Website problems
Posted by John Devlin
You may have noticed a couple of glitches in the site last week. Many apologies for this – it was due to switching hosting and although the move went pretty smoothly unfortunately the last 4 months worth of kit graphics disappeared. I’ve almost finished uploading them all again, please bear with me and all missing kits will be up shortly. Thank you.
Coming up soon:
Liverpool 10-11 kit reviews (completing the Premier League series)
An invitation to vote for your favourite Premier League kit of the year
All 10-11 Championship kits
Champions League last 16 away kits
Wolverhampton Wanderers Kits 2010-11
Posted by John Devlin
Swiss sportswear company Burrda arrived in the UK with several kits for the 2010-11 season although the only outfits appearing in the Premier League are the ones they have produced for Wolves. I have to say I’m pretty impressed – although I can’t quite put my finger on why! The home shirt sees a collar return to the famous old gold shirt with neat black panels on each shoulder and down each side. Shorts and socks are fairly predestrian. I think where Burrda have succeeded where other new sportswear brands have failed when they have attempted to break into the British market is that firstly the kit fits really well – no baggy outsized jerseys – and secondly that they have kept their design traditional and simple and not attempted to make too much of a ‘brave’ design statement. My only slight criticism is that it is odd having piping on the shorts and yet not on the rest of the kit but this may be explained when we look at the away kit…
The away sees the return of the ever-popular all-black Wolves strip. Following a tried and tested change kit policy the strip simply reverses the colours of the home (maintaining the design) and simply adds a different neck design. The black shorts differ from the home pair in that they feature a broader old gold trim that is a far more logical match to the side bars on the shirt. In my view these shorts would have worked better with the home strip as well but clearly the club wanted to differentiate between the home and away pairs.
New owners for Admiral
Posted by John Devlin
Like many football kit followers of a certain age Admiral hold a special place in my kit memories. The brand has made several revivals since its late 70s heyday but with the exception of one or two smaller deals has been pretty quiet of late in the UK football world.
However, this looks like this may all change as exciting news emerges that Admiral is now in the hands of new British owners, a move that will hopefully see the re-energising of a great sporting icon, across Europe.
The new owners are Admiral Sportswear Limited, a special purpose vehicle established to acquire the rights to the Admiral brand for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
The move sees Managing Director Jonathan Hamburger, heading up the new Admiral Sportswear Limited business and the appointment of former Umbro, JD Fashion and West Bromwich Albion executive Tim Gardiner, as Sales & Marketing Director.
Originally established in Leicester as Cook & Hurst Limited, the Admiral business was incorporated in 1914, when the company designed and manufactured underwear for the Armed Forces.
With the recent resurgence of heritage sportswear brands in the sports and fashion markets, there are dynamic plans to develop the Admiral brand with football performance for the sports retail sector and also lifestyle fashion developments for the menswear sector.
The plans include the introduction of three product collections for Admiral; Football Performace for the pro and amateur markets, Admiral “Gold” a brand new fashion concept and Lifestyle, including retro inspired “back catalogue” Admiral products, drawing on Admiral designs from the 70’s and 80’s.
Commenting on the acquisition, Jonathan Hamburger said;
“We’re delighted to have acquired such an iconic, British sports brand, with nearly 100 years of heritage and believe the opportunities to re-energise and grow the brand throughout Europe are endless”.
“An important part of the future success of the brand is the building of a strong and experienced team for Admiral and I’m delighted to have Tim Gardiner on board as we now look to develop our plans for the UK and the appointment of licensees throughout the territories we own in Europe and other countries”
With such big plans and experience behind the acquisition of Admiral it will be interesting to see if the brand makes it make to English football’s top flight…
Ticker Tape and Taping
Posted by John Devlin
I thought I might draw your attention to a little piece I wrote for Umbro in conjunction with their new Diamond Icons range of leisurewear. The post concentrated on a pivotal moment in both Scotland’s and Umbro’s history:
You can read it here:
http://blog.umbro.com/post/ticker-tape-and-taping-%E2%80%93-the-legacy-of-argentina-%E2%80%9878/
Champions League Last 16 Kits
Posted by John Devlin
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- Arsenal H 10-11
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- AC Milan H 10-11
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- Barcelona H 10-11
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- Bayern Munich H 10-11
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- Chelsea H 10-11
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- FC Copenhagen E 10-11
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- Inter Milan H 10-11
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- Lyon E 10-11
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- Manchester United E 10-11
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- Marseille E 10-11
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- Real Madrid H 10-11
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- Roma H 10-11
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- Schalke H 10-11
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- Shakhtar Donetsk H 10-11
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- Tottenham Hotspur E 10-11
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- Valencia H 10-11
Now that the Champions League has reached the last 16 I thought it might interesting to check through the home kits of the clubs that are left. It’s a mixed bag, but of course with virtually all the clubs changing their kit every season this is always going to be the case. But on the whole I think the good outweighs the bad. Soccer Betting
The best kits for me include Roma (but how can you go wrong with that superb colour scheme?!) with the reversed stitching across the chest, Real Madrid – elegant all-white from adidas as ever, Schalke’s simple but strong blue strip and Nike’s Inter shirt that introduces a new twist (or should that be zig-zag) on the blue and black stripes.
The Kappa kits are strong – especially Valencia’s and I’m fascinated by adidas’ continuing experiments with outlandish kits for their French clubs. Both Marseille and Lyon are in the last 16 and as usual they are sporting completely different kits to their regular home and away (although both European home kits are also their domestic thirds – confused?!) The Marseille outfit I think really works and I love the subtle red, yellow and green stitching throughout but the Lyon shirt is just too much in my view. Yet so many adidas/French shirts are favouring this ‘in your face’ approach to kit design these days – its especially common in the country’s domestic rugby outfits as well.
The weaker designs in my view include AC Milan with the stripes just not working for me and Barcelona, which for some reason just doesn’t seem powerful enough…plus I don’t like the neck!
On top of that of course you have Spurs’ special all-white European shirt (with different sponsors to their regular Premier League jerseys) and Manchester United’s white socks.
Just for the record, the split across the manufacturers makes interesting reading with adidas dominating: ADIDAS – 7 KITS, NIKE – 5 KITS, KAPPA – 3 KITS, PUMA – 1 KIT
West Bromwich Albion Kits 2010-11
Posted by John Devlin
West Brom kits always seem to be a bit hit and miss with me but I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe its the fact that the navy is often so dark it edges the colour scheme towards black and white and the overall effect is neither one thing or the other – I don’t know. Having said that the club’s 2010-11 home kit is one of the side’s better outfits in recent years. Like the Sunderland kit it borrows the trappings of Umbro’s late 70s strips for the club including the zig-zag trimming on the stripes and even going so far as to reinvent that jersey’s button-up neck (courtesy of an adaptation from the previous England kit). The shorts feature a simple trim along the leg and the socks are as plain as they could be. After a couple of years wearing shirts without a regular sponsor this year the Baggies have struck a deal with home emergency repair experts HomeServe who have decided to include a huge logo featuring their cunningly constructed phone number.
Away from home the club seem to have taken the advice of Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel and gone for a design that is ‘none more black’. With no contrasting trim whatsoever this mean, moody and magnificient strip’s only concession to flair is the inclusion of very subtle shadow stripes. In my view its simplicity makes the outfit one of the better black strips knocking around at the moment – its plainness means the necessary logos, badges, crests etc are presented clearly without clashing with the design. My only criticism is that as a set I would question whether the black of the away kit ‘clashes’ with the navy of the home.
West Ham Kits 2010-11
Posted by John Devlin
Up until this season I haven’t been the biggest fan of Macron kits. Having seen them close up during a Southend v Leeds game last year I was amazed at just how big and baggy the Leeds kit seemed and how this style made the outfit look very dated. However I worked on some Italian team Macron kit illustrations last year and was amazed at how much better their designs for continental sides seemed.
So I was delighted to see that for 2010-11 Macron are making kits for several English teams and all of them are a vast improvement on some of their previous strips. The ones provided for West Ham are, in my view, superb and manage to bring the heritage and history of the club together with some really nice, but not over-fussy detailing, and a very contemporary look and fit. The home shirt reminds me a bit of the Pony home kit from 1995 with its formal collar and simple pale blue sleeves (constructed with interesting panelling). The neck of the collar is adorned with two gold stitches arranged in to a cross (symbolising the club’s hammer motif) and the gold is continued on the cuffs as well. I don’t even mind the large Macron logos on the shirt and shorts! Its a classic design that works just as well with the away kit’s pale blue shorts and socks that have been designed to mix and match perfectly.
On to the away kit….another great design that resurrects the club’s late 50s/ 60s away kit of white shirt with a single claret and single blue horizontal band. Its an iconic design and its surprising that a revamped version hasn’t made a reappearance in the Hammers’ kitbag since its original incarnation. The shirt features identical stitching and panelling to the home kit – the only main difference in terms of construction is the inclusion of a pale blue crew neck and cuffs.
Two great kits from Macron, both with a superb fit – I wonder if we’ll see the famous pale blue with two claret hoops strip next year, or are West Ham due a navy away kit?
Life as a football kit design student
Posted by John Devlin
I was contacted recently by twins Samuel and Thomas Phillips who are both studying Level 2 Sportswear Design at University College Falmouth. They were telling me all about the course and the work they are doing designing kits. One of the projects is designing a strip for their local side Perranwell AFC and they have set up a blog documenting their work. There’s some really great ideas there (especially their handling of the “stripes” problem!) and its a fascinating step by step look at how a football kit design comes together and what life as a sportswear design student is like.
I’m sure you’ll find their story interesting! Find out more at:
http://footballkits.tumblr.com/
http://www.wearethetwins.com/
Sunderland 2010-11 Kits
Posted by John Devlin
Not much to complain about kit-wise at The Stadium of Light this season as Umbro have turned out a solid pair of strips for The Black Cats. The home design is clearly based on Umbro’s classic late 70s/early 80s Sunderland outfit with its tidy collar and sober stripes. On closer inspection though the stripes actually feature a very subtle zig zag weave which is comprised of tiny Umbro diamonds. A nice touch and again reminiscent of late 70s striped kits which were often seen to have a similar effect due to the style of the fabric. The socks are also based on the late 70s pairs and feature simple white turnovers. Online bingo company Tombola become the club’s new sponsor although the logo doesn’t feature on children’s replicas due to recent gambling legislation. The whole design of the kit is simple but very effective – plus its refreshing to see a jersey that doesn’t mess around with the presentation of the stripes – adidas take note!
The club’s new away is another superb Umbro strip. I have to admit I really like the subtle muted off-white colours that are appearing this season (see also Everton’s third kit) and this shirt is comprised of a colour rather grandly named as silver birch and trimmed with zinfandel (that’s claret to you and me). OK, naming issues aside, the colours form such an interesting combination on the strip (which is almost identical in design to Blackburn’s away kit) and create a really individual and classy looking outfit. One of my favourite’s of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur Kits 2010-11
Posted by John Devlin
As usual Spurs launched three new kits at the start of the season – their fifth set of Puma designs. Last season’s home strip ruffled a few feathers and this year’s has done the same. Again Puma have ignored the pure lilywhite shirt design preferred by fans and have instead included a prominent navy panel across the shoulders in a style slightly reminiscent of Admiral’s famous England outfits of the early 1980s. The Puma logo is placed high and reversed out of the navy on the right shoulder with the Spurs badge further down. A wrapover neck with a small V inset forms the colour and the main panel of the shirt is adorned with a subtle diagonal shadow stripe. The shorts mirror the shirt design and include a large white panel on the bottom of the right leg. There’s a new sponsor at White Hart Lane this season – well, tell a lie, there’s actually two. Software company Autonomy will appear on Spurs’ shirts for league games with financial firm Investec worn for cup matches. The deal to split the sponsors in this way is a first for the Premier League (I believe) and was the brainchild of Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy. Investec’s cup shirts have been very popular and have sold out in the club shop.
The design has grown on me to be fair since its launch – I still would much rather see the club in a pure white shirt and I’m really against giving secondary colours too much prominence on jerseys. Still, its something different and will no doubt lead to a very warm reception for the much plainer shirt I’m sure Puma will introduce at the Lane for 11-12.
Away from home Puma have opted for light blue this season. Its a different design to the home shirt and instead is one of this year’s standard Puma templates as premiered in the World Cup and also worn in the Premier League by Newcastle. However for this strip Puma have gone for alternate blue and white flashes on each sleeve and trim on the collar. The shorts however retain the white trim and include the ‘interesting’ Puma logo on the waistband.
The club’s third shirt is in navy blue and again is formed from another standard Puma template that was launched in South Africa. For me this is the least successful kit of the bunch.There’s just too much going on and the combination of white and fluorescent yellow gives the jersey a cluttered approach. The shorts and socks however simply follow the design of the away pairs.
