It's nearly here!
The Premier League season is just around the corner, and that can only mean one thing...new kits!
Having already ranked every kit in the Championship, we asked esteemed kit expert, and most fashionable member of the sports desk, Tom Coleman, to cast his eye over what the Premier League has to offer.
So, let's get into it.
20. Nottingham Forest
Strong 'that'll do' feel to these, which is a shame as they both look like they have potential.
I like the sleeve designs, but other than that there's not a lot going on here. Not too sure why, after such a long absence from the Premier League, Forest haven't gone for it a bit more.
As things stand, there's no shirt sponsor, after Forest reportedly rejected a 'multi-million pound' deal from previous sponsor BOXT. As something of a traditionalist, I should like the absence of a sponsor, but somehow I don't.
Whether they'll get someone on board later on down the line remains to be seen. Hopefully it won't be a company with a ridiculous cartoon devil as their logo....
19. Tottenham
Another snooze-fest.
The home shirt is pretty much exactly the same as last year's effort, but with a new collar and trim on the sleeve.
Oh, and it costs £75 for some reason. I personally can't imagine loving Spurs enough to give this one the time of day, and I'm pretty sure it will have already been forgotten by this time next year.
Quite why they've used a wetsuit as the inspiration for their abominable away kit is also beyond me.
18. Brighton
The fact it was seen being worn by FatBoySlim shortly before it was actually released is just about the only remotely interesting point about this home kit.
The away kit isn't really anything special, either. But I can just about see why some fans might quite like it. Orange might well be suited to a festival or two, or maybe a holiday in the sun.
Convinced the third shirt is an old goalkeeping top, which merely adds to the sense of laziness here.
17. Wolves
Not sure what's going on here.
It's like Castore ran out of football tops and decided to dip into their stock of cricket shirts instead.
Pretty sure I've seen AstroPay's name crop up during a test series somewhere.
Already wondering if they come with a matching cap and jumper. Actually, to be fair, if it did, it might bump them up the rankings a little.
16. Liverpool
Right. I'm starting to lose patience here. Another home shirt that clearly took all of five minutes to draw up.
There's nothing all that offensive, but it's just far too safe. Certainly not befitting of Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal football', anyway.
Indeed, it's about as edgy as your friend's middle-aged mum, who tells you she likes Maroon Five and expects you to somehow be impressed at how 'down with the kids' she is.
The away shirt, meanwhile, looks like a petrol station puddle.
15. Chelsea
I'm starting to worry for the folks at Nike.
I know times are hard, but surely their pockets are deep enough to hire some decent shirt designers.
Coming in at an eye-watering £75, this effort is dripping with mediocrity, and anyone who shells out for it in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis must love Chelsea more than they love themselves. Or heating. Or food.
14. Aston Villa
The home shirt is quite smart. A simple, crisp design that's reasonably pleasing on the eye, although in terms of style there's nothing too daring here.
I really like the away kit. The woven pinstripes give it a nice retro feel, although again it feels dangerously close to being a cricket shirt.
13. Newcastle United
The Toon have had some iconic kits over the years. The claret and blue hoops of the 90s, the superb home shirt from 98 with the black shield motif on the back. Even their yellow away kit from the 2009 Championship season has become the stuff of legend.
But they've lost their way in recent years. The home shirt is admittedly better than last year, which looked like it had a massive four in the middle of it (seriously, go look at it. What's up with that?).
The away shirt is fine too. Gold trim always works quite nicely with any kind of dark colour, but it's not as good as the black effort from last year, which was one of the better shirts they've had in recent years.
The third shirt has already caused a stir given many believe it be a less than subtle nod to the club's new Saudi overlords, which is unfair as any reasonable individual can see it's actually a hat tip to the well-known 1999/00 away kit. Maybe.
12. Leeds
A reasonable albeit pretty simple effort. The flash of yellow on the sponsor makes it fit in nicely with the rest of the shirt, which I quite like.
It's all quite solid, but I'm not sure there's not enough here for a higher ranking.
11. Fulham
Fulham's home kit designer: "Can I copy your homework?"
Leeds: "Yeah just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look obvious you copied."
Fulham: "Ok"
As for the away kit, Fulham claim it's a 'modern interpretation of the brickwork at Craven Cottage', which sounds like total twaddle to me as the brickwork at Craven Cottage is vastly superior to whatever the hell this is.
10. Brentford
The home shirt is the steady hand of this list. The sort of shirt that stays calm under pressure. A shirt you can set your watch to. A shirt that would rather solemnly go down with its ship rather than suffer the indignity of a panicked rush to the lifeboats.
You're probably wondering what's changed from last year. Well, absolutely nothing. That's the point.
Brentford have decided to keep their home kit from last season, which will save their fans a tidy sum, and for that I can't help but give them some respect.
The away shirt is really nice and will also be worn for two consecutive seasons. It features a revamp on the 70s castle badge, which I like, and there's extra points for it being embroidered too.
9. Leicester City
Really like the collar on this one. Adds a nice update on last season's effort.
The 'dynamic fox' logo, made famous by heroes like Gary Lineker and Alan Smith in the 1980s is also a nice touch.
I'm not sure about the gold crest, mind.
8. Everton
Everton brought a healthy dose of banter to the Premier League last season, limping through a campaign that should really have resulted in relegation like a one-legged duck.
Frank Lampard's side have been tipped to struggle again this season, but if they do, at least they'll look reasonably good while doing it.
Anyone who knows me, knows I really like Hummel, and they have produced some really good efforts here. The home kit in particular is very smart, and the Stake.com logo fits in quite nicely.
The away kit won't be everyone's cup of tea, admittedly, but I kind of like it. It's eye-catching and will at least carry a novelty factor in a few years time.
7. West Ham United
Really like these.
The home kit is a nice modern update on the shirt worn between 1991 and 1993, and contains a pleasingly thick blue collar, while the flashes of white and blue on the sleeves keep things nice and interesting.
The away shirt, at first glance, looks quite bland. Black shirts are inexplicably quite popular now, and it's a trend the Hammers have followed this season. However, I do quite like the funky trim on the sleeves.
6. Arsenal
Really like the home shirt. Just all so pleasingly crisp.
The collar is particularly a big hit with me, a nice upgrade on last year's effort, which was ruined by the three stripes on the shoulders inexplicably being navy blue.
Looking forward to Robbie and the boys going into full meltdown wearing it on Arsenal Fan TV after a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Nottingham Forest or something.
The away kit is also very nice. I like the simplified badge and the black and gold colour scheme. Not entirely sure why 'AFC' is upside down on some of it, but I guess I can let that go.
The zesty pink third kit is also nicely done, although I can't say I'd be willing to pay £70 for it. Still, I like the subtle 'ermine' pattern. I'm not sure what 'ermine' is, but apparently it featured on the Arsenal crest of the 1940s.
5. Manchester City
Really like the collar on the home kit, which is a pleasing old-meets-new effort, and a vast improvement on last season's shirt. The maroon trim on this one really lifts the whole design.
The away kit is perfectly fine, but feels a little safer, sticking to the red and black design that's been a regular colour scheme since the 1969 FA Cup-winning side. But the gold trim lifts it all quite nicely.
4. Southampton
Really like the home shirt, which strongly reminds me of the Paris St Germain away kit from 1996.
Meanwhile, the away kit features a "striking pattern of graphic wave structures in numerous blue tones which represents the strength and power of the sea, inspired by the Southampton docks and proximity to the water."
Looks like it should be on the label of a bottle of spiced rum, carrying some weird name like 'Giant Killer Octopus' or something.
In all seriousness, I like the fact they've gone for something different here, and it works really well.
3. Manchester United
When I was a kid, I really, really wanted a pair of those 98 Adidas Predators that David Beckham wore.
You know the ones. They had those weird bumpy things on them, which they fooled us into believing helped with adding extra swazz on your free-kicks. As a naïve, bright-eyed 10-year-old I was powerless to resist such slick marketing. My mum not so much.
Anyway, the pattern on the collar of the home kit really reminds me of that iconic boot, which is probably why this kit ranks so highly. I really like the retro shield-style crest, which is another strong 90s throwback.
Meanwhile, the away kit pays a nod to the shirt torn off and waved in the air by Ryan Giggs after his wonder goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final replay in 1999.
A warm, comforting dose of 90s nostalgia, which is fair enough given that almost everyone on the red half of Manchester will likely be yearning for that era for another few years yet.
2. Bournemouth
I'm in love with the away kit. If Thomas Magnum lived in Bournemouth, he'd almost certainly wear one of these bad boys.
Can just about picture him cruising down the promenade in his Ferrari, righting wrongs on the mean streets of the English Riviera, laughing before the end credits as he takes his seat at Dean Court on a cold Wednesday night after one of his friends tells a joke so obvious your dad would even give it a wide berth. I don't know, I never really watched the show.
Seriously though, the colour scheme and the palm tree design combines to create something really whacky and delightful here.
The home shirt's a lot more conventional, but still a very nice modern take on the traditional black and red stripes.
I can take or leave the black third kit, to be honest.
1. Crystal Palace
I really like this.
Stripes are quite hard to keep fresh and interesting, but Palace have smashed it out of the park with this one.
Haters will no doubt make some gag about how these kits look like they were coloured in by their four-year-old nephew or something, but such comments merely demonstrate a lack of understanding about fashion.
The third kit with the sash is probably the best of the lot, with a wonderful collar and trim on the sleeves that really helps to make everything 'pop' (that's a term we fashionistas use when we think something looks good).
Anyway, all in all, it's a daring approach that more than pays off. Bravo.
READ NEXT
