Stoke City Kits – 2022 / 23

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.

The Heat Press – Issue 18

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

The Heat Press – Issue 17

After a small break to complete the End of Season Kit Reports, its time for Issue Number 17 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 16 click here

The Headlines

• 2022 / 23 Kit Launches
• Red Star Kit Competition
• UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme x Errea

2022 / 23 Kit Launches

Kit Launches are coming thick and fast, so here some of the releases these past few weeks, now I am sure I will miss a lot but here we go…

Arsenal – Arsenal launched their kit ready to be used in the last game of the season against Everton, so one of the only 22/23 Kits we have seen in action already. Influenced by the Nike kits of 1994-96 see a collar return to their home kit since 2017/18 so this being only the second collared home kit at The Emirates Stadium.

Manchester City – Man City have launched another kit that is inspired from the past, this time we are going back to the 70s with this shirt. This is a less is more kit for me and the details of claret / maroon in the shirt to give a different look… the best Home Kit produced by Puma for Premier League Champions so far in my humble opinion. A big call out here, is the alternative shorts that will be used with the home shirt, they will be claret / maroon, so give a unique look to the team.

York City – A design that has already got the Kit Community buzzing with excitement, a bespoke design to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the club… there is a really interesting interview with the designer of the shirt on Episode 20 of Kit Mag Podcast, it is worth having a listen to.

Coventry City – Hummel have really delivered the goods for Coventry City and continue this wonderful partnership with their new kit. Again taking influence from the past, this kit is re-imagining of those wonderful tramlines from Admiral in the late 70s…

There was also an interesting tweet from @tyscopey which gives us a little bit of insight into how long the design process of a shirt takes.

Sutton United – In their second season in EFL, Sutton United will be changing kit suppliers moving from Macron across to O’Neills, who produce the club a quartered looking kit for their home and away kits, very similar in design to another club they supply Wycombe Wanderers.

England – The Lionesses have launched their kits for upcoming Euro 2022 Competition and the following seasons, again a bespoke design for national team and an interesting look, especially with the crest and logo on the home kit, the away design is my favourite, in particular the socks.. which give a nice balance to the overall look.

Red Star Kit Competition

As mentioned in Issue 14 of The Heat Press, Red Star FC in partnership with Fiverr created a competition to design a shirt for the club. The finalists have been selected and you can vote for your favourite here

Our friend Phil Delves is one of the final five with his design…

UEFA Assistance Kit Scheme x Errea

The UEFA Assistance Kit Scheme is something that UEFA brought in which sees “lower ranked” European Countries get kit deals as a whole group, there are currently eight countries in this scheme and they have launched their new kits for 2022-24, the first in a new deal with Italian Manufacturer Errea.

Countries included – Luxembourg, San Marino, Faroe Islands, Cyprus, Andorra, Malta, Liechtenstein, Belarus.

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Forgive the self promotion, however my Kit Reports for 2021 / 22 Season are all now available, check out my home page for all the details but a big thank to both @UniWatch and @FootyHeadlines for picking up the report and sharing the Premier League Report

Our friend Chris at Kitbliss is continuing his countdown of Top 100 Templates, with number 82 being this classic look from Hummel – check this out and of course the templates already discussed here

Lots of Kit Trackers for 2021/22 have come to close for the season, here some great ones to check out…

@BeesShirts – Brentford

@_luke1878_ – Everton

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

Premier League 2021/22 – End of Season Report

The 2021 / 22 Premier League season ended on Sunday 22nd May with a thrilling last round of fixtures which ended with Manchester City pipping Liverpool to the title, winning their 4th Premier League in the last five seasons. At the foot of the table, Leeds United survivied with a final day victory which means that Burnley will be joining already relegated Norwich City and Watford.

As the season has ended, I will follow my tradition of taking a more in depth look into the kits worn through this season, some stats and information behind these kits.

Kit Stats

• 760 Kits worn (380 Games)
• Home Kit used 74% of the time (68% Default, 6% Variations)
• Away Kit used 16% of the time (14% Default, 2% Variations)
• 3rd Kit used 10% of the time (9% Default, 1% Variations)
• 101 Kits different Kit Variations worn by the 20 teams
• Home Kits – 42.6% of total Kit Variations used:
  • 21 Home Kits worn (Arsenal wearing 22/23 Home Kit this season)
  • 22 Home Kit variations used
• Away Kits – 30.7% of total Kit Variations used:
  • 20 Away Kits worn
  • 11 Away Kit variations used
• 3rd Kits – 26.7% of total Kit Variations used:
  • 18 3rd Kits used
  • 9 3rd Kit variations used
  • Crystal Palace did not use 3rd Kit in 21/22
  • Manchester United did not use registered 3rd kit, only variations (x3)
• Goalkeeper Kits:
  • 65 Goalkeeper used
  • Arsenal used Away Kit as a Goalkeeper kit for the second season running
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers were only team to use alternative socks with Goalkeeper kits, using alternative black socks for both 2nd / 3rd choice Keeper Kits

Overview of Kits Used

Kit Overview

Kit Log, Match 1 to Match 19

Kit Log, Match 20 to Match 38

Kit Variations

Looking in more detail at the Kit Variations worn by the Premier League Teams:

• Manchester United in 11 Kit variations – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x4, 3rd Kit x3
• Aston Villa in 8 Kit variations – Home Kit x4, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
• Two Teams in 7 Kit variations
  • Arsenal – Home Kits x4 (including 22/23 Home Kit), Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
  • Newcastle United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit x3, 3rd Kit
• Three Teams in 6 Kit variations
  • Brighton & Hove Albion – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
  • Everton – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
  • West Ham United – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit x2
• Five Teams in 5 Kit variations
  • Burnley – Home Kit, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit x2
  • Chelsea – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
  • Leeds United – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
  • Manchester City – Home Kit x2, Away Kit x2, 3rd Kit
  • Southampton – Home Kit x3, Away Kit, 3rd Kit
• Most variations of Home Kit – 4:
  • Arsenal (inclucing 22/23 Home Kit)
  • Aston Villa
  • Manchester United
• Most variatons of Away Kit – 4:
  • Manchester United
• Most variations of 3rd Kit – 3:
  • Manchester United
  • However they did not wear their default 3rd Kit (Dark Blue shirts, Black shorts, Yellow socks)
• Six Teams did not wear any Kit Variations, just default Home, Away or 3rd Kits
  • Burnley
  • Crystal Palace (only wore Home and Away Kits)
  • Leicester City
  • Liverpool
  • Norwich City
  • Watford
• Most worn Home Kit – 32, Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Most worn Away Kit – 14, Brentford
• Most worn 3rd Kit – 6, Burnley
• No Fourth Kit used this season, second season in a row.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers used 5 Goalkeeper Kit variations
• Three teams used 4 Goalkeeper Kit Variations
  • Arsenal (including outfield Away Kit)
  • Brentford
  • Manchester City

Kit Grid

Below is a graphic of what kits where worn against what teams, its one that I share on a weekly basis on my Twitter Account – @Kit_Geek

Kit Tables

One area I like to look at is a team’s performance in their kit, I have created the below tables (Home, Away and 3rd Kit), all shirt variations are included in each section, e.g. Manchester United’s 4 Home Kit variations are all included in the “Home Kit” Table and based on “Points per Game” used ratio.

Home Kits

As you would expect Manchester City and Liverpool head up the “Home Kit” table with a points per game score of 2.44 and 2.43 respectively, Arsenal making up the top three with 1.96 points per game in their Home Kits.

Liverpool scored the most points overall, with 73 points in their 30 games in their home kits.

Only two teams scored under 1 point per game in their Home Kit and again no surprises that it was the relegated Teams of Watford and Norwich City.

Away Kits

The top two slots in the Away Kit table are again taken up by Manchester City and Liverpool, however here there was a larger gap between the two, with “City” scoring 16 points in the six games away kits were used, only dropping points once in the draw at Crystal Palace, the most points won in an Away kit.

Tottenham Hotspur had a good season in their change kits, ended undefeated in their away kit to complete the top 3 in the “Away Kit” Table, Brighton & Hove Albion also ended the season unbeaten in their away kit wearing the kit 7 times in total and scoring 13 points to end joint 5th with Chelsea in this table.

There were 7 teams who averaged 1 point or lower in their away kit, including Mid table finishers Brentford, Crystal Palace and 8th placed Leicester City who only managed 4 points in their away kit.

3rd Kits

The 3rd Kit table has a different look to it, with Chelsea who only wore their 3rd Kit once in The Premier League and were victorious end with a maxium 3 points per game, Tottenham Hotspur (unbeaten in their 3rd Kit) finished second with 10 points from 4 games, only dropping points in their draw with Southampton.

Manchester City scored the most points again, completing the change kit league double!

Two teams scored “0” points in their 3rd Kit, with Aston Villa (5) and Watford (2), with a total of 9 teams scoring an average of 1 point or lower, this does not include Crystal Palace did not use their 3rd Kit.

Summary and Highlights

There were plenty of discussion points through the season with the kits used, some of the highlights for me are the following:

Crystal Palace only used two kit variations through out the season, just their home and away kits, this meant we did not see their wonderful 3rd kit in action in the Premier League, it was used in the Cup however.

Wolverhampton Wanderers went 23 League games in row in their home kit, this meant the last time they wore a change kit was on Saturday 11th December 2021 against Manchester City. They wore their home kit a total of 32 times, which was joint highest in the Premier League this season.

In their first season in The Premier League, Brentford wore change kits in 18 of their 19 away games, wearing their away kit 14 time and 3rd kit 4 times, the only time they wore their home kit away from The Community Stadium was against Manchester City on Wednesday 9th February 2022.

Tottenham Hotspur ended the season unbeaten in change kits, wearing their away kit 3 times (2 wins and 1 draw) and their 3rd kit 4 times (3 wins and 1 draw). A great season for two designs that have divided kit lovers but in this Kit Geek’s opinion are two great looking kits.

Brighton & Hove Albion wear undefeated in their “Hyper-Turq” Away kit, wearing it a total of 7 times (3 wins and 4 draws), interestingly they only worn the default version of the kit with black shorts once, at Everton.

There were three teams that wore four distinct goalkeeper kits…

Arsenal

Brentford

Manchester City

There we have it, The Premier Leagues’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

You can find other End of Season Reports below.

Championship – End of Season Report

League One – End of Season Report

League Two – End of Season Report

EFL, League Two 21/22 – End of Season Report

The 2021/22 League Two Season came to a close on Saturday 7th May 2022, with Champions being Forest Green Rovers, who gain promotion to Third Tier of English Football for the first time with Exeter City securing Runner’s Up spot, Bristol Rovers securing a final day promotion with a remarkable 7-0 victory against already relegated Scunthorpe United, a successful season for clubs in that region of the country in League Two. Northampton Town, Port Vale, Swindon Town and Mansfield Town will compete in the Playoffs for the final promotion place.

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)
• 86 Different Kit variations used by the 24 teams.
• Home Kits – 36% of Kit variations used
  • 25 Home Kits worn
  • 6 Home Kit variations worn
• Away Kits – 33% of variations used
  • 25 Away Kits worn
  • 3 Away Kit variations worn
• 3rd Kits – 26% of variations worn
  • 17 3rd Kits worn
  • 6 3rd Kit variations worn
• Special Kits – 5% of variations worn
  • 4 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 Two Teams

• Walsall wore 10 Kit Variations
  • Home x3, Away x3, 3rd x4
  • Full Details can be found here
  • 11.5% of all kits worn in League Two
• Rochdale wore 6 Kit Variations
  • Home x2, Away, 3rd x3
• 3 Teams wore 5 Kit Variations
  • Colchester United – Home, Away x2, 3rd, Special Kit
  • Stevenage – Home x2, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
  • Tranmere Rovers – Home x2, Away, 3rd x2
• Bradford City wore 4 Kit Variations
  • Home, Away, 3rd, Special Kit
• 15 Teams in 3 Kit Variations
• 3 Teams in just Home and Away Kits, 2 Kit variations
  • Carlisle United
  • Newport County
  • Scunthorpe United
• Most Variations of Home Kit – 3 Kits
  • Walsall – Red / White / Green, All Red, Red / Red / Green
• Most Variations of Away Kit – 3 Kits
  • Walsall – Green / Green / Red, All Green, Green / Green / White
• Most Variations of 3rd Kit – 4 Kits
  • Walsall – White / Green / White, White / Red / White, White / Red / Red. White / Red / Green
• 12 Teams wore just Home, Away, 3rd (or Special) Kits
• 17 Teams worn no variation of kits
  • Bradford City wore 4 kits with no variations
  • 3 Teams in just Home and Away kits
• Mansfield Town wore two “Away” Kits, debuting their 2022 / 23 Away Kit in the final away league game of the season
• Most worn Home Kit – 40, Mansfield Town
• Most worn Away Kit – 19, Colchester United (22 including the one other variation used)
• Most worn 3rd Kit – 14, Salford City and Tranmere Rovers (who wore 3rd Kit 14 times in total. 13 default look and 1 variation)

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 League Two teams wore 86 Kits, this was a huge reduction in the number kits compared to last season where 117 Kits were worn.  The reduction is linked to the number of times teams had variations of their kits, with only 15 variations of Home, Away, 3rd kits used (7 of which worn by Walsall) compared to 50 variations from the default look used in 2020 / 21 season.

Two Teams, Colchester United and Harrogate Town wore change kits in all 23 away game. Colchester United in their away kit for 22 times and 3rd Kit once, where Harrogate Town had more of an even split with their Away Kit used 11 times and 3rd Kit worn 12 times.

Stevenage had two different Home Kits through out the season, an inital kit which was only worn four times before their actual Home Kit for the season was used.

The was a subtle difference in sponsor layout and additional stripes across the chest of the shirt in the final home kit.

League Two was also the home of “Special Kits” in 2021 / 22, with four teams wearing a special kit for a variety of reasons.

Bradford City – Limited Edition 4th Shirt

Colchester United – Ukraine Solidarity Kit

Northampton Town – 125th Annivesary Kit

Stevenage – Season Ticket Holder Tribute Kit

Walsall worn a remarkable 10 different kit variations, using elements of the Home, Away and 3rd kits to build these variations, I have gone into detail about this in a seperate article which you can find here

Mansfield Town wore their home kit for 40 games through out the season, the most of any team in the top four English Leagues, only wearing their away kit six times including debuting their 22 / 23 Away kit in their final away of the season at Salford City.

There we have it, League Two’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

You can find other End of Season Reports below.

Premier League – End of Season Report

Championship – End of Season Report

League One – End of Season Report

The Heat Press – Issue 16

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!

The book can be pre-order now here

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

Millwall x Hummel

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.

The full statement can be found here

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.

The Heat Press – Issue 14

Time for Issue Number 14 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 13 click here

The Headlines

• Juventus – 4th Shirt
• Wycombe Wanderers – Special Kit
• Lincoln City – Fan Desinged Shirt
• Red Star FC – Kit Design Competition

Juventus 4th Shirt

Juventus are the next Serie A team to release a 4th Kit for the 2021 / 22 Season. The shirt for “The Old Lady” is designed in collaboration with Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra, famous for street art and murals. This shirt provides an interesting use of colour and shapes to give a very unique look and was worn with white shorts and socks in their game against Bologna .

Wycombe Wanderers – Special Kit

Wycombe Wanderers took to the field in their League One game agaisnt Plymouth Argyle on Friday 15th April in a Special Kit, which was named “A Kit for Ukraine” and join a number of teams who worn Blue / Yellow combinations in the recent weeks. The Kit produced by Oneils is the same template as the club’s current home and 3rd kits in the colours of Ukraine and was available for auction to raise funds for charities linked to supporting those impacted by the current situation.

Full details can be found here

Lincoln City fan designed shirt

A club close to my heart, Lincoln City have released a limited addition Fan Designed shirt pays tribute to the area’s proud RAF history, the iconic cathedral and features the colours of the Lincolnshire flag and is part of the #MyCityMyShirt campaign.

The shirt will be available an in-store event from 2.30pm on Thursday 21st April, with a number of players attending the event.

Full details can be found here

Red Star FC Kit Design Competition

Another team that is opening up their Kit Design to fans is historic French team Red Star FC. In collobroation with Fiverr, the competition is to celebrate the club’s 125th Anniversary. Designs need to be submitted by 30th April 2022.

All details and how to enter can be found here

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 Football Kit Podcast is now out, which sees Les, Denis and I discuss Goalkeeper Kits. Following our usual format of something we like (It’s a Keeper) and something we do not like (Not in Glove)… check out the Pod here or check out my site for links to the Podcast.

No spoilers but here are some hints at topics I discuss…

Our Friends at Football Shirts for Charity are kicking off another wonderful initiative where you can Run, walk, swim or cycle 5k… with a football shirt, nominate your team and score points for the league table. The league runs from April 8 to June 26.

All details can be found here

It’s that time of year again where the duo behind The Shirt Union start pulling together where the best deals to get this season shirts, make sure you follow them for more updates to get that deal before the end of the season.

Another thing to keep an eye out on is what @thekitfactor is doing this week, after designing concept kits for all 92 English League Clubs, there is now a knock out competition for the kits designed… the first round is now complete but make sure you check the remaining rounds and of course all the Home, Away and 3rd Kit Concepts they created over the last few months.

And finally, please check out Matt Riley on Twitter, Matt has a book coming out later this year that looks kits and their impact on football…

“Kits tell us more about our club, ourselves and the beautiful game’s custodians than we often realise. From the colours, crests, designs and prices we can learn so much about what makes the game – and us – tick. Kit and Caboodle searches out the stories that our shirts tell us about the teams we support and the society we live in”

More details about the book and how to pre-order can be found here

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 13

Time for Issue Number 13 of The Heat Press – a brief roundup of news in the Kit World and Kit Community, to catch up on Issue 12 click here

The Headlines

• AC Milan 4th Kit
• Fiorentina Kit Design Competition
• Maradona’s “Hand of God” shirt
• Plymouth Argyle – Ginsters

AC Milan 4th Kit

AC Milan have released their 4th Kit for the 2021 / 22 Season, this kit is part of a larger collaboration with Italian fashion brand “NEMEN”, the Kit was designed by Leonardo Fasolo, Founder and Creative Director of NEMEN and lifelong AC Milan fan.

The kit has been given mixed reviews from fans and those in the Kit Community however this gives a unique look to the Rossonere and is getting people talking about kits, which in kit design is something I can get behind. The kit has been worn by both Women’s and Men’s team this weekend in likely its only appearences on the field.

Fiorentina Kit Design Competition

Staying in Italy, Fiorentina and Kappa are given people the chance to design the 4th Kit for next season, there are some guidelines that must be adhered to in the designs:

• Primary colors cannot be purple or green.
• You can also use more than 3 colours as long as one is dominant.
• You can propose a circled, striped, banded or checked design… but there must always be a dominant color.
• You cannot replicate the Fiorentina logo or its elements (for example you cannot use the lily, the V of Viola, the name “ACF Fiorentina”).
• You cannot modify or move the Fiorentina logo, the Kappa logo or the Mediacom logo.
• You cannot change the shape of the shirt (collar, sleeves … the structure must remain as it is).

So for you Kit Concept Designers out there your designs need to be submitted by 17th April 2022, full details can be found here

Maradona’s “Hand of God” shirt

It has been reported in The Guardian that the shirt worn by Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final against England, famously worn scoring two of the most memorible goals in World Cup History is being put up for sale.

The shirt was in the ownership of Steve Hodge (Pictured below) who swapped shirts with Argentinian Legend after the game and has been on display at the National Football Museum of the recent years will go sale at Sotherby’s Auctioneers and estimate to sell for £4m.

Full details on the story can be found here

Plymouth Argyle – Ginsters

One of the most famous sponsorship partnerships in English Football is coming to an end. Plymouth Argyle and local savoury snack maker Ginsters have been in partnership since 2002, so at the end of this season their 20 year association will be coming to an end with League One club sporting a new sponsor for the 2022/23 season… will Pymouth shirts ever look the same again!

And Finally….

Whats happening in the Kit Community.

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

Firstly our Friends at Football Shirts for Charity have released some new Charity shirts for 2022, following up from their wonderful shirts from 2021, they are producing three shirts each with a different colour details and you can include a name and number for no additional charge.

I have ordered mine, to go with my white shirt of theirs last season… its the blue one this year for me and cannot wait to add it to my collection.

Check out their site and place your order here

As you will know I am a lover of “Kit Logs”, maintaining a record of the kits worn by teams through out a competion or season, there have been a couple of examples that I have seen in the last week that I want to call out and share here…

PABLO has created this fantastic illistration of Spainish Segunda División B Hércules CF kits worn this season.

Paint Kits produced this amazing graphic looking at the teams from South America in the CONMEBOL 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, with what teams wore what kit through out the qualification process… as a Kit Geek, I love it!

There has been a few updates to my site over the past week, I have now included a section where I will keep the Kit Grids from the 2021 / 22 season in one place, the Premier League has been added with EFL Leagues to be added over the coming days (example below, Premier League up to 5th April 2022).

The page can be found at the top of my site,

I have also now included a “Friends of Kit Geek” section as well, where you can find other Football Kit Related pages that may interest you, if you want to see your site here please let me know and I will add it the list.

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 12

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.

Check out Hummel‘s tweet about the kit below….

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 #ForDanmark pic.twitter.com/E69M54yJ9m

— hummel (@hummel1923) March 19, 2022

Colchester United – Special Kit

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.

Full details can be found here

Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Kit Launch

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.

Watch the video here

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