This isn’t our first kit-ranking rodeo… whether it was the Women’s World Cup, or our ventures back in time assessing the best all time AFL retro jumpers, each NRL club’s best ever jersey or each NBA franchise’s best ever look, it’s what we do. So with that in mind, we’ve put together our top five favourite Premier League kits.
Football kit culture has taken on a life of its own in recent years. The rise of sites such as Classic Football Shirts, as well as fashion trends such as ‘bloke core,’ has seen the phenomenon transform from mass-produced, thoughtless products, to art pieces and fashion staples.
Many modern football fans fawn for the kit culture of the 1990s, when kits were kits. Shirts were bulkier, larger fitting, and most importantly, unique. Fiorentina were sponsored by Nintendo and Toyota, Croatia rocked beautiful red and white checker kits. Thick, vibrantly coloured lines cut vertically or horizontally across chests and collars were popped beneath mullet-donning lids.
Clubs became notorious for certain looks. Certain sponsors became affiliated with certain clubs. Generally speaking, kits took on a life of their own. Much like the space race of the 1960s, every manufacturer worked overtime to ensure their design was more eye-catching than their competitors.
In recent years, this mystique and excitement around kits had departed. But, with nostalgia continuing to be one of the hottest commodities in the world – behind only data and oil – many manufacturers sat their design teams down and enforced a modus operandi akin to one their predecessors would’ve been accustomed would have spent hours poring over.
And as a result, the 2023-24 Premier League season is blessed with some immaculate kits, reminiscent of a bygone era where jerseys meant more than just dollar signs. So we’ve ranked our five best home kits of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
Best Premier League home kits: Top 5
5. Brentford & AFC Bournemouth (Umbro)
Joint entrants to round our list, Brentford and Bournemouth’s kits are quite similar given their mutual manufacturer. Like kits of old, both sides’ home kits for the 2023-24 Premier League season feature thick scarlet vertical lines running from collar to waist. Brentford’s red stripes are supported by white, while Bournemouth’s is the polar opposite – black.
4. Chelsea (Nike)
The west London club’s position on the list should be caveated by a simple fact. Chelsea’s 2023-24 Premier League home kit’s place on this list hinges on its lack of major sponsor. It cannot be overstated how much better kits look when there is an absence of a bold, usually betting related, chest sponsor. It’s a beautiful kit, rich in blue, and the multi-coloured detail on the club’s crest is sublime but a sponsor would see it drop down a few places.
3. Liverpool (Nike)
Down the road from Everton, Nike’s production of a simple, classic kit for Liverpool rounds out the podium places in our list. As to be expected, the kit is largely dominated by an un-patterned shade of crimson. But as an art teacher once proclaimed to me: less is more.
This certainly feels the case with Liverpool’s 2023-24 Premier League home kit, as the white detailing around the collar and sleeves perfectly pairs with the crimson, tying together to produce a fine kit for a fine club.
2. Fulham (Adidas)
Another kit, another collar – this time of the grandfather variety. A sea of white will coat players’ and fans’ stomachs and torsos throughout the campaign. And while it may sound simple, don’t be fooled; Fulham’s 2023-24 Premier League home kit is understated and divine.
The key feature of the kit is the single-button grandfather collar at the base of its neck, while Adidas’ trademark three stripes which appear in different colours on the shoulders – red on the right and white on the left – are a brilliant touch.
1. Everton (Hummel)
Everton may be nowhere near the top of the real Premier League table, but when it comes to this season’s home kit the Toffees are peerless. Hummel have nailed the Merseyside club’s home kit for the 2023-24 Premier League season.
A crisp ocean blue dominates the majority of the jersey, punctuated by white detailing along the collar – a throwback to jerseys of old – and sleeves. The criss-cross across the collar’s trim pays homage to Goodison Park’s famous Archibald Leitch pattern. Bravo Hummel and bravo Everton.
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