Football clubs are enthusiastic about their jerseys because there is a big market for football jerseys. Also, they are recognized by the colors of their kits. Footballers across the globe buy replica kits of the clubs they support. Similarly, audiences can be seen in the colors of the clubs they stand for during tournaments.
What Is A Football Kit?
It is a uniform made of a shirt and shorts. Every football club has its kit and the clubs take their kits seriously. When it comes to choosing a kit, clubs even become superstitious. They choose the colors they believe will bring good luck to them. Football clubs keep three sets of kits – Home, Away Colors, and Third Colors.
Home Kit: It is the traditional kit used by a football club in all matches. It can also be called the first kit of a club.
Away Kit: It is the second kit kept for optional use like during international tournaments. The away kit helps in quick recognition.
Third Kit: A third kit is also kept for the time when the kits of the two clubs look similar. In this situation, the clubs can use their third colors to avoid confusion.
A kit shows the true colors of a football club. Also, the kit gives information about the kit manufacturer and team sponsor. Also, football clubs keep changing the colors of their kits to attract audiences.
Let’s see the true colors of the most popular football clubs
1. Manchester United FC (England)
A breakthrough season for @AGarnacho7 💫#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) June 9, 2023
Founded: 1878 as Newton Heath LYR F.C.; 24 April 1902 as Manchester United F.C.
League: Premier League
Newton Heath started with red-and-white quartered jerseys and navy blue knickerbockers but changed to red shirts, white shorts, and black socks in 1902 after becoming Manchester United FC. But it returned to the original red dress after receiving the lowest every club ranking in 1934.
2. Manchester City F.C. (England)
Manchester City are Premier League champions! 🏆 #mcfc pic.twitter.com/tGdqVJ7o4f
— Manchester City News (@ManCityMEN) May 20, 2023
Founded: 1880 as St. Mark’s (West Gorton); 1887 as Ardwick Association F.C.; 16 April 1894 as Manchester City F.C
League: Premier League
The club uses a combination of sky blue and white colors for its home kit and maroon or red and black for its away kit. But recently the club has started using red and black colors for its away kit. It seems that the club takes its inspiration from other clubs. It gets its kits from Puma.
3. Arsenal F.C. (England)
Mikel Arteta has 17 untouchables at Arsenal as Edu faces transfer clearout 🔴#AFChttps://t.co/7zJPCp5F5U
— Arsenal FC News (@ArsenalFC_fl) June 9, 2023
Founded: October 1886
League: Premier League
Arsenal players have donned red shirts throughout the history of the club. Their original dress was a bright red shirt with white sleeves and white shorts. It kept refreshing its home kit but never changed the colors. It still uses a red shirt but with a broad white stripe instead of white sleeves. For the away kit, Arsenal uses a yellow and blue combination. Presently Arsenal is getting its kits from Adidas.
4. Liverpool FC (England)
#WelcomeWijnaldum to #LFC! https://t.co/1ftXxuNeSQ pic.twitter.com/GgnU0vmOVl
— Liverpool FC Retail (@LFCRetail) July 22, 2016
Founded: 3 June 1892
League: Premiere League
Liverpool FC started with a blue and white quartered shirt but switched to the all-red color of Liverpool City in 1896. The club continued with red shirts and white shorts until 1964 when it adopted an all-red strip. The away kit has been using a grey kit since 2008. Nike is the official supplier of its kits.
5. Juventus F.C. (Italy)
Soon to be wearing ⚪️⚫🟡️ pic.twitter.com/RlZ6JxGpMI
— Juventus Women (@JuventusFCWomen) June 7, 2023
Founded: 1 November 1897
League: Serie A
Juventus loves the black and white combination so much that it kept refreshing this combination for its home kit. Juventus players donned black and white striped shirts with white shorts but sometimes switched to black shorts. The club considers this color combination to be aggressive and powerful.
6. FC Barcelona (Spain)
🥹 𝐔𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐨 ‘𝐌𝐞́𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐮𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛’
— FC Barcelona – Masia (@FCBmasia) June 9, 2023
👏El Alevín A del FC Barcelona regaló la Copa de Campeón a uno de los futbolistas que se lesionó del equipo amfitrión del Torneo en la disputa del VII Calasparra Cup
📋Más detalles 👇https://t.co/ohpcmDqpBS
Founded: 29 November 1899
League: La Liga
FC Barcelona began with blue and garnet colors in 1899 and used it until 1910 when it changed the kit for the first time. Today it uses a crest-inspired shirt and halved shots in red and blue for the home kit. But the away and third kits are available in rich colors. Nike is the official manufacturer and supplier of its kits.
7. Bayern Munich (Germany)
🏆 𝐅𝐂 𝐁𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐/𝟐𝟑 𝐁𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒! 🏆#MiaSanMeister pic.twitter.com/ku4vR9NuFH
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) May 27, 2023
Founded: 27 February 1900
League: Bundesliga
The constitution of Bayern Munich mentions white and blue as its colors but its home kit was made of white shirts and black shorts until 1905. Since 2000 its home kit is an all-red with white trim. Similarly, it refreshed its away kit several times like an all-navy blue international kit. Adidas is the official supplier of the club.
8. Real Madrid FC (Spain)
🎂 2️⃣8️⃣ 🎂
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) June 8, 2023
🥳🎁 HAPPY BIRTHDAY @Ferland_Mendy!#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/o9tWFSoex1
Founded: 6 March 1902
League: La Liga
Real Madrid is recognized for its white kit that the club has maintained throughout its history except for one season when the club changed its kit at the behest of its president Juan Padros. But soon it returned to its original white color. Its present kit is manufactured by Adidas and sponsored by Emirates.
9. Chelsea F.C. (England)
Mauricio Pochettino can do it for just £200m #CFC 🔥https://t.co/e9Q6pJ348l
— Chelsea FC News (@Chelsea_FL) June 9, 2023
Founded: 10 March 1905
League: Premier League
Chelsea adhered to blue shirts since its beginning but kept refreshing the blue color as it switched to royal blue in 1912 and blue shorts and white socks in 1960. But the socks were changed to blue in 1992. Similarly, its away colors have always been all yellow or all white with blue trim.
10. Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (France)
👕 Worn jerseys from #PSGCF63 are now available here ⤵️@MatchWornShirthttps://t.co/vYUEncgMVz pic.twitter.com/Tfrmliv5Gc
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) June 8, 2023
Founded: 12 August 1970
League: Ligue 1
The club adopted red with blue and white details for its home kit and kept this kit for three decades. It took red and blue from Paris and white from Saing-Germain. In 1973, French fashion designer Daniel Hechter became the club’s president and designed the iconic blue shirt with a red vertical strip flanked by two white strips.
Conclusion
Top football clubs want to showcase their true colors with their kits but the real objective behind refreshing kits is branding. They want to look fresh and attract as many fans as they can. They want people to buy their kits to make a profit and increase their acceptability. Whenever they have an opportunity like celebrating special days or playing friendly matches, they don new kits.
