The Power of Picking the Right and Wrong Design for Away Kits

Every team in world football has their staple home colours. They can add the odd accent and fluctuate between patterns, but the core colours are ever-present. FC Barcelona’s halved shirt was a superb showcase of this. They usually have the burgundy and blue stripes, but in 1998/99, 1999/00, and 2008/09, they turned to a middle divide.

However, each year, clubs get to toy with the colour schemes of their away kits and, if the team’s big enough, a third kit. This is where the kit designers can get really creative, create a novel strip that fans crave, and play with colours that are usually off-limits. However, as we’ll see, designers shouldn’t have complete freedom.

A New Way to Appeal to Fans

Ultimately, the reason why teams change their away and third kits so drastically each season is to generate sales. Home kits change to a lesser degree, but you’ll see a real effort to push sales with the non-home shirts. Even so, the designers have to make the extra purchase worthwhile and, ideally, help the team on the pitch.

Perhaps powering what looks to be a very real run to the title this season, Arsenal came out with two very eye-catching kits to cycle into from their classic red-and-white home strip. The away kit blends blue bolts to create a nostalgic, yet modern look, while the third kit, to mark the Highbury Stadium anniversary, is a masterpiece.

It’s off-white, it’s clean cut, and as the details and inspiration piece on the kit states, it boasts an “Art Deco elegance.” Arsenal’s third kit deserves to be worn next to the trophy. It’s important that it’s off-white and not pure white, like their North London rivals, but the two are a fine example of creating appealing away and third shirts.

Picking the Right Colours for Many Reasons

Designers aren’t just free to go with whatever they want. There’s the clash with rivals on the one hand, and then there’s the camouflage effect. This was most notably showcased in 1995/96 by Manchester United’s grey-fade and red kit. It was worn once, the players said they couldn’t see each other at 3-0 down, and was ditched at half-time.

The colour scheme would be shunned by modern fans anyway. A very industrial aesthetic, it works for other kinds of entertainment, like the Action Bank online slot game that has players looking to break into a bank vault to get the top payouts. Of course, this slot has a very different setting and is a very different product from a football shirt.

You don’t really want the crowds to be teeming with grey, and it’s not exactly a colour that sells or appeals. It’s a neutral-dark tone, with grey being noted as adopted by those who don’t want the item to stand out. That’s the opposite of why fans wear football shirts. Fans want to stand out and be known as part of that fan group.

Thus, you get a lot of the fresh and clean whites, powerful and mysterious blacks, bold and ambitious reds, dependable blues, and even the flashy and happy yellows from time to time. It all comes down to colour psychology, but given the historic nature of particularly British clubs, nostalgia certainly plays a big part, too.

The right away kit design can have a great effect on the club’s finances, while the wrong choices can even end up with the team struggling on the pitch. While only designed to generate cash, at least we get a fair few eye-catching and crafty kits come out each season.