Shut up and take our money
A new football season is just around the corner, meaning we are knee-deep in new kit releases.
Keeping up with every single kit launch can be exhausting, so we’ve made things slightly easier for you by selecting and ranking the nine most easy-on-the-eye new shirts from around the world.
You may disagree with our choices and the order in which we’ve ranked them and that’s absolutely fine; it’s your life. Go and rank your own football shirts.
9. Parma
Ah, the nostalgia. If you’re old enough to remember the Football Italia years on Channel 4 – we’ve a quiz for that, by the way – you’ll have fond memories of Parma.
At the turn of the century, they were one of Serie A’s best sides, packed full of household names. In the time since, they’ve suffered bankruptcy, been demoted to Serie D, fought their way back to the top flight only to suffer relegation to the second tier of Italian football at the end of last season.
This shirt from Errea, though, helps us remember the good times. One look at it and our minds are cast back to the days of Cannavaro, Crespo, Thuram and more…
8. Ajax
By now, we know what we’re getting with Ajax home shirts: white, with a thick vertical line of red running down the centre. It’s a classic design, synonymous with the Dutch club – if rarely spectacular.
While it’s usually their away shirts that catch the eye, we’ve taken a real shine to their new home offering, which pays tribute to the Ajax sides of the early 1970s.
The red is slightly darker than normal, and the shirt features the club’s old crest. The club’s sponsor, Ziggo, is also smaller than usual. Another nod to tradition will see Ajax’s players will only wear numbers on the back of their shirt for domestic games next season, with names only added for European games because of Uefa regulations.
Nice.
7. Manchester United
It feels a little bit strange to be praising a Manchester United shirt, in truth. After nearly a decade of seeing each and every one of them ruined by comically big Chevrolet logos, a new sponsorship deal with TeamViewer can only be a good thing from an aesthetics point of view.
The new away shirt is evidence of this. A nod to an early nineties classic, this is the first United shirt in a long time that actually looks… nice.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CR8b3ptMiKr/
6. Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors home shirts are hard to get wrong. As with the aforementioned Ajax shirts, you know what to expect. This year’s, though, is extra special. Following the passing of Diego Maradona earlier in the year, Boca’s new shirt will pay a subtle tribute to their most famous former player.
Leaked images published by Footy Headlines show the Boca crest has been moved to the rear of the shirt. In its place, the club’s initials appear on four stars – just as they did when Maradona was playing for them in the early 1980s. A nice touch.
5. Club America
Nike have played a blinder with their latest offering for Club America’s home shirt. As always, the Mexican club’s shirt is predominantly yellow, but its stand-out feature is the Aztec-styled patterning which appears on the shirt’s chest.
If we’re being picky, we’d have to complain about the number of sponsors – the Home Depot one is particularly meh – but even with all that, there’s enough going on here to be distracted.
Just look at it. Phwoar.
4. Inter Milan
We’ll be honest, as much as Nike have done a fine job here, we have to say we’re a little bit disappointed that this Inter shirt doesn’t carry a Pirelli logo. The Serie A champions parted ways with their long-term shirt sponsor at the end of last season, releasing this design before their new sponsor was confirmed.
The famous nerrazurri stripes look great in their snakeskin pattern, so much so we’re a little bit disappointed the new sponsor partially covers them. It’s still finished a respectable fourth, but who knows, perhaps a nice gold Pirelli logo would’ve seen it climb higher still.
3. Charlton Athletic
As any football kit design aficionado will know, Hummel have an impressive knack of getting their shirts spot on. Usually, it’s the Danish company’s keen eye for detail that makes them stand out, but the beauty of this, Charlton Athletic’s new third kit, lies in its simplicity.
Celebrating the club’s 100th year in the Football League, the shirt is predominantly black but with golden trims and accents. The Hummel chevrons can be seen on the shoulders and the club’s iconic sword emblem – not seen in this style on an Addicks shirt for nearly half a century – is visible on the crest. Even the sponsor takes nothing away from it.
Everything about it just… works.
2. Atletico Mineiro
Oooh, controversial.
We’ll be honest, we were very tempted to have this, the new fan-designed away shirt for Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro, as our number one. Very, very tempted.
For the second year in a row, the club invited fans to design their away shirt. Having received in excess of 500 possible designs, the club then asked supporters to vote for their favourite. This, made by by Le Coq Sportif, was the resounding winner, a predominantly beige shirt, featuring a large map of Minas Gerais – symbolising the Brazilian state the club represents.
Since first being splashed across social media, the shirt has made quite an impression. It’s undeniably a thing of beauty. But not *quite* the best shirt we’ve seen ahead of the new season…
1. Venezia
By now, this will probably come as no surprise.
Normally, the Atletico Mineiro away shirt would’ve won this at a canter, but then along came Venezia with this.
Venezia are back in Serie A this season and have struck up a new kit deal with Kappa. This, the debut offering from the Italian sports manufacturer, has already turned heads aplenty.
The distinctive colour scheme of black with green and orange trim, along with the club crest, Kappa logo and several stars appearing in gold, makes it the finest of all this season’s new shirts.
Just look at the thing…
https://www.instagram.com/p/CR8WbGLMHym/
