Soccer – Page 26 – Football Kit Geek

Premier League, End of Season Kit Report

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019Posted in Premier League Kit LogTagged England, EPL, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kit Variations, Kits, Premier League, Soccer2 Comments

Sunday 12th May 2019 saw a remarkable season come to a close, with Manchester City and Liverpool slugging out blows over these final weeks of the season like two heavy weight boxers trading punched in the 12th Round….

Anyway enough of this and to what you are here for, the Kit review of the season.

Kit Stats

760 Kits worn (380 games)
112 variations of kits, which are broken down by the following
Home Kits – 42%, 24 Home kits worn (AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester all wearing their 2019/20 Home Kit in their last home game) and 23 variations of Home kit
Away Kits – 30%, 19 Away kits worn (Manchester United only team not to wear their designated away kit) and 15 variations of Away kit
3rd / 4th Kits (thanks Fulham) – 28%, 18 3rd/4th Kits worn and 13 variations of 3rd Kit

Overview

Match Day 1 to 19

Match Day 20 to 38

Kit Variations

Everton and Fulham both wore 9 variations of kits this season
Everton – 4 Home Kits, 1 Away and 4 3rd Kits
Fulham – 4 Home Kits, 2 Away, 2 3rd and 1 4th Kit
Manchester United and West Ham United wore 8 variations of kit
Manchester United – 3 Home Kits, 2 Away kits and 3 3rd kits (they also did not wear their designated away kit combination of Pink / Black / Pink)
West Ham United- 4 Home Kits, 1 Away Kit and 3 3rd Kits
Most variation of Home Kit – 4 (Everton, Fulham, West Ham United)
Most variation of Away Kit – 3 (AFC Bournemouth, Burnley, Cardiff City)
Most variation of 3rd Kit – 4 (Everton)
Fulham used a 4th Kit once (which in turn meant they wore 4 kits in the first 5 games)
Watford are the only team to use no variation and only two different kits all season
Leicester City wore their home kit 32 times, only wearing change kits against teams in Blue or Blue / white stripes – the least unnecessary changes

Kit Log

Below is a graphic looking at who what against whom, this is something that I will be looking at in more detail over the coming days, so watch this space.

As in my previous post about The Championship – The Championship, End of Season Kit Report I mentioned my favourite kit match up of the season, for me this was a tough call this season but one of my favourite kits to take the field was Chelsea’s home shirt and when they played Crystal Palace at home, palace wore blue socks with their away to produce for a stunning kit mash up.

As mentioned, there will be additional posts coming up over the coming days but please let me know your thoughts, favourite kits and comments about 2018/19 Premier League Season by using the comments field below or via Twitter – @Kit_geek

Same kit, different manufacturer

Jan 9, 2019Nov 29, 2021Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, SoccerLeave a comment

One of the things in the kit world that catches my eye, is when we see a return or revisit to classic kit or design for a club (or country). This is something that actually kicked off my twitter account and I put some examples out there with the first tweets sent out into the twitter-sphere, here and here .

I wanted to take some time to look at some examples of these kits here. Now I what I look for here is something a little different that we do not see every year, that people link directly to a club, so there will be no Real Madrid white kits or Monaco’s home kit, in fact most of the examples we see here are change kits (away and 3rd kits), that have been produced by different manufacturers.

To start the ball rolling lets look at one classic example of what I am talking about.

Celtic F.C. – “The Bumblebee”

A kit first seen in 1996/97 season when Umbro turned the traditional colour palette of Celtic’s away kits on its head with its fluorescent yellow and black hooped kits, since then we have also seen Nike and New Balance have their own take on this kit.

Umbro – 1996/97 and 1997/98 (Away kit)
Nike – 2009/10 (Away kit) and 2010/11 (Euro / 3rd kit)
New Balance – 2015 / 2016 (3rd kit)

West Ham United – “The Hoops”

The famous West Ham United away kit is one that part of the club’s history, Bobby Moore and his teammates wearing a version in the 1960’s, for this article I am focusing on recent returns to this style under different manufactures, where we have seen four kit manufacturers produce their version of this Hammer’s Classic.

Pony – 1993/94 and 1994/95 (Away kit)
Fila – 2001/02 and 2002/03 (Away kit)
Macron – 2011/12 (Away kit) and 2012/13 (3rd kit)
Umbro – 2015/16 (Away kit)

Arsenal – “Its up for grabs now” kit

This kit will be forever linked to climax of 1988/89 season when needing to win by 2 goals at reigning Champions and the biggest club of the era, Liverpool… Michael Thomas went through in the last minute to secure that 2-0 victory and in turn win the “First Division” Title. Although Yellow is a go to colour for an Arsenal away kit, what I am looking at here are some of the details in the shirt, the blue sleeves and the red trim, since the original Adidas version, Nike and Puma have also produced this combination.

Adidas – 1988/89, 1989/90 and 1990/91 (Away kit)
Nike – 2008/09 (Away kit)
Puma – 2014/15 (Away kit)

Crystal Palace – “The Sash”

An Iconic Crystal Palace Shirt, this was first introduced in the 1976/77 season when switching their Red/Blue stripes, returned to using white has their home kit, however introducing red/blue sash for the first time. That initial kit was manufactured by Umbro but since has been seen in several other manufacturers (five of which pictured above).

Umbro – 1976/77 (Home kit)
Admiral – 1977/78, 1978/79 and 1979/80 (Home kit)
Adidas – 1980/81, 1981/82 and 1982/83 (Home kit)
Hummel – 1984/85, 1985/86 and 1986/87 (Home kit)
Errea – 2008/09 (Home kit)
Nike – 2010/11 (Away kit)
Puma – 2018/19 (Away kit)

S.S. Lazio – “The Eagle Kit”

Something is not just seen in British Teams, Lazio introduce their unique “Eagle” kit in 1982/83 season, a design that was also used in change strips and goalkeeper kits – there is a fantastic article over at Museum of Jerserys which goes into more detail for the kits that season – click here for that article

The kit has been revisited twice in recent years both versions produced by Macron.

Ennerre – 1982/83 (Home kit)
Macron – 2014/15 (Home kit)
Macron – 2018/19 (Home kit)

There is a couple more kits that I want to mention here, where we currently have only seen twice but one’s to keep an eye on the future.

Southampton F.C. – The “Keegan” kit

Patrick – 1980 through to 1985 (*in the style of the old vidiprinter…. *FIVE SEASONS*) – (Home kit)
Under Armour – 2017/18 (Home kit)

Newcastle United – “The Rugby Shirt”

Adidas – 1995/96 (Away kit)
Puma – 2018/19 (Away kit)

I am sure there so many more examples here but thought I would highlight some of the examples that spring to mind for me.

I would be interested to know if your team has one and are there any International Teams that have something similar (USA Sash immediately springs to mind), please let me know in the comments below or via Twitter here.

Journeyman Series #1 – Freddy Adu, Football Manager Legend

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

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

Journeyman Series #1 – Freddy Adu

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

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

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

* on loan from Parent Club

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

Some Kit Highlights:

DC United, 2004

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

United States, 2006

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

United States, 2012

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

Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2015

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

Las Vegas Lights, 2018

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

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

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

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Round 3 kit highlights:

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

My favourite kit of the round is the Germany kit.

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

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 1

World Cup Kit Log, Group Stage Round 2

Kit Log – World Cup, Korea/Japan 2002

May 3, 2018May 3, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged 2002, Football, Football Kits, Italy, Japan, Korea, Soccer, world cup1 Comment

For the first time in the competition’s history the World Cup moved away from Europe and Americas and was held on Asian Continent, the 17th Tournament hosted by both South Korea and Japan, which also was another first with a jointly hosted competition. Following from France 98, the format remained the same and gave us 32 teams competing in 8 groups of 4 teams, followed by knock out stage of the competition, totaling in 64 games.

In terms of the kits seen in the tournament, there was a real identity per manufacture, I do not want to use the word template as there were some subtle differences with the shirts that made them a little for unique than a standard template, in particular with those Nations that had Nike kits in 2002.

Looking at the manufacturers, again as in France 98 there was 12 manufacturers on show at the tournament, Adidas leading the way once more but there was an increase in the number of teams wearing the three stripes, with 10 from the 6 from four years earlier. Nike had 8 representative and Puma 4, so the “Big 3” making up nearly 70% of the nations appearing. There were some notable manufacturers in the rest of the kit suppliers, Kappa, Hummel, Le Coq Sportif, Joma, Umbro (who supplied England and Ireland) and Uhlsport. There were some lesser known names in Marathon, L.Sporto and Athletica, supplying some of the Central and South American Nations.

It was certainly a bright World Cup in terms of colours, Nike’s Nigeria and South Korea kits were reminiscent of highlighter pens, in particular the Nigerian Kit which in the first game was paired with white numbers and names, which proved not to be that visible to watching millions and was quickly replaced by black alternatives for the rest of the competition.

Almost all Nations had a splash of colour or detailing on their shirts, one notable exception to this was Italy, whose Kappa kit stood out as a classic Italian Shirt, a lighter shade of blue used, a balance in the first and second choice kits topped off with a more tighter cut than other kits used – certainly not a kit with those with kind of build that I have.

Another kit to call out and look into a little more detail is Cameroon’s kit, here they (or Puma) looked to do something different and never seen before, to combat the heat and humidity they proposed a sleeveless kit and in fact used a sleeveless version of the kit they wore prior to the tournament, however FIFA did not allow this kit to be worn in the actual tournament and black sleeves were added to both the first and second choice shirts. Cameroon would try to break kit boundaries two years later with an all in one kit.

Eventual winners Brazil, wore their traditional yellow shirt with three different combinations of shorts and socks, the classic blue shorts and white socks against Chine and Turkey (twice, group and semi-final), white shorts and blue socks against Costa Rica and blue shorts and blue socks in the final against Germany, a rarely seen variation of the kit which will go down in history as it was the one worn to lift the trophy for a record 5th time.

Feel free to share your kit highlights from 2002 World Cup.

Kit Log – World Cup, USA 1994

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kit Log – FA Cup, Quarter Final Update

Mar 19, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged England, FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, SoccerLeave a comment

FA Cup Quarter-Final weekend has now been and gone, so time to update the Kit Log for 2017/18 Cup….

I started logging kits from the 3rd Round, so below you will see the 74 games we have seen so far since 5th January.

Special call out to Reading, as I am sure you will remember had to change their shirts to their orange away shirts at half time in the 3rd round replay against Stevenage in January due the kit clash.

The only question risen from the quarter-finals was Chelsea’s choice to wear their black 3rd kit against Leicester, rather than their white away shirt which would have created a greater contrast to the home kit of their opponents.

Kit Log – World Cup, Italia 90

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kit Log – World Cup, Mexico 1986

Mar 13, 2018Mar 15, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Mexico, Soccer, world cup3 Comments

The Greatest ever kit (?) and hooped shorts….

In 1986 24 teams headed to Mexico, who stepped in to host the tournament when Colombia where no longer able to host the 13th World Cup and the first nation to host the tournament for a second time. As in 1970 the heat was a factor into the style of shirts worn by the nations taking part with lighter fabrics and even the return of some Airtex Shirts, yes Argentina I am talking about you…

A format change from the previous tournament and one that is the basis of the tournament that we see today, six groups of four teams with top two from each group qualifying and the four best third placed teams also qualifying for second round, for those that can not remember that far back (lucky you), think Euro 2016 and you will have an idea of the format.

One thing to call out straight away is Scotland’s shorts, as far as I can remember the only hooped shorts to grace the international arena and for me probably my favourite shorts ever, in fact this whole Scotland kit from Umbro is a thing of beauty.

The second highlight…. Denmark, a pair of kits that always gets a mention in the “Greatest Kit” debates, but more on that to come….

Other kits that deserve honourable mentions, France followed up their classic 1984 kit which we seen rebooted several times over the years with an under-rated pair of kits, another unique pair of Algeria kits, however this time with a Red Away kit. Iraq with a Sky Blue / Yellow kit collections, I believe these kits where chosen as lucky colours rather than being linked to history.

The eventual winners Argentina also had two classic kits, each taking their place in history with two of the greatest goals seen in World Cup History in Quarter Final against England (Away Kit) and the Semi Final against Belgium (Home Kit).

Denmark – Who wore four different variations of their classic kit, maybe one of the reasons it became so famous was its inter-changeability (if that is a word????)

England – The Quarter Final against Argentina is my first memory of watching a World Cup game, the 9 year old me was in awe of the whole spectacle, the memory of the giant spider shadow on the centre circle, Gary Lineker’s goal and that cross by John Barnes that seemed destined to be put away for Lineker’s 7th goal of the tournament but no… 6 goals for my hero and an exit from the tournament but this kit left a mark on me, for those who follow me on Twitter will know my love of England in Sky Blue and this my friends is the reason why….

Oh and I did not mention the Hand of God once….. oops!

Premier League Kit Log – 30 Game Update

Mar 13, 2018Mar 13, 2018Posted in Premier League Kit LogTagged EPL, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Premier League, SoccerLeave a comment

Monday 12th March, has now seen each club in the Premier League hit the 30 game barrier for the 2017/18 season and here is the an update on the kits worn so far this season….