Posts Tagged ‘ Macron ’

John Devlin/True Colours

true colours cover

John Devlin/True Colours

John Devlin, author of True Colours: Football Kits from 1980 to the Present Day, Volumes 1 and 2, came on the SoccerNomad podcast to talk kit history and design. His wealth of knowledge is remarkable and I learned a lot. After a great conversation, we finished with some listener questions.

Learn more about kits and get in touch with John.

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Sample page from True Colours

true colours sample page

Early kits

England 1872-1879

england-1872

Aston Villa 1878-1879

aston-villa-1878-1879

Woolwich Arsenal 1894-1899

arsenal-1894-1895_i

(images courtesy of Historical Football Kits)

Sample jersey styles from Picking Up the Threads

picking up the threads

Kit Design Elements

Tramline kit

coventry city
Jacquard

tottenham-hotspur-1982-1983-le-coq-sportif-paul-price-centenary-match-worn-shirt-a

Sublimated dye

FSHR-MANU-H1995

Collar Styles

collar-styles-soccer-jerseys

1771835_orig

Sublimated-Cricket-shirts-collar-Styles

Iceland_Home_1024x1024norwich-city-16-17-third-kit-1Man-Utd-Away-Jersey-2013stoke-city-16-17-away-kit-1

 

50 Greatest Football Shirts Ever

Additional resources

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Thanks for listening! You can also subscribe via iTunes and please leave a rating and review. Follow me on twitter @austinlong1974.

SoccerNomad Podcast: EPL 16/17 Kit Preview

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EPL 16/17 Kit Preview

JR Francis (@paynomind) returned to the SoccerNomad podcast to look at the kits for the upcoming EPL season. After we both rant about the Manchester teams, we gave comments on the rest of the league and picked our top 5. Plus there’s some news and notes on the manufacturers.

Resources

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Thanks for listening! You can also subscribe via iTunes and please leave a rating and review. Follow me on twitter @austinlong1974.

SoccerNomad Podcast: Summer Tournament Kits

copa america Euro-2016

Summer Tournament Kits

Fellow #KitNerd JR Francis (@paynomind) came on the SoccerNomad podcast to talk about kits for the upcoming tournaments this summer–Copa America Centenario and Euro 2016. We didn’t discuss all 80+ kits but discussed some general trends, mentioned some of our best/worst and had a passionate discussion about the future of US kits.

For more information, check out these podcasts and posts.

Below are images of the some shirts we discussed:

Uruguay home/away

uruguay-x-puma-2016

Ecuador away

ecuador away

Jamaica away

jamaica away

Germany away

germany home

Portugal away

Portugal-Euro-2016-Away-Kit (4)

Belguim/Portugal friendly

belguim portugal

Albania set

albania

Hungary home

Hungary-Euro-2016-Home-Away-Kits-Vote (3)

Wales home/away

wales

Belguim away

17943_3_max

Mexico home

mexico

Argentina away

argentina-2015-away-kit-1

England home

england home

Croatia

929379_2013636628861358_1362808606_n

USA home/Dorothyusa-2016-copa-america-home-kit-4 Dorothy - Inspiration

USA away/Cop Car

usa-2016-copa-america-away-kit-1 download

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Thanks for listening! You can also subscribe via iTunes and please leave a rating and review. Follow me on twitter @austinlong1974.

Strip Club–Best (and Worst) of 2014/15

Over the last couple of years I have done some sort of post focusing on the best and worst kits for the upcoming season, and this year is no different.  The 2014/15 campaign has started and I’ve tried to cast my net pretty wide, looking at shirts from as many leagues as possible.  Here is a sampling of what I found.

First, the worst.

Porto switched to Warrior for the upcoming season and after horrific designs for Liverpool (and mixed results for Sevilla), my expectations were low.  And Warrior didn’t disappoint.

The Home shirt is fine.  Standard blue and white vertical stripes, featuring 11 subtle sublimation lines that score the bold blue stripes, representing the 11 players on the pitch. These divide the blue stripes in 12, representing the 12th player, FC Porto’s supporters. (Courtesy Football Fashion).

The Away and Third shirts are eye sores.  The Away shirt uses some sort of camoflauge pattern, which has creeped into kit design (Napoli and Everton come to mind).  It’s distracting and takes away from a shade of navy blue.

As for the Third shirt, Warrior went with a pink hue that bolsters the flamboyant footballing style that the two-time European Champions are known for. The firm believes that it has designed a kit that breaks with convention while harnessing FC Porto’s unbridled passion. (Courtesy Football Fashion)

Warrior still has a long way to go, although they are way ahead in the race to push the boundaries.

(Photo courtesy of Footy Headlines)

Pete Nowakowski‎ (@petenowakowski) brought to my attention the set of jerseys that Wolfsburg will be wearing this season.  The European kit is especially atrocious.  Kappa created kits that use a X-shape, which the team states, is meant to represent Wolfsburg’s self-confidence and will to win. (Courtesy Football Fashion)  Have to say go with the obvious and say X does not mark the spot for this kit. (Photo courtesy of Football Fashion)

wolfsburg

Finally there is Blackburn Rovers.  The shirt has come under some criticism because it is not the typical royal blue but instead Nike used a much lighter shade of blue, which is officially called University Blue. Blackburn previously had worn a white / light blue home shirt between 1990-1992 and in the early years of the club. (Courtesy Footy Headlines)  But the real problem with the kit is the commercial used to launch it, #birdysdate.  Beware: it’s awkward and awful.

Now for the best

Nike has taken the sash that has been a recent trend in kit design and added it to the Zenit Away kit. The result is a simple shirt with a hint of flair, using something that I have not seen—the two tone sash.   The bottom half is the marine blue of the home kit with the top half a slightly darker blue. These colors are also used in the collar. Football Fashion provided this additional note: According to the club’s website: The new away kit has a contrasting stripe, similar to the belt that decorated the army uniforms of Peter the Great’s army. Overall very sharp.  (Photo courtesy of Footy Headlines)

Adidas is using the sash as well, adding it to the Anderlecht Home shirt. I’m not familiar with Anderlecht kits but know that the rich purple is the one of the main colors of the club. Typically the home shirts are white with purple accenting but for this season, adidas inverted the colors. I think this shirt works with the sash bringing attention to the club badge.  (Photo courtesy of Football Fashion).

Anderlecht-14-15-Home-Kit

The Leeds United kit came to my attention as I read The Damned United again this summer. Their iconic all white home kit, introduced in 1961 by coach Don Revie in hopes of emulating Spanish side Real Madrid, is subtly accented by the yellow and royal blue of the club. What really interested me about this shirt was the collar. Rides slightly high up the neck and is a unique design to me, with a notch at the throat area. Like the look of this shirt and maybe one day this storied club will return to the Premier League.  (Photo courtesy of Footy Headlines)

Feyenoord’s iconic home halved kit gets some nice touches with opposite colored sleeves and black stripes along the shoulders. This shirt gets an updated OPEL logo at the center of the shirt and the color of the logo goes well with the shirt.  (Photo courtesy of Football Headlines)

Feyenoord-14-15-Home-Kit-3

The checkered sleeves of the Fortuna Dusseldorf Home shirt grabbed me and these added an element of style to an otherwise straightforward shirt. What an interesting badge as well. I don’t speak German but the official name of the club is Düsseldorfer Turn-und Sportverein Fortuna 1895. Fortuna was the goddess of fortune and personification of luck in Roman religion. (Thanks Wikipedia!) I might keep an eye out for this one at the end of the season and pick it up on clearance.  (Photo courtesy of Football Fashion)

Fortuna-Dusseldorf-14-15-Home-Kit (1)

The Celtic Away shirts have been not to my liking the last couple of seasons, with the all black strip of 2012/13 being the exception, but this one caught my attention. I usually don’t go for green shirts but the dark, rich green is accented by several different colors. From Football Fashion: The new Bhoys’ away shirt features an enlarged graphic of the Celtic tartan on its front to reflect the club’s Scottish heritage. Gold-infused horizontal and vertical lines from the tartan run through the club crest to replicate the Celtic cross. Gold also appears as trim at the neck and sleeve areas. The entire strip is sharp and might be worth adding to a collection.  (Photo courtesy of Football Fashion)

Celtic-2014-2015-Away-Kit-4

 

Then there’s the Real Madrid Away strip. I don’t know where to put this one. Obviously there is the color of the kit, which Football Fashion called a vibrant pink. Much different than the pink of Palermo and of Juve’s away kit from a couple of years ago. Then there is the collar, which is using the button that seems to be popular at the moment. Footy Headlines called it a classical henley collar. Think I will have to wait to see this in person on TV.  (Photo courtesy Footy Headlines).

Real Madrid 14-15 Away Kit (1)

So that’s a random selection of this year’s shirts for the upcoming season.  There are hundreds of kits from all over the world, but I only have so much time.  Doing research I realized how much access fans have to kits worldwide.  It used to be just a Eurosport magazine, showing uniforms of big European teams.  Now strips from almost every team in at least the top division in the major leagues in Europe can be seen if you look hard enough. These are the ones that jumped out to me.  If you want to see more, visit the following sites.

Football Fashion

Football Kit News

Football Shirt Culture

Footy Headlines

Quality posts, great pictures and a wide selection on offer.

Strip Club–La Liga Kits 2013/14

I have made another attempt to gather all of the La Liga kits into one place.  This season I have modeled my page on Kit Nerd’s posts on EPL and MLS kits.  I have gathered as many images as I could and commented on almost every kit for the upcoming season. There are plenty of great sites that have breakdowns, information and pictures of this season’s kits. Please visit the links for even more info.

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Almería (Courtesy of UD Almeria website)

Home / Away / Third

Almeria-Football-Shirt-13-14

Surprisingly Nike makes the kits of newly promoted Almeria.  Although the club uses templates and previous designs, the range is decent.  The home kit is a very simple shirt of red and white veritcal stripes with a ring collar, red shorts and white socks.  The away kit is almost identical to the Malaga away kit from 2011/12.  The third kit is Nike’s recent V template that began with Manchester United.  A light royal blue is the base of the shirt and socks and is finished off with white shorts.  According to the website this was used last year as well.  Hopefully the rojiblancos stay away from the fuchsia kit as much as possible.

Athletic Bilbao (Courtesy of Football Kit News and Football Fashion)

Home / Away

Bilbao Home Kit 2013 14

Athletic switch to Nike from Umbro this season, and Phil Knight’s men have given Los Leones a nice foundation.  The home strip is relatively standard, with the traditional red and white stripes and black shorts.   The away strip is all royal blue, which I like, but the shirt unfortunately suffers from the Nike sleeve syndrome.

Atlético Madrid (Courtesy of Footy Headlines and Football Fashion)

Home / Away

Atleti head into this campaign with a typical home kit—red and white striped top and blue shorts— with the post from Footy Headlines noting, “The red and the blue are darker than usual to celebrate the Spanish League and Spanish Cup title won in 1965/66.”  As for the away strip, it’s quite different and I’m not familiar with this color palette for Los Colchoneros at all.  Like the pairing of the navy blue and yellow top with the navy blue shorts but not sure how the yellow socks are going to look.

Barcelona (Courtesy of Footy Shirt Culture, Total Barca and Football Fashion)

Home / Away

Barca-kits-2013-14
Quick summary: The Blaugrana and the Swoosh are back on the right track.  The home kit returns to its roots, while the away is a one off historical gesture.  Would have preferred they used the senyera as a third kit, but there’s always next year. Full comments can be found here.

Betis (Courtesy of Football Kit News, Inside Spanish Football and Real Betis Website)

Home / Away / Third

Betiskits

Macron has produced an interesting range of kits for the verdiblancos.  The home shirt is the traditional green and white vertical stripes and removes the solid green block that ran from the chest to shoulders last year.  The away strip swaps white for black and slightly darkens the green, which according to ISF, “is to honour the 100 year anniversary of the club (1914) as we know it today.” The third kit is all sky blue accented by the green and white colors of the club and looks nice.

Celta de Vigo (Courtesy of Footy Headlines and Football Fashion)

Home / AwayThird

adidas - presentacion 01

The Galicians have used a sky blue and black palette to good effect for the upcoming season.  The home shirt is sky blue with black trim along the shoulder and around the neck.  The away top is black with a sky blue design around the neck and shoulders.  Both kits sport a Triskele, which thanks to Wikipedia, I learned is “a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs.”  The club also has a third kit that was released early in 2013 which uses the Campeon 13 template by adidas (see Spain’s Confederations Cup shirt).

Elche (Courtesy of Football Kit News and Diario Franjiverde)

Home / Away / Third

elche-cf-2013-2014-kits-9

This team from Valencian Community returns to the top flight for the first time 1988/89.  The kit line is produced by Italian company Acerbis and the range isn’t too bad.  The home kit is very simple white kit trimmed in green.  The away kit uses royal blue and red, which appears to be homage to the team’s badge.  The third kit replaces the white of the home with black and kinda reminds of a Green Lantern uniform.  All of the kits will have a logo at the back of the neck commemorating the club’s 90th anniversary.  Finally, not sure “Have a Nice Day” across the front of your shirt is the way to go.

Espanyol (Courtesy of Football Fashion)

Home / AwayThird

Espanyol 13-14 Kits (2)

The home kit of los pericos is solid, using thicker royal blue and white vertical stripes than usual.  No complaints with this strip.  The other two however are sketchy at best.  The away shirt looks like a t-shirt but creates a nice strip with black shorts and socks.  The third kit almost seems to be trading on the Seattle Sounders designs.  Pics on numerous sites show the entire kit with turquoise shorts, while the socks are turquoise/lime green hooped.  Be interested to see how it translates to HD TV.

Getafe (Courtesy of Football Fashion, Football Kit News and Getafe CF)

Home / Away / Third

New Getafe Kit 13 14

Spanish manufacturer Joma provides the kits for Getafe, who are celebrating ten years in the top flight.  Gone is the Burger King sponsorship in the middle of the shirt, which is sadly missed.  The home and away kits are understated, with a light royal being used for the home uniform and a deep red for the away kit and each shirt is trimmed in gold.  The third strip is a lime green which does not work for me.

Granada (Courtesy of Football Kit News)

Home / Away / Third

Equipacion Granada CF 2014

The Granada kits are made by Spanish sportwear company Luanvi, which I know nothing about.  The range of kits is relatively simple and straightforward, with the home kit using horizontal red and white stripes and blue shorts.  A Spanish club equivalent of the Where’s Waldo USMNT jerseys.  I really like the away kit, which is all white with red and green accents.  The third strip is just ok for me, using a metallic blue with black.  Maybe up close it will appeal to me more.  The goalkeepers have a choice of four different kits, which seems excessive to me.

Got some exclusive content from Heath Chesters who is the Community Manager for club and runs their English twitter account:

The club chose to go for more classic designs this season, hence the simplicity of the styles. More akin to the simple horizontal hoops of the 70’s & 80’s, which is more popular with the fans, than the “barcode” design of last season.

Along with a return to classic design, the club also wanted to recognise the city itself. The white away kit features a green & red trim, which are the colours of the city flag of Granada, whilst the Alhambra stencil on the upper chest is a nice touch, with Granada’s most famous landmark.

The third kit is something a little different for Granada in terms of the choice of colours, but a nice alternative I think.

Finally, I often see a lot of comments regarding Granada having a choice of four goalkeeper kits. Principally it’s to offer the goalkeepers themselves the choice of colours they like. 1st team keeper Roberto traditionally plays in pink, whilst the other three match the preferences of the backup & B team keepers, plus the women’s team keeper.

The women’s team gained promotion to the Primera last season. Their kits are the same design overall, but the shirts are made to fit the female form better, which is another nice feature from Luanvi.

Levante (Courtesy of Football Shirts)

Home / Away / Third

levante

Kelme has released kits for Levante’s upcoming campaign, buidling on last year’s set of kits, and has promoted them using some sort of superhero motif.  Weird but ok. The home kit is screaming Barcelona, even down to the huge bands at the edge of the sleeves, and if it wasn’t for the collar accent, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.  It does look sharp though. The away kit is black with alternating black and grey vertical stripes.  Really like this shirt and it is enhanced by the club crest all in white. The third kit uses a couple of greens going horizontally, with the club colors of red and blue trimming the sleeves.  Again a crest in white accents the kit. I like all three selections and hopefully Los Granotes can bounce back after a disappointing finish last season.

Málaga (Courtesy of Football Kit News and Football Fashion)

Home / Away / Third

malaga

Málaga had a mixed 2012/13 on and off of the field.  Quarter Finalists in the Champions League and a sixth place finish in La Liga, but with players leaving and suspended from Europe for the upcoming season, things are uncertain at best.  However, their kit selection is solid, so they’ve got that going for them.  Navy blue is introduced to the home shirt and is an attractive change and accents the sponsor nicely.  I love the away shirt.  Much like Sevilla’s third kit last year, the navy blue is super sharp and there are almost no distractions.  Nike is providing Los Boquerones with an orange third kit, which is a pleasant choice, better than the lime green of a couple of seasons ago, but the sleeves are a let down in typical Nike style. The post at Football Fashion has the layout of the full kit plus this little tidbit of info:

According to English language website: Málaga Club de Fútbol has chosen an exclusive design by NIKE, coaching sponsor of the Club, with the colours, light blue, navy and white, which will fill every part of La Rosaleda stadium. A new addition this season, is the slogan ‘Coraje y Corazón’ or ‘Courage and Heart’ printed on the back of the shirts, along with the flags of Spain and Andalucía.

Osasuna (Courtesy of Football Shirts, Football Kit News and Footy Headlines)

Home / Away

Osasuna switches to adidas for the upcoming season and the offering from the brand with the three stripes feels very MLS-ish.  The shirt uses the traditional red but the blue trim and collar create a jersey that is right off of the American rack.  It’s fine but the cow part of the sponsor is a little unsettling.  The away strip is some sort of neon green.  The pic in the hallway pregame doesn’t look that great but I found a team pic pregame and the strip looks great in the sunlight, with a bold shirt and black shorts and socks.

Rayo Vallecano (Courtesy of Football Fashion and Football Kit News)

Home / Away / Third

Rayo Away Kit 2013-14

The Rayo Vallecano home shirt is iconic and standard–white base with red sash runninng from right to left.  This year’s is no different, although I feel the diagonal is slightly wider.  The away kit reverses out the white for black and looks sharp as well.  The third strip is awful.  Taking a page from the Norwich City palette, using predominately yellow with neon yellow highlights, and the socks must surely glow in the dark.

Real Madrid (Courtesy of Football Fashion and Real Madrid Shop)

Home / Away / ThirdGK

real madrid h
Adidas introduced orange onto the white shirt of Real Madrid.  Interesting for sure and looks good, especially combined with the charcoal trim.  There are also horizontal pinstripes, which, Football Fashion notes, “presents a pattern of horizontal block building, giving the shirt a different texture and very attractive depending on how the light given.”  Not sure that was necessary but we’ll see. Retro is the theme of the away kit, using an all royal blue strip.  The orange trim is used on this shirt as well.  Found it interesting that Morata was used in the advertising pictures.  Liked his brief appearances last year and hope he gets more of a run this year. The third kit is an “energetic” orange. Could be nice if it comes across on the TV.  Maybe a contrasting short would make strip not so sherbert-ish.  The home goalkeeping kit uses the historical purple to create a dynamic look for Saint Iker (or whoever Carlo decides to play in goal).

Real Sociedad (Courtesy of Football Kit News)

Home / Away

New Real Sociedad Kit 13 14

Real Sociedad surprised many people with a surprise fourth place finish last year.  Their kit launch featured kits with the Champions League logo, even though they will still need to qualify.  Could get awkward if they fall at that important hurdle. For the jerseys themselves, the home kit is tried and true, sky blue and white vertical stripes.  Nike didn’t do anything extravagant here.  The away kit is almost all black.  The top just has the crest and Nike swoosh and what appears to be the Basque flag at the back of the neck.  The shorts have white trim just above the hem on backside.  The socks are topped in white with an angled white design.  Both kits are uncomplicated, which is a minor shock from Nike.  The goalkeeper kit though.  Yeesh.  Some sort of electric pink from head to toe.  Poor guy.

Sevilla (Courtesy of Footy Headlines and Football Fashion)

Home / Away

sevilla-fc-warrior-2013-14-kits-

Warrior enters the La Liga fray this season as Sevilla switches from Umbro to a brand doing almost everything it can to ruin soccer kits (see Liverpool away and third strips for 2013/14). The home shirt is tame, using a white base with red trim and an intriguing collar.  The only really standout item is the diagonal pattern across the chest.  Combine this with a crest referencing the original badge of the team and the strip is actually quite decent. The away kit takes a page from the Liverpool away shirt from 12/13, using some sort of accent that drapes down the neck and shoulders.  The strip is tolerable and definitely not the eye sore associated with the brand.

Valencia (Courtesy of Football Shirt Culture and Football Fashion)

Home / Away / GK

valencia
Football Shirt Culture put together great posts which have pictures showing the dynamic details for Valencia’s home and away kits. The home is the standard white with black and orange accents.  I really like the thin orange collar and narrow bands on the sleeves, but what really sets this shirt apart is the crest.  Similar to what Manchester United did on their away kit last year, the logo removes the senyera colors and all items are laid out in black and white.  The Comunitat Valenciana senyera does make an appearance on the back of the neck.  Combined with black shorts and white socks, this strip is a real winner. As for the away offering, using an orange base, the kit uses black and white accents to great effect.  The collar is half each color, very subtle (similar to Holland’s home kit for World Cup 2010), and a half and half diagonal band across the chest.  Again the regional senyera is at the back of the neck. Would be difficult to go wrong with either of these.

Valladolid (Courtesy of Football Headlines)

Home / Away / GK

Hummel took over the design and production of Valladolid kits for the upcoming season. The home uses very thick purple and white stripes, similar to last year’s offering from Kappa, using a white collar instead of purple.  This is a sharp kit and I really like it due to the different color scheme than most teams. The away kit touches a nerve for me, expanding on the Purple Reign Pain offerings from Nike last year for Porto and Arsenal.  I can’t tell if I like the white trim and accents.  This one may grow on me though. I really wish the goalkeeping shirt was the third shirt because it uses a nice royal blue with white and black accents that really take a plain jersey and make it stand out.  Would have gone with white or matching blue socks rather than the black though.

Villarreal (Courtesy of Football Kit News)

Home / Away

Villarreal Kit 2013 14

The Yellow Submarine return to the top flight and also celebrating their 90th anniversary.  The kits are made by Chinese company Xtep, another company I am not familiar with, and no chances are taken.  The home strip is the standard all yellow with a big collar and some sort of sublmation across the chest.  The away kit uses royal blue from head to toe and looks sharp.  The goalkeeping kits are fine, with green and gray being used.  Hopefully Villarreal can consolidate their place, move up the table and possibly move on to a bigger manufacturer.