They often call it ‘silly season’ due to the Raheem Sterling-sized amount of transfer fees that are handed around from club to club, but have you ever realised the term could be applied to football shirts too?
With two-season long football shirts now firmly a thing of the past, seemingly every club up and down the land – Premier League to League Two – employ kit suppliers to produce new templates and designs, to sell on each June and July for a price usually around the £47.99 RRP mark.
Ever felt like you’ve been ripped off? With that topic best saved for another day, everybody is still a football fan and with some irresistible new jersey’s still doing their best to catch our eye, it appears the likes of Puma and Adidas still know how to get inside of our wallets on a basis considered as consistent as Lionel Messi.
Drawing closer and closer to the start of the Premier League campaign, most new kits are now on sale, except Manchester United’s top secret designs on behalf of Adidas that is. With that in mind, here are five of the best new kits this season…
Arsenal Away
When it comes to Arsenal’s home shirt, there’s only so much the manufacturers can tamper with each season, after all it’s a red shirt with white sleeves, and to mess with this would be messing with the Gunners’ tradition.
Thus, much more bold statements can be made via the production of away jerseys and this year, Puma have gotten Arsenal fans all nostalgic, while thinking about that Sylvain Wiltord Premier League winning goal, struck at Old Trafford back in May 2002 – a priceless memory in the club’s history.
Wearing a gold ‘Sega’ jersey on that night in Manchester, Puma have tapped into these fond memories while going for a daring diamond design that is out there, whilst still being subtle enough to be deemed appropriate for a football shirt.
Chelsea Away
The 2015/16 season heralds a new shirt sponsor for Chelsea in Japanese type manufacturer Yokohama, and while witty so and so’s will claim it’s rather apt given the Blues’ bus parking tactics, Adidas have done yet another splendid job with this jersey.
Adidas are often considered the benchmark in football shirt design and this year, Chelsea will look incredibly smart on their travels.
Chelsea seem to enjoy a combination of yellow, black and white for their away kits, and after the loud yellow of last season, their fans will welcome this one with open arms, if only because they don’t glow in the dark.
West Ham Home
West Ham United fans often seem a hard bunch to please at the best of times, but on this rare occasion, it seems as if new kit supplier Umbro have done a fantastic job with the Hammers’ new home jersey.
After all, there was always going to be a certain level of pressure on the English manufacturer, given this shirt is going to be the last to be worn at West Ham’s beloved Boleyn Ground and upon the very first glance, Umbro seem to have nailed the retro feel.
Hammers fans will be glad betWay are now a stable enough partner to not see the Irons adorn stick-over patches part way through the season, with the betting company’s logo not distorting from the rustic look and feel to boot.
Manchester City
Often alternating between navy blue and white to complement their famous sky blue, Manchester City fans are back to a white trim for the 2015/16 season and while this jersey might not blow anybody away, it’s still incredibly smart and easy on the eye.
We’ve seen a lot more of this shirt than most others so far this season, with City having swooped to complete controversial swoops for England international pair Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph, and with the club’s Premier League numbers being printed in navy on the back, the shirt utilises all three colours dear to Citizens’ hearts.
Liverpool Away
Having previously sported some classic looking Adidas kits between 2006 and 2012, Liverpool fans have become used to the cheaper looking Warrior Sports brand in the past couple of seasons. With the American company having seemingly tried their best to turn Liverpool into a laughing stock with some quite ridiculous away and third shirt designs, New Balance’s efforts in 2015/16 are a welcome relief.
Having clearly not sold well, all three of Liverpool’s shirts for this season have far less going on and make the tops that much more visually appealing.
Take the away jersey above. While the Standard Chartered sponsor remains, it looks clean on a pale background, with the kit supplier and Liverpool logo being that much more distinguishable.
