Tag: Soccer

The Heat Press – Issue 3

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Happy New Year to you all….

Time to start the New Year with Issue 3 of The Heat Press, a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 2 click here

The Headlines

  • Wrexham 3rd Kit
  • Teams leaving Kappa
  • Everton Rainbow warm up shirt update
  • Inter Miami colour change

Wrexham 3rd Kit

Wrexham AFC have released their 3rd kit which will be used in both 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, the kit uses the traditional white / green / red welsh colours and is made from recycled polyester yarn with each adult shirt made from 13 plastic bottles and will be worn with white shorts and socks to give an all white alternative look.

Teams leaving Kappa

It is being reported that three top league teams will be moving away from Kappa from this summer, signing new kit deals with other manufacturers. The teams are Aston Villa who have reportly signed a new deal with Castore, Real Betis who will be moving to Hummel and FC Lorient who will equipped by Umbro from next season. These changes will mean there is currently no team in Premier League or La Liga with the iconic Kappa brand.

Full details can be found at Footy Headlines here

Everton – Rainbow Warm up shirt

The special edition warm up shirt which was produced by Hummel for both Everton and Southampton in their opening game of the 2021/22 season. The proceeds from the Everton shirt sales has raised just under £12.5K for Everton’s LGBTI+ charity and awareness workshops, the shirts popularity meant it was sold out within 20 minutes of being on sale online.

Full details on the story can be found here

Inter Miami in the Pink

The details of the new MLS kits should be released by the end of the month, one piece of confirmed news is that Inter Miami will changing the home kit colour from white which was used in their first two seasons, to pink.

Pink has been used as an accent colour in both home and away kits for 2020 and 2021 but will be the primary colour from 2022.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

There are some great kit logs out there this season, @ArsenalShirt and @VictoriaGooner are logging Arsenal’s kits this season, @BeesShirts for Brentford and @BatisCreativo for Atletico Madrid are some of my favourites.

I wanted to call out this midseason update from @BeesShirts as its fantatic and right up my Kit Geek Street.

There was a great thread from @Flying_Scotty which shows a collection of shirts worn by David Beckham through out his career, really worth spending a few minutes going through the thread.

Thread can be found here

Another wonderful podcast from Chris at Kitbliss, this time interviewing the equally wonderful Denis Hurley from Museum of Jerseys

Podcast details can be found here – https://www.kitbliss.co.nz/podcast/episode-special-02.html

And a final thank you to Luke at @KonceptKitz who sent me this fantastic concept shirt he designed, The “Fox in the Box” go check out Luke’s work on his Twitter Page, he has also seen some of his worked used on the pitch with Crewe Alexandra, Balham FC and Motorik FC Alexandria.

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 Heat Press – Issue 2

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Time for Issue Number 2 of The Heat Press, if you have not read Issue 1 you can find it here – The Heat Press – Issue 1

This will be regular look at what is going on within the Kit World and Kit Community.

The Headlines

  • The Kitsman Awards, The Winners
  • #NoHomeKit – Who took part?
  • Adidas Logo change?

The Kitsman Awards

On Thursday 23rd December, The Kitsman hosted the 2021 Kit Awards, I wanted to highlighted the winners of each section in case it was missed…

The categories…

Best Tweet – @CavershamUnited for this winning tweet “Alexa? What’s Sunday League Football”

Best Collection – @NorwichShirts

Knows their Kit – @museumofjerseys

Best Contributer – @LaCasacaBlog

Best Photography – @aleksandarjason

Best Charity Fundraiser – @fsfcUK

Best Concept Shirt Designer – @thekitfactor

Best Independent Store – @niclassicshirt

Best Mystery Shirt Box Company – @BundesligaBoxes

Best Video Content – @_Spark_Academy

Best Creative Content – @KitKingdom83

Best Artist – @yoniweisberg

Best Verified Account – @TyBracey

Best Audio / Podcast – @ShirtsPod

Best Twitter Account 2021 – @The_Kitsman

A huge congratulations to all the winners and the finalists in each award, I also want to thank Josh over at The Kitsman for pulling this all together, it brought a lot positivity to the Kit Community but also highlighted many great accounts that are out there in the “Twitter-sphere” at the moment, check out the Kitsman timeline to find some wonderful kit content!

Shelter’s No Home Kit

Although the traditional Boxing day fixtures were severly impacted by postponments due to the current COVID-19 situation in England, we did see a couple of teams embracing this initiative….

Oldham Athletic at home to Scunthorpe United

Tranmere Rovers at home to Barrow AFC

A Special call out to Dulwich Hamlet, who also had Shelter as their Sponsor on their away kit and are auctioning their shirts to raise money for the campaign.

Adidas to change logo?

It has been reported over the last week or so that Adidas will be changing their logo from late 2022, to coincide with 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The new logo will see a slight change in the alignment of the traditional 3 Stripes and the removal of the “adidas” word mark… with those Counties with their kits manufactured by Adidas participating in the World Cup being the first kits seen with the new logo.

Full details can be found over at Footy Headlines – Link to Article click here

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

The guys over at Kit Mag ran a knock competition to find their follower’s Kit of 2021, the winner was the Liverpool Away kit beating Venezia away in the final with 64% of the vote.

Andorra’s Ildefons Lima Solà gave away one of Match Worn shirts as part of a Christmas giveaway and added a nice touch by signing the number

This wonderful picture was shared by @TRiCKETTengland highlighting the kits worn on 1984/85 Serie A Season

Image

Let me know your thoughts and comments and if there is any content that you would like me to share in coming weeks, 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 Heat Press – Issue 1

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The Heat Press is a new feature that I want to introduce to the Kit Geek Site.

This will be a regular look at the latest news in the Kit World, taking a few talking points from that week and looking into them in a little more detail as well as final section sharing some of the best content from the wonderful creators in The Kit Community.

The Headlines

  • Shelter’s No Home Kit Initiative
  • Christmas Kits
  • The Kitsman Awards
  • Marseille Extend Kit Deal

Shelter’s No Home Kit Initiative

I am sure you are aware of Shelter’s #NoHomeKit charity campaign this Christmas. The campaign is asking for Teams and Fans to wear their away kits to rasie awareness to the Homeless over the Christmas period. Some EFL Teams will be taking part in this over the coming week, so keep an eye of those teams using their change kits in home games.

There is a great video over on Shelter’s Twitter Account promoting the initiative – Click here to see that video.

Here is my tweet helping to promote the cause, so make sure you share your away kits using the #NoHomeKit “hashtag” and if you can donate, please go to https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/NoHomeKit and give what you can.

Christmas Kits

Its that time of year when some team release special Christmas Kits, so far we have seen the following kits on show.

U.S. Cremonese, the Italian Team in Serie B

Werder Bremem in Bundesliga 2

Atalanta were also due to have a Christmas Kit but this got pulled in the end, due to the sky line incorporated into the shirt not being of Bergamo where the club are based but being of Torino, I would like to have been a fly on wall on that discussion!!

The Kitsman Awards

The wonderdul @The_Kitsman over on Twitter created an 2021 Awards for Kit Community, the categories as follows…

Voting is currently open for the top four nominees in each category and will remain open until 23rd December 2021, so make sure you check out Josh’s timeline and vote for your favourite accounts

Marseille Extend Kit Deal

Olympique de Marseille and Puma have announced an extenstion to their current kit deal until 2028. The French club have been using Puma kits since the 2018 / 19 season and this deal will mean their relationship will be at least 10 years in the making.

And finally…..

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

I want to end each issue with some content that is being created by other in the Kit Community

There is a new Kitbliss Podcast, check out this latest offering from the wonderful Chris at Kitbliss here

Check out this short video from @ChatShirt which is highlight the @chanceunitedfc shirt and how you can order one the shirts to support this great charity.

Kit Mag Volume 2 is now out and is a great read for Kit Lovers out there, you can get both digital and print copies at https://www.kitmag.co.uk/

And thats it, I hope you liked the first issue of The Heat Press, let me know your thoughts and comments and if there is any content that you would like me to share in coming weeks, please message me and let me know the details or use the comments field below or contact me over on @Kit_Geek on Twitter

Ballon d’Or Winners – Kit History

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The Ballon d’Or is an annual award presented to best player in the world of that calendar year. Orginally introduced and presented by French magazine “France Football” it is considered the most prestigious individual award for footballers. The award returned in 2021 after not being presented in 2020 due to COVID Pandemic, with Lionel Messi being named the winner for a 7th time.

First awarded in 1956, I thought I would take a look back at the kits worn by the winners over the past 55 years – I will take the kit worn by the winner when presented not the previous season and they club they were playing for when awarded, not country.

1950s

The inaugural Ballon d’Or was won by Englishman Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956, the following three years was won by players from the leading team of the early European Competitions Real Madrid, with Alfredi Di Stefano winning two of these awards. A simple look for kits in these early days but the Blackpool kit did provide a unique look for any winner so far of the award.

1960s

The 60s was the first full decade of the award, with the ten winners coming from eight different countries, with Manchester United providing three winners each from different countries from The United Kingdom. Lev Yashin was also the first (and so far only) goalkeeper to claim the award in 1963, famous for his classic all black look when in goal. Again a simple look to the kits used, Barcelona with their hooped socks being some that sounds out from the other kits used. Manchester United’s three winners all appearing in the same kit across the five years between wins.

1970s

The 70s was dominated by players from German Clubs, with 6 of years won these players, Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich) and Kevin Keegan (Hamburg SV) winning the award twice, of the other four years Johan Cruyff won three of these with both Ajax and Barcelona with Dynamo Kiev’s Oleg Blokhin being the other winner in this decade. This is the first decade where we see a significant change in kit design for one team, Bayern Munich’s first winners in a red / white striped shirt and then later in the decade a classic all red Adidas kit was now in use.

1980s

In the 80s it was Italian Clubs turn to dominate, with two clubs providing seven winners in the 10 years with two players Michel Platini (Juventus) and Marco Van Basten (AC Milan) winning 5 awards between them. Karl Heinz Rummenigge also claim two awards in 1980 and 1981 which completed 6 straight years if German Club dominance of the award until the Italian clubs won 7 of the next 8… the only difference being in 1986 when not who you would think would win in that World Cup year but Igor Belanov of Dynamo Kiev picked up the award. The Juventus kit used by their four winners was their classic kit of the 80s, which included its deep placket.

1990s

Although players from the Italian Clubs won six of the ten awards of the 1990s there seemed to more variety across the decade with no team having winners in consecutive years. There were winners from France, Germany and Spain and this was the first decade where we saw significant kits design changes with more regularity, this can be seen with the two winners from Juventus (Roberto Baggio and Zinedine Zidane) and Barcelona (Hristo Stoichkov and Rivaldo) appearing in very different looks for their respective clubs. Also Matthias Sammer’s win in the fluorescent yellow Nike kit for Borussia Dortmunt introduced a very different colour palette to the historical Ballon d’Or winners.

2000s

The first decade of the 21st Century again so a fairly even spilt of players across some of Europe’s largest clubs, Spain providing five of the winners from Real Madrid and Barcelona, a sign of things to come in the future years. English clubs provided winners for the first time since the 1960s with Liverpool (Michael Owen) and Manchester United (Cristiano Ronaldo). AC Milan provided two winners (Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka) but in very different looks for Italian giants.

2010s

The 2010s Ballon d’Or was dominated by two men, with Lionel Messi taking five award (making it six in total) and Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award four times (five in total), with the other award being that of Luka Modric in 2018 but this meant that the Ballon d’Or did not leave spain through out the decade. This is also showed the change in kit design for the big two Spanish sides, Barcelona changing their traditional stripes look with a variety of thickness of stripe, including one kit with just one central stripe and variety of shades of blue used, as well the one season with horizonital stripes. On the other hand, Real Madrid sticking with their classic all white look but changing the accent colours through the decade with black, orange, different shades of blue and pink all used for their winners kits.

2021

After being cancelled in 2020, and announced on Monday 29th November 2021 the returning Ballon d’Or was won by Lionel Messi, his 7th award overall and the first time he would have received the award not in the colours of Barcelona but of Paris St.Germain. Wearing a less than traditional PSG look but one based on their Air Jordan range with the shorts also designed in the iconic basketball shorts style.

Let me know your favourite kits worn by the winners of Ballon d’Or in the comments below or @Kit_Geek on Twitter.

FA Cup – First Round, Kit Review

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The FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, first kicked off 150 years ago in November 1871 has now completed its full First Round of the 2021/22 season.

The first round was made up of 80 Teams made up from the 48 League One and League Two teams and then 32 teams from the Non-League English Football Pyramid, with AFC Sudbury being the lowest rank team in the round who play in the 8th Tier (Isthmian League North Division).

First Round Kit Log

The 80 Teams were provided by 23 Kit Manufactures, with 5 manufactures only supplying a non league team and not a league team, this give us kit lovers plenty of different kits to admire.

Manufacturers

Puma supplied the most kits in this round with 15 kits, 9 from League teams and 6 from Non League teams, Macron supplying 13 kits with 8 League Teams and 5 Non League Teams

There were 11 Manufacturers that provided just 1 kit in the First Round, 7 suppling League Teams and 4 supplying Non League Teams.

Uhlsport supplying 2 kits in the competition, both for Non League Teams.

First Round Replay – Kit Log

There 12 Replays in the First Round, only 4 of these games saw a repeat in kit match ups from their first ties.

Kit Highlights

I want to call out a few Kit Highlights from the total 52 First Round games.

Plymouth Argyle – The Pilgrims wore away shorts and socks in both games against Sheffield Wednesday, likely due to the clash of black shorts and dark socks but surpising they changed given that Sheffield Wednesday wore their pink away kit in their League One clash earlier in the season meaning Plymouth could wear their first choice home shorts and socks.

Leyton Orient v Ebbsfleet United – The New Balance Derby, New Balance only supplied 3 teams in First Round and two of them were drawn against each other but not one for those colourblind fans, with Red v Green (white shorts helping to distinquish the teams here).

Banbury United – They reached the First Round for the second season running and for the 2nd time in their unique kit from the team over at The Terrace, something wonderfully 90s about their red home kit.

AFC Sudbury – Had a one off kit for their historic appearence in the First Round, a Hummel Kit similar in design from the Coventry City kits from 2019/20 Season and of course based in their classic “Mexico” template. The goalkeeper kit is also worth calling out, the keeper wearing a red kit with the classic Hummel Template made famous by Tottenham Hotspur in the mid 80s

Let me know your favourite kits from the FA Cup First Round at either the comments section below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

EFL, League Two 20/21 – End of Season Report

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The 2020/21 League Two (4th Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 8th May, Cheltenham Town claimed the title, with Cambridge United (Runners Up) and Bolton Wanderers earning automatic promotion to League One, with Morecambe winning the the Play Off Final against Newport County for the final promotion place.

I wanted to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 117 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 39% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 22 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 39% of variations used
    • 23 Away Kits worn
    • 23 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
    • 17 3rd Kits worn
    • 5 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 3% of variations worn
    • 3 Special Kits worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the League One Teams

  • 4 teams wore 7 kit variiations – Highest in the league
    • Morecambe – Home x3, Away x4
    • Newport County – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
    • Salford City – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd x2
    • Tranmere Rovers – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd x2
  • 5 teams wore 6 kit variations
    • Bolton Wanderers – Home x4, Away x2
    • Colchester United – Home, Away x2, 3rd x2, Special Kit
    • Exeter City – Home x4, Away, 3rd
    • Oldham Athletic – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
    • Scunthorpe United – Home, Away, 3rd x4
  • 6 Teams wore 5 kit variations
    • Barrow AFC – Home x3, Away, 3rd
    • Crawley Town – Home, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Leyton Orient – Home, Away x3, 3rd
    • Mansfield Town – Home x2, Away x2, Special Kit
    • Port Vale – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Southend United – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
  • Most variations of Home Kit
    • 2 teams wore 4 variations of Home Kit
    • Bolton Wanderers: White / Navy / White – White / White / Navy – All White – White / Navy / Navy
    • Exeter City – Full Home kit – Home / Red socks – Home / Away shorts, socks (Purple) – Home / Red shorts, socks
  • Most variations of Away Kit
    • Morecambe wore 4 variations of Away Kit
    • All Navy, Navy / White shorts, Navy / White shorts, socks, Navy / Navy shorts, white socks
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit
    • Scunthorpe United wore 4 variations of 3rd Kit
    • All White – White / Black / White – White / Claret / White – White / White / Sky Blue
  • 6 Teams wore just used home and away kits (no 3rd Kit)
    • Bolton Wanderers
    • Carlisle United
    • Cheltenham Town
    • Harrogate Town
    • Morecambe
    • Stevenage
  • 4 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
    • Bradford City
    • Forest Green Rovers
    • Grimsby Town
    • Walsall
  • Most worn Home Kit – 36, Leyton Orient
  • Most worn Away Kit – 17, Cambridge United
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 16, Walsall

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

The 117 kits worn in League Two was the most amount of kits worn in the top four English Leagues, there were several examples of kits worn being in all variations (Bolton Wanderers Home Kit, Morecambe Away Kit, Scunthorpe United 3rd kit), as well as several other kit mash ups with teams combining their kits to form different looks.

Bolton Wanderers were a team that used their home kit well, using different variations to ensure they could avoid kit clashes. at one point in April they used four different home kit variations in four games. The result of this home kit usage meant they only wore change kits 5 times all season, they only used their registered away kit once and their away kit with white shorts and socks 4 times.

Port Vale were another team to use their Home kit, this time they would change the socks (and baselayers) used with their home kit when playing at home to avoid clashes with their visting opponents, using combinations of black and white to change the look

There were 3 Special Kits used during the season, each of these appearences resulted in the team winnig in their shirts, so could been seen as lucky shirts this season.

Colchester United wore their one off “Supporters” shirt against Southend United on 20th April 2020.

Mansfield Town wore their “Thank you NHS” Shirt on 23rd March against Forest Green Rovers

Newport County wore their anniversary shirt celebrating 40 years since their European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final against Carl Zeiss Jena, against Bradford City

Some of the more interesting kit mash ups seen in League Two in 2020/21…

Crawley Town in Away / 3rd Kit Combo at Exeter City

Exeter City in Home / Away mash up at Grimsby Town

Oldham Athletic in Away / 3rd shorts and socks at Carlisle United

Stevenage in Away / Home mash up at Port Vale

There we have it, League Two’s End of Season Kit report for 2020/21, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

If you have seen my End of Season Kit Report for the Premier League, Championship and League One please click on the link below

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/06/03/efl-league-one-20-21-end-of-season-report/

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/26/efl-championship-20-21-end-of-season-report/

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/24/premier-league-2020-21-end-of-season-kit-report/

EFL, League One 20/21 – End of Season Report

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The 2020/21 League One (3rd Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 9th May, Hull City (winners) and Peterborough United (Runners Up) earning automatic promotion to The Championship, with Blackpool winning the the Play Off Final against Lincoln City for the final promotion place.

I wanted to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 98 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 42% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 17 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 39% of variations used
    • 24 Away Kits worn
    • 14 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 19% of variations worn
    • 15 3rd Kits worn
    • 4 3rd Kit variations worn

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log – Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log – Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the League One Teams

  • 1 team wore 9 kit variiations – Highest in the league
    • Oxford United – Home x4, Away, 3rd x4
  • 2 teams wore 6 kit variations
    • Accrington Stanley – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • Blackpool – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd
  • 3 Teams wore 5 kit variations
    • Northampton Town – Home, Away x3, 3rd
    • Sunderland – Home x3, Away x2
    • Swindon Town – Home x3, Away x2
  • Most variations of Home Kit
    • Oxford United wore 4 variations of Home Kit
    • Yellow / Navy / Yellow – All Yellow – Yellow / Navy / Navy – Yellow / White / White
  • Most variations of Away Kit
    • 2 Teams wore 3 variations of Away Kit
    • Blackpool / Northampton Town
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit
    • Oxford United wore 4 variations of 3rd Kit
    • All White – White / Navy / White – White / Navy / Navy – White / White / Navy
  • Bristol Rovers only used 2 variations of kit, Home and Away
  • 6 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
    • AFC Wimbledon, Bristol Rovers (Home / Away), Doncaster Rovers, MK Dons, Plymouth Argyle. Wigan Athletic
  • Most worn Home Kit – 37, Gillingham
  • Most worn Away Kit – 16, Plymouth Argyle
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 11, Rochdale

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

League One teams used 98 Kits through out 2020/21 season, this was the lowest amount of kits worn in the Top Four Leagues in England, it also saw a more classic look for teams in terms of kit usage, 7 teams only had Home and Away kits (Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town, Gillingham, Shrewsbury Town, Sunderland and Swindon Town).

Lincoln City did not wear their full home kit in an away game, the only game they wore their Home Kit was at Plymouth Argyle and was worn with 3rd shorts (white).

Bristol Rovers wore their away kit home against Shrewsbury Town when the away team wore their all white away kit.

Doncaster Rovers worn a 3rd Kit at Home against Hull City, this kit was commerate the career of James Coppinger, who has spent 17 years at the club and made nearly 700 appearences for them. The player himself designing the kit with his sons to celebrate his time with club.

Accrington Stanley, who wore 6 kit variations in total wore 5 different kits in 5 games (Match 25 to Match 29) – All White (Away variation), Black / White / White (3rd), All Red (Home), White / Black / White (Away), Black / Black / White (3rd variation).

Oxford United, who wore the most kit variations in the league with 9 different kits used, started the season with 5 different kits in their first 5 games… this became 6 kits in 8 games and 7 in 16 games, 8 in 19 games and they wore their 9th variation in their 38th game.

There were some classic kit mash ups in League One in 20/21…

Gillingham at Portsmouth…

Swindon Town again at Portsmouth

Sunderland at Plymouth Argyle

There we have it, League One’s End of Season Kit report for 2020/21, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

If you have seen my End of Season Kit Report for the Premier League or Championship, please click on the link below.

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/24/premier-league-2020-21-end-of-season-kit-report/
https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/26/efl-championship-20-21-end-of-season-report/

EFL, Championship 20/21 – End of Season Report

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The 2020/21 Championship (2nd Tier of English Football) league season came to a close on 8th May, Norwich City (winners) and Watford (Runners Up) bouncing straight back to The Premier League, with the Play Off Final to be played between Brentford and Swansea City for the final promotion place.

I wanted to take a look at the kits worn during the league stage of the season (not including Play Offs).

Kit Stats

  • 1104 Kits worn (552 Games)
  • 110 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
  • Home Kits – 44% of Kit variations used
    • 24 Home Kits worn
    • 24 Home Kit variations worn
  • Away Kits – 32% of variations used
    • 24 Away Kits worn
    • 11 Away Kit variations worn
  • 3rd Kits – 23% of variations worn
    • 21 3rd Kits worn
    • 4 3rd Kit variations worn
  • Special Kits – 2% of variations worn
    • 2 Special Kits worn (Coventry City, Norwich City)

Overview of Kits Worn

Kit Overview

Kit Log – Match 1 to Match 15

Kit Log, Match 16 to Match 30

Kit Log, Match 31 to Match 46

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the kit variations worn by the Championship Teams

  • 3 teams wore 7 kit variations – Highest in the league
    • Luton Town – Home x2, Away x3, 3rd x2
    • Middlesbrough – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd x2
    • QPR – Home x3, Away x3, 3rd
  • 2 teams wore 6 kit variations
    • Barnsley – Home x3, Away x2, 3rd
    • Coventry City – Home, Away x2, 3rd x 2, Special Kit
  • 6 Teams wore 5 kit variations
    • AFC Bournemouth – Home x3, Away, 3rd
    • Brentford – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Bristol City – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Rotherham United – Home x2, Away x2, 3rd
    • Stoke City – Home x3, Away x2
    • Watford – Home x2, Away, 3rd
  • Most variations of Home Kit
    • 7 Teams wore 3 variations of Home Kit
    • AFC Bournemouth, Barnsley, Middlesbrough, QPR, Reading, Stoke City, Watford
  • Most variations of Away Kit
    • 2 Teams wore 3 variations of Away Kit
    • Luton Town, QPR
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit
    • 4 Teams wore 2 variations of 3rd Kit
    • Birmingham City, Coventry City, Luton Town, Middlesbrough
  • Special Kits
    • Coventry City Supporters Shirt
    • Norwich City Supporters Shirt
  • 4 Teams wore no variations of kit, just Home / Away / 3rd Kit
    • Huddersfield Town, Millwall, Preston North End, Wycombe Wanderers
  • Most worn Home Kit – 39, Norwich City
  • Most worn Away Kit – 13, Blackburn Rovers
  • Most worn 3rd Kit – 17, Preston North End

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Highlights and Summary

Huddersfield Town wore change kits in all of their 23 away game this season, wearing their away kit 9 times and their 3rd kit 14 times

Several teams elected to use their 3rd more than their away kit this season. The teams are Barnely, Birmingham City, Cardiff City, Derby County, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End and Watford.

Queen’s Park Rangers used their away kit in three different variations – Black shorts and socks, white shorts and socks, blue shorts and socks.

Three teams did not have 3rd Kits, Blackburn Rovers (3 variations – Home x2, Away), Reading (4 variations Home x3, Away) and Stoke City (5 variations – Home x3, Away x2).

Coventry City played the first 14 games in their home kit, the last team in the league to use a change kit, they ended the season using 6 variations of kit – joint 2nd most in the league

Barnsley wore purple socks in their home game with Reading on 2nd April to raise awareness for Weston Park Cancer Charity.

Luton Town’s Umbro kits were the most interchangable of the season, by using 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and 3 pairs of socks in just three colours (Orange / White / Navy Blue) the team created 7 different kit variations (joint highest in the League).

MIllwall took inspriation from the main sponsor with their 3rd Kit, using the Huski Chocolate Mountain theme into their unique shirt.

There were two “Supporters” Shirts used this season, Coventry City released a navy kit for their club members which was used at home against Brentford and Norwich City used their supporters shirt as a thank you in their final league at Carrow Road against Reading.

There we have it, The Championship End of Season Kit report for 2020/21, please let me know your favourite kit highlights from this division on the comments below or over at Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

If you have seen my End of Season Kit Report for the Premier League, please click on the link below.

https://kitgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/24/premier-league-2020-21-end-of-season-kit-report/

Premier League 2019/20 – End of Season Kit Report

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On Sunday 27th July 2020, 354 Days since the season kicked off on 9th August 2019 the longest Premier League season concluded with Liverpool winning their first top flight league title in 30 years.

This is time for me to look into some more detail the kits worn throughout the season and some of the information and stats behind these kits.

Kit Stats

  • 760 Kits Worn (380 games)
  • 113 Different kits worn
  • Home Kits – 45%, 29 Home kits worn (9 teams using 2020/21 Home Kit) and 22 variations of Home kit used
  • Away Kits – 30%, 21 Away kits worn (AFC Bournemouth and Chelsea using 2020/21 Away Kit) and 13 variations of Away kit used
  • 3rd Kits – 22%, 18 3rd kits worn and 7 variations of 3rd Kit worn
  • 4th Kits – 3%, 3 4th Kits worn
  • 73 Different Goalkeeper Kits worn (12 2020/21 GK Kits worn)

Two designated kits from 2019/20 season were not used, Liverpool Away was not used with the “halved” socks, only plain white and Southampton 3rd Kit was not used with is assigned navy socks but home kit socks.

Overview

Match Day 1 to Match Day 19

Match Day 20 to Match Day 38

Kit Variations

  • Manchester United wore 9 variations of Kits – x3 Home, x3 Away, x3 3rd
  • Four teams wore 7 variations of Kits (Chelsea, Everton, Sheffield United, West Ham United)
  • Chelsea – x3 Home Kits (inc. 20/21 Home), x3 Away Kits (inc. 20/21 Away), x1 3rd Kit
  • Everton – x4 Home Kits, x1 Away Kit, x1 3rd Kit, x1 4th Kit
  • Sheffield United – x2 Home Kits, x4 Away Kits, x1 3rd Kit
  • West Ham United – x4 Home Kits (inc. 20/21 Home), x2 Away Kit, x1 3rd Kit
  • Most variations of Home Kit – 4, Everton
  • Most variations of Away Kit – 4, Sheffield United
  • Most variations of 3rd Kit – 3, Manchester United
  • Three teams used a 4th Kit (Burnley, Everton, Southampton)
  • Norwich City only team not to use a variation of their kits (3 Kits worn)
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers only used change kits 6 times (x4 Away, x2 3rd)
  • Cheslea wore 6 different goalkeeper kits (inc 3 from 20/21)
  • Tottenham Hotspur wore 5 different goalkeeper kits all from 19/20
  • Southampton only wore 2 Goalkeeper kits

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Kit Tables

I also like to look at the points won by each kit, I have grouped these into (Home, Away and 3rd/4th “Kit Tables” so all variations of kit will be included in its group, the scoring is based on a points per game ratio.

Home Kit

No suprises here, with Liverpool heading the table with 2.66 “Points Per Game” in their home kit a massive 0.55 points more than Manchester City in 2nd place.

The three relegated teams are also at the foot of the table in the Home Kit usage as well.

Away Kit

The Away table does give us a different looking table, Chelsea heading up this group with Liverpool both scoring 2.60 points per game, with matching records of 13 points from 5 games.

Southampton, who achieved the most points in change kits in the Premier League are in 5th Place with 1.62 points per game.

Leicester City, who only used their away kit twice and managed just the one draw are 2nd bottom here, with Aston Villa with 0.14 points per game are at the foot of the table with just 1 point from the seven games in their away kit.

3rd/4th Kit

Liverpool complete the clean sweep, heading up the 3rd/4th Kit group with 2.25 points per game, here they tied with Manchester City, with identical records of 9 points from 4 games.

It’s a different story for Leicester City here, with their 3rd kit being much more successful than their away kit, coming in 3rd place here with 1.80 points per game.

Arsenal and Everton, only managed one point in their 3rd Kit (and 4th Kit in Everton’s case), scoring just 0.33 points per game and Norwich who did not score a single point in their 3rd Kit are bottom of the pile.

I always like to round these reviews up by looking back and picking the game that had my favourite kit match up, for the 2019/20 Premier League Season I have chosen a game that took place towards the end of the season during “Project Restart”, Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur. The overall look worked well, the details of the red numbers on the Newcastle Home kit is one that I will always enjoy and with Tottenham wearing their wonderful 3rd Kit (probably my favourite kit in 19/20 Premier League season), the whole look worked for me and was very pleasing to the eye!

What are your favourite kit match up of the season and your overal kit highlights, let me know your thoughts and comments below or over on Twitter – https://twitter.com/kit_geek

Premier League One Kit Wonders – 2019/20

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As we approach the final round of fixtures of the 2019/20 Premier League season, its always to time to take stock and look back the season and reminisce over the good and bad of the latest season.

There will be plenty of looking back at the season from me over the coming weeks but I wanted to kick this off by looking back at those kits that were only worn once this season.

So far we have seen 107 different kits worn in the Premier League and in this post I want to call out the 24 Kits that have been worn just once, our “One Kit Wonders”.

Arsenal

Southampton v Arsenal, 25th June 2020

Arsenal’s popular away kit, that pays homage to the classic “Brusied Banana” kit, was worn in their 2-0 victory at Southampton with yellow shorts, giving an all yellow look which was also used with the “Bruised Banana” kit against Southampton back in 1991.

AFC Bournemouth

Watford v AFC Bournemouth, 26th October 2019

Bournemouth’s draw at Watford saw the south coast team pair their home shirt with white shorts and socks, giving them a classic AC Milan look.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v AFC Bournemouth, 24th June 2019

One of the (minor) impacts of “Project Restart” was that some clubs had sponsorship deals ending, which in turn saw new kits launched with a significant number of games still to play. Bournemouth was one of these teams, who wore their 2020/21 Home kit from Umbro (with holding sponsor Vitality). This was worn with white shorts and socks in the 1-0 defeat at Wolves in June.

Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth, 4th July 2020

The visit to Manchester United saw Bournemouth use their 2020/21 away kit from Umbro, with a graphic of the famous Bouremouth Pier sublimated onto the aqua shirts, similar to the Manchester United umbro shirt from 1994/96 which had Old Trafford on their shirts. It did not prove a lucky shirt with The Cherries losing 5-3 in this kit’s only appearence.

Brighton and Hove Albion

Newcastle United v Brighton and Hove Albion, 21st September 2019

With Brighton’s away kit being all black it meant that The Seagulls reached into the back of the Kitman’s cupboard at The Amex to pull out 2018/19 away kit to be used as this season’s third kit. In this drawn game it was worn for the only time this season with white shorts.

Aston Villa v Brighton and Hove Albion, 19th October 2019

Brighton’s second “One Kit Wonder” was their home kit worn with blue socks in a defeat at Aston Villa.

Burnley FC

West Ham United v Burnley FC, 8th July 2020

When Burnley visited a fellow Claret/Blue wearing West Ham, it was deemed that their away kit (All Sky Blue) and 3rd Kit (Green/Black) were not enough of a contrast to hosts home kit, Umbro created a one off white shirt to be worn with white shorts and socks to make a “4th Kit”, one of three 4th Kits seen this season and has a 100% win ratio in its use.

Chelsea

Crystal Palace v Chelsea, 7th July 2020

Chelsea’s new sponsorship deal with “3” started on the 1st July, this meant the 2020/21 kits were brought into action at the end of this season. The pale blue away kit saw it first and only appearence of this season in the 3-2 victory at Crystal Palace.

Everton

Crystal Palace v Everton, 10th August 2019

Looking way back to first round of fixtures of the 2019/20 season, Everton were asked by the Premier League to use their third kit from 2018/19 as the “coral” away and navy 3rd kits supplied by Umbro were seen to be too much of a clash to their visit to Crystal Palace, the game ended in a draw and is the one of the three “4th” kits seen used this season.

Manchester United v Everton, 15th December 2019

Everton’s second “One Kit Wonder” was the variation of their home kit, worn with blue shorts that The Toffees wore in their drawn game at Manchester United.

Leicester City

West Ham United v Leicester City, 28th December 2019

Leicester City often use variations of their home kit to avoid unnecessary use of their change kits, their 2-1 win at West Ham saw using their home kit with white socks, a combination only used once this season.

Manchester United

Southampton v Manchester United, 31st August 2019

Manchester United have worn their 3rd kit three times in the Premier League this season, in three different variations, the first worn with white shorts (bespoke to this kit, not the home shorts which have red Adidas stripes) at the drawn game at Southampton.

Sheffield United v Manchester United, 24th November 2019

The second use of the 3rd kit was at Sheffield United with bespoke white shorts and socks, the game ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Arsenal v Manchester United, 1st January 2020

The final appearence of the Manchester United 3rd kit was its only use in its first choice all black variation, the game at Arsenal ended in defeat which means they did not win a single game using their 3rd Kit in the League this season.

Sheffield United

Chelsea v Sheffield United, 31st August 2019

Sheffield United’s versitle white away kit has been used in four different combination this season, the use of white shorts and red (home kit) socks was only used the once, to give us a nice looking kit, the red socks work really well with red Adidas stripes on side panels and shorts, the red flowing through out the kit. The game ended in a draw in what has been an inspresive return to the Top Flight for The Blades.

Newcastle United v Sheffied United, 21st June 2020

Sheffield United’s second “One Kit Wonder” was a variation of their home kit, combined with away shorts and socks to give us an overall “white” feel to their home kit. The kit did not prove a lucky one with the game ending in a 0-3 defeat.

Southampton FC

Newcastle United v Southampton, 8th December 2019

Southampton’s use of their 2018/19 3rd Kit at Newcastle United was called for due to the three kits registered for 2019/20 all clashing with Newcastle’s home kit, this is third and final 4th Kit used this season and the only one that was used by the losing team, the kit was combined with home shorts and socks.

Tottenham Hotspur

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur, 15th December 2019

Tottenham’s visit to Wolves in December saw them use their home socks with their away kit, to give us a Navy/Navy/White variation, tying in nicely with Nike’s Vapor Template’s use of contrasting socks. The game ended in victory for Spurs with an injury time winning goal.

Watford

Newcastle United v Watford, 31st August 2019

Watford are another team that used their away kit from 2018/19 as a 3rd kit for 2019/20, the only appearence of this kit was their visit to Newcastle United back in August. This is the least used 3rd in the League and its only use ended in a draw.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford, 28th September 2019

The second “One Kit Wonder” from Watford was a variation of their away kit used with white socks which was seen in their defeat at Wolves.

West Ham United

Wolverhampton Wanderers v West Ham United, 4th December 2019

West Ham’s home kit from Umbro was a popular one with fans, when worn against Wolves it was paired with sky blue shorts and socks for a variation that still gives a strong West Ham feel, this did not prove sucessful on the pitch, with the game ending in defeat.

Newcastle United v West Ham United, 5th July 2020

This is the 3rd variation of West Ham’s home kit, this time combined with sky blue socks was used in the drawn game at Newcastle United.

Manchester United v West Ham United, 22nd July 2020

In the final away game of the season at Manchester United, West Ham used their away kit with change Sky Blue shorts, to give us again an alternative but classic West Ham look. The game ended in a draw.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

AFC Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 23rd November 2019

Wolves’ home kit in 2019/20 was paired with black shorts and socks, surprisingly an alternative of the kit was only used once this season with “old gold” socks in the victory at Bournemouth.

The 24 games in which our “One Kit Wonders” were worn, saw 6 wins, 10 draws and 8 defeats.

There are still the final ten games of the season to be played, so there may be some changes to this final list, Brighton in particular I can see using their home kit with blue socks in their game at Burnley, Sheffield United may use a different variation of their 3rd kit in their game at Southampton and at the moment Manchester City have only used their 2020/21 Home kit once in their victory at Watford but with their final game being at home at likely to wear this kit again in this game which is why I have not included in them in this overview.

Let me know what your favourite “One Kit Wonder” of the 2019/20 Premier League Season at https://twitter.com/kit_geek

UPDATED – MATCH DAY 38

On the final round of fixtures of season, we saw six teams launch their new home kits…. increasing our “One Kit Wonders” to 30…. All fixtures took place on 26th July.

Arsenal

Arsenal v Watford

Arsenal’s victory at relegated Watford give us the first view of the new Adidas 2020/21 Home kit, a darker shade of red than 19/20 version with the use of red socks as first choice!

Brighton & Hove Albion

Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton’s new home kit is a really interesting change from their traditional look, one the club has used in the past as points but something new and fresh for their 2020/21 Premier League campaign, its debut was victorious one with a 2-1 win at Burnley.

Leicester City

Leicester City v Manchester United

Leicester City revert to all blue for 20/21 season with this Adidas Convido 20 Template! Their 2-0 defeat cost the team and this kit a place in the Champions League next season.

Newcastle United

Newcastle United v Liverpool

Newcastle’s 2020/21 Kit sees the magpies use thinner stripes than 19/20, but the red numbers remain (something I love to see in a Newcastle Kit) and check out them socks…!!! Its first outing ended in 3-1 defeat to Champions Liverpool.

Southampton

Southampton v Sheffield United

Southampton are ditchng the stripes in 2020/21 in favour of a sash…. I love a sash, so this looks great in my eyes, Southampton ended the season in style beating high flying Sheffield United 3-1.

West Ham United

West Ham United v Aston Villa

West Ham are our final team introducing their new kit in 2019/20 season, a return to white shorts and socks paired with a more traditional looking shirt, the drawn game with Aston Villa saw the visitors stay up on the last day of the season.

So there we have it, the 30 “One Kit Wonders”, our final record sees 9 wins, 11 draws and 10 defeats!