League next season.
And Finally….
Whats happening in the Kit Community.
I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.
The Spark Academy have now taken their wonderful “Kit Breakdown” across to YouTube where they are looking at the authenic and replica versions of the Manchester United 2021 / 22 home shirt.
Our friends over at the Kit Mag have recent tweeted about contributing in future issues of their magazine, if you are interested take a look at their site and just follow the instructions laid out here – I think I might even try and submit something myself….
@ArsenalShirt shared an interesting tweet this week, where the club were offering fans who hold “fan tokens” the chance to vote for what kit the team should wear in their game against Southampton on 16th April… interesting to see and is this the future??? (I would go 3rd kit, the more we see that the better in my eyes)!
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 FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed the 5th Round of the 2021/22 season.
The 5th Round of the competition was held mid-week between 1st March and 7th March, this meant as many games as possible could be televised. The round consisted of 16 teams, 9 Premier League Teams, 6 Championship Teams and Boreham Wood of The National League, the lowest ranked and final Non League team in the competition.
No replays from now on in the competition, so all ties were concluded in these games by Extra Time / Penalities if needed.
Fifth Round Kit Log
Manufacturers
Only six manufacturers left in the competition at this round, with a fairly even split across Puma (4), Umbro, Hummel and Nike (3), with Puma maintaining their record with the most kits in each round.
Kit Highlights
Looking at some of the highlights of the Fifth Round…
There were three teams wore have worn 3 different kits in their 3 games in the FA Cup so far, with Manchester City, Southampton and West Ham United
Boreham Wood were in a “One-off” kit for their game at Everton, this was made even more special with their Premier League hosts covering the costs of this kit, as well as other costs such as travel and hotels, a really nice touch and show of support of the Non League Team.
Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup Fifth Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – @Kit_Geek
After a little break its now time for Issue Number 11 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 10 click here
The Headlines
Teams supporting Ukraine
Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition
Italy confirmed to Adidas
Bury AFC Kit Vote
Las Vegas Lightsx Meyba
Teams supporting Ukraine
There have seen several examples of English Football teams using their kits to show solidatory with Ukraine over the past few weeks.
Ipswich Town v Lincoln City – Ipswich Town in all blue and Lincon City in their 3rd kit to create a Blue / Yellow look for the match
Brighton and Hove Albion wore their 3rd Kit (last season’s away) at home against Liverpool in Premier League, the shirts were auctioned off after the game to raise money for supporting charities.
Sunderland wore their away kit at home against Crewe Alexandra
I would expect we continue to see similar shows of support over the coming weeks.
Borussia Dortmund – Kit Design Competition
As discussed in Issue 4 of The Heat Press, Borussia Dortmund introduced a competition to design their home kit for 2023/24 season. This has now got the stage of the final designs, our friends at Kit Mag pulled together this wonderfull graphic to show the finalists in the competition.
Voting ends this week on 18th March, where you can vote for your top 3 kits – https://kit.bvb.de/en
For me its the Top Middle, and the bottom two as shown in the graphic!
Italy to Adidas
Following the rumours that have been circulating since the start of the year, it was confirmed that the Italian National team will have their kits supplied by Adidas from January 2023.
It will not be the first time that The Azzuri have kits supplied by Adidas having provided playing and training kit between 1974 and 1978, however this did not carry the classic “Three Stripe” branding and as all kit lovers, we are keen to see if they adopt the three colours of the flag in their stripes as seen with the Italian Rugby team in 2014.
Bury AFC – Kit Vote
Bury AFC, the fan owned Phoenix club are offering their fans the opportunity to vote on the clubs kit for the next season, with Hope+Glory providing the kits for the club, some interesting designs on offer, I would go for option E, there are some Admiral vibes to this shirt that I like. The final kit will be used for the following two seasons.
Las Vegas Lights – 2022 Shirts
Las Vegas Lights a team well known in the Kit Community, who play in the USL Championship in United States have released their Home and Away Kits for the 2022 Season. The kits are produced by Classic Spanish manufactuerer Meyba (think Gary Lineker at Barcelona) and take inspriation from the City in their design, the Home based on the famous “Las Vegas Strip” and Away based on the region around the city, each design using colour well to highlight these elements.
On a personal note, I am off to Vegas later this year, so hoping to take a game whilst I am there.
And Finally….
Whats happening in the Kit Community.
I like to end each issue with some of the “going ons” within the Kit Community.
Episode 8 of The Football Kit Podcast is now out, in this episode Les, Denis and I discuss Change Kits, we look we each take a postive and negative view of change kits.
A snap shot of our discussion can seen below…
You can find the podcast here or at your Podcast App of choice
With the annoucement of Italy soon to be wearing Adidas Kits has seen many concept kit designs from the Community, I wanted to call out @hendocfc who produced this wonderful take on what the shirt would look like.
I particularly like the collar and after seeing it was inspired by another passion of mine Formula 1, with the current Alfa Romeo rear wing.
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
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 