True Colours Football Kits

New England home kit

John Devlin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:28:08 +0000

Full review and analysis of the new England home kit and the controversy surrounding it coming soon…

Bolton Wanderers 2010-11 Kits

John Devlin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:59:04 +0000

Since Bolton ditched their two-year life cycle on kits in 2007 the designs have become ever more ‘challenging’. Prior to then you could count on Reebok producing good solid, innovative designs for the club but many of the recent kits have left Bolton fans scratching their heads and football kit fans in general bemused. The 2010-11 kits are no different, although a vast improvement on the 2009-10 strips the designs just don’t hit the mark for me. The bizarre collar design with red piping arching across each side of the chest just looks odd. Bolton have got such a great colour scheme and I’d really like to see what another kit manufacturer could do with their strips. Perhaps its time for a change?

The away follows exactly the same design as the home but in royal blue with white and red trim which works better in my view. It seems the 2009-10 navy away kit is also being retained as a third choice, creating a suite of kits that should just about be sufficient to cope with any colour clash eventuality.

Birmingham City 2010-11 Kits

John Devlin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:39:55 +0000

Birmingham prepared for 2010-11 with the announcement of a new kit deal with Chinese sportswear manufacturers Xtep. The club previewed four designs and asked supporters to vote on the one they preferred. Faced with some simple, clean designs fans, bizarrely, voted for this strip. Although it carries on some degree of tradition by featuring a large expanse of white on the kit I can’t help but think that the designs is just too full-on. One rejected design was virtually identical to this but with the broad white V removed and in my view this would have been a better choice. One element I do like is the inclusion of small Xtep logos on the cuff of the right sleeve and the left leg of the shorts. Although the original illustration of the kit showed blue and white socks, for some reason the final versions worn are just plain blue.

Perhaps as a reaction to the somewhat over the top flamboyance of the home shirt the away couldn’t be much simpler. Just an elegant pointed V-neck and the merest of blue trim under the arm adorns this jersey – apart of course from club badge and sponsors logos (including the small Xtep marques on the sleeve). Plain blue shorts and white socks complete the outfit although the shirt has already been worn with the white home shorts, creating a rather unbalanced combination.

Given the amount of white on the home shirt and the plain white away, there is clearly a need for a third kit. Rumours are that it will be red but no confirmation of this has yet been announced.

STOP PRESS – Although at the time of writing (August 2010) no official announcement about the third kit has been made evidence on the Premier League website shows how it will look. Its essentially a red version of the away kit.

Aston Villa 2010-11 Kits

John Devlin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:48:35 +0000

Nike have stuck pretty rigidly to Villa’s traditions since arriving as kit supplier in 2007. This time round they’ve replaced the light blue necks that they’ve used on all three of their previous Villa kits with a non-contrasting claret V-neck design and added a Croatia-esque chequerboard pattern down each side of the shirt to add some degree of flair. A similar pattern (reduced in size) forms the trim on the shorts. The biggest change (apart from the presence of new sponsor FxPro who replace children’s hospice, Acorns) is the introduction of claret socks for the first time since 2002–03. FxPro are a foreign exchange trading company who must be doing well as they are also sponsoring Fulham this season! Although its an effective, traditional strip and the chequerboard motif lifts it somewhat I can’t help but think that Villa kits in recent years are stuck in a bit of a rut. Its interesting that Nike have often dabbled with Arsenal’s white sleeve heritage but are less keen to tamper with Villa’s blue. Is it a teamwear issue perhaps?

The away kit follows the same design (including the chequerboard sides) but in black – the first time the club have worn the colour to this extent in 10 years. Utilising the same template with its splashes of claret and light blue works really well (especially on the socks) and ensure that it retains Villa’s identity for the 2010–11 season. The FxPro logo in red raises questions of legibility however.

Arsenal 2010-11 Kits

John Devlin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:09:33 +0000

I’ll be adding a full page of 10-11 kits as soon as they’re done, but in the meantime I will be posting each PL club’s new kits separately. First, Arsenal…

Arsenal home kit 10-11
Great to see the traditional Arsenal white sleeves returning to this superb Nike shirt. I think they’ve got the jersey bang on (although to be fair it would be pretty difficult to mess up such a timeless design) . Traditional, simple and yet modern at the same tim I love the pretty hefty cuffs as well (cuffs making a big comeback this year!). On inspecting the shirt in JJB, I noticed a very subtle variation in fabric composition – almost resembling shadow stripes. A simple red trim adorns the shorts. The classic 70s kit on which this is based was actually worn with red socks although for this version Nike have stuck with white. It will be interesting to see how the kit looks when a socks clash forces a change.

Arsenal away kit 2010-11
Another strong design from Nike and most Arsenal fans will be glad to see yellow back as their club’s primary away colour. But paired with redcurrant (which has been added to the Arsenal palette since they prepared to leave Highbury) ? I’m not sure – it almost seems to rich a colour combination. The design is elegant though and comprises pinstripes and the same ’shadow stripe’ fabric as the home. Worn with redcurrant shorts although its first outing in the Premier League this season saw the shirt worn with yellow shorts to avoid a colour clash at Anfield.

The club’s 2009-10 navy blue away kit is retained as a third kit for 2010-11.

Scotland vs Sweden

John Devlin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:59:58 +0000

I didn’t want my first post for a while to be so negative but my jaw dropped when I saw photos of the Scotland vs Sweden game tonight. In case you weren’t aware Scotland have just launched their (rather smart) new yellow away shirt which they wore in tonight’s game. Nothing normally wrong with that except that Sweden, who I may remind you were at home, play in yellow and were therefore forced to wear their away kit to prevent a clash.

Don’t get me wrong, I am well aware of the commercial pressures of replica sales and the important income they bring to club and country but I am appalled that the Scotland team wore their new kit in these circumstances when a) there was no colour clash and b) the team they were playing wear the very colour of their new away kit!!! I’m sure the Swedish FA agreed to it but I just don’t understand it.

The last time the SFA pulled a similar stunt was to launch the ill-fated Diadora red third strip a few years ago in a WC match against Georgia which Scotland embarassingly lost. The result this time? 3-0 to Sweden. Coincidence?

What are the lessons to be learnt? Well, if you’re going to launch a new away kit and want to arrange a match to promote it, pick a team whose kit will make a change strip necessary or at least doesn’t clash with the kit you’re trying to promote, and secondly (and more importantly) ALWAYS wear your home colours whenever possible and therefore maintain the integrity of your national football identity.

Sorry…rant over.

Liverpool Home Kit 2010-12

John Devlin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:17:45 +0000

As a little taster for a more in depth review of a selection of 10-11 season kits that will be coming shortly I thought I’d just feature the new adidas Liverpool home kit for 2010-12 (yes, two seasons!!) The strip was one of the earliest to be involved a few months ago and despite being slightly underwhelmed the design (like most of adidas’ recent strips actually) has really grown on me. Its a design that just screams “Liverpool” despite the arrival of new sponsors Standard Chartered who replace the old familiar Carlsberg. The shirt features a simple crew neck devoid of any trim and a diamond shadow pattern clearly inspired by the club’s 1989-91 silver away kit that was worn in the last season Liverpool won the title. No coincidence there I’m sure. The shorts are virtually identical to the previous kits with the exception of a very subtle piece of gold piping that also features on the shirt. Nice to see a third colour back on the Red’s kit. The Liver Bird still doesn’t return as the club’s badge on the kit but it does crop up in gold on the socks.

In my view its a good, solid looking kit and it will be interesting to see if the new kit, sponsor and most importantly manager, will bring Liverpool some good fortune this season.

08-09 Kits

John Devlin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:00:51 +0000

Click on the thumbnails below to view each image at full size.

Arsenal 08-09 home kit, away kit, third kit

Aston Villa 08-09 home kit, away kit, third kit

Birmingham City 08-09 home kit, away kit

Blackburn Rovers 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Bolton Wanderers 08-09, home kit, away kit

Charlton Athletic 08-09, home kit, away kit

Chelsea 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Coventry City 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Crystal Palace 08-09, home kit, away kit

Derby County 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Everton 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Fulham 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Ipswich Town 08-09, home kit, away kit

Leeds United 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Leicester City 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Liverpool 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Manchester City 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Manchester United 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Middlesbrough 08-09, home kit, away kit

Newcastle United 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Norwich City 08-09, home kit, away kit, commemorative kit

Nottingham Forest 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Portsmouth 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Reading 08-09, home kit, away kit

Sheffield United 08-09, home kit, away kit

Stoke City 08-09, home kit, away kit

Southampton 08-09, home kit, away kit

Sunderland 08-09, home kit, away kit

Tottenham Hotspur 08-09, home kit, away kit, third kit

Watford 08-09, home kit, away kit

West Bromwich Albion 08-09, home kit, away kit

West Ham United 08-09, home kit, away kit

Wigan Athletic 08-09, home kit, away kit

Wolverhampton Wanderers 08-09, home kit, away kit

Brazil’s 2010 home shirt in detail

John Devlin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:33:29 +0000

Most replica shirts are naturally bought by diehard fans who want to show their support for the team. But if I were to choose one shirt that seems to transcend affiliation more than any other and is snapped up in soccer shops worldwide it would have to be the iconic yellow and green of Brazil. It seems you don’t have to be Brazilian to wear the jersey, such is the legendary status of the country’s teams over the years and the standards of excellence and flair that they represent. By donning the jersey you show the world that you love good football and out of all the World Cup apparel available the Brazilian shirt is always a big seller.

Nike introduced a new Brazil World Cup Jersey prior to the tournament’s kick off and its a superb looking minimalist and elegant shirt with the only trim of note being green stripes down each sleeve and round neck design, making it slightly reminiscent of the country’s 1998-2000 strip. The stripes are actually made of a rubber-like material with lots of tiny holes and on the left sleeve the stripe incorporates five stars – symbolising the country’s five World Cup triumphs.

The Dri-FIT fabric used is part of Nike’s ecologically sound ethos and is comprised of up to eight recycled plastic bottles taken from Japanese and Taiwanese landfill sites and then melted down. All in all Nike have prevented 13 million bottles from going into landfill sites with the creation of their new range of shirts.

Apart from being incredibly comfortable to wear there are lots of little details that make the shirt interesting. Inside the neck there is a tiny Brazilian flag with the legend ‘Nascido Para Jogar Futebol’ or ‘Born to Play Football’ and on the back of the neck there is a green panel with ‘Brasil’ text. A mesh fabric runs down each side of the jersey for ventilation.

Turn the shirt inside out though for a real surprise as on the reverse of the badge (placed over the heart of course) is the message ‘Pride and Love’ beautifully rendered in a font designed by a Brazilian artist. Its a great, subtle touch and an similar graphic relevant to each country is included in most if not all of Nike’s national shirts in their soccer apparel range this year.

Without being burdened by unnecessary design elements the shirt is simple and classic with impressive environmental qualifications and the added bonus of an inspirational message over the heart!

Umbro’s Walls

John Devlin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:03:37 +0000

Its great to see how Umbro have got so behind England in the World Cup. They’ve gone above and beyond in their support for the team – far exceeding their role as just kit supplier.

One of their more creative ventures is the creation of commemorative walls in the hometowns of the players and manager Fabio Capello. Each wall is situated on a building that was significant or has relevance to the early life/development of each England squad player and features their squad number and the slogan ‘Tailored by…’ followed by the town name. Its a great idea that really aims to unite the country in support for the team. How many will be graffitied by the end of the tournament though remains to be seen…

The examples shown are David James’ wall in Welwyn Garden City and Rio Ferdinand’s wall in Peckham.

For more details on where to find the walls check out Umbro’s website