New Jerseys for Middlesbrough

Here's a look at Middlesbrough's new jerseys for the 2007-2008 Premier League campaign. The club has replaced former sponsor 888.com with Garmin, a satellite navigation company based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Middlesbrough's new logo is featured prominently, which is a refreshing change from the uniforms that splash the sponsor's name in huge lettering across the jersey and leave little room for the club's crest to show. I like both jerseys a lot; maybe a bit plain for my taste, but overall, two nice jerseys. They should be available for purchase around the middle of August.
Jersey designer: Errea

•Image courtesy of footballshirts.co.uk

New Uniforms Galore

We'll start off with a team on the South Coast, Portsmouth. Their new home jersey looks very similar to last year's edition; the only real addition to this jersey is the presence of gold/yellow as an accent color, replacing white (though white can still be found around the collar). White shorts and red socks finish off the home kit and all-in-all, it's a classy, more modern kit that still reflects some of the club's history.
Jersey designer: Canterbury


Blackburn Rovers will also be debuting a new home jersey this fall. The club had already released a home jersey manufactured by Lonsdale which was supposed to be their new jersey for this year as voted on by fans, but they've scrapped those plans and signed a contract with Umbro instead. Once again, one large blue stripe and one large white stripe are the focal points of this jersey. A bit of red can be found near the neck as well. In my opinion, this is one of the uglier jerseys I've seen. Blackburn shouldn't be credited for flip-flopping manufacturers; they had a deal with Lonsdale and had already come out with a jersey, it should've been honored.
Jersey designer: Umbro


I have mixed feelings towards Derby County's new home shirt. On one hand, it's tight, slim, and not ruined by a sponsor who wants their logo blown up across the front. On the other hand, it's a bit plain and almost resembles white Under Armour. The shorts are all black, and the away uniform will be what you see here in reverse (black shirt, white shorts). Adidas wasn't very creative when they came up with these uniforms, to say the least.
Jersey designer: Adidas


And to finish up, here's a look at Charlton Athletic's new away jersey, which will replace their black away jersey from last year (that black jersey now becomes their third jersey). It goes on sale beginning July 18, but honestly, why would people it? The stripes are clashing with each other ("seahawk blue" and "denim" are not a good combination) and there's no red anywhere in the jersey, which is Charlton's traditional color. Puzzling choice of colors, to say the least.
Jersey designer: Joma


Images courtesy of http://www.football-shirts.co.uk

New Away Jersey for Everton

Though it will be officially launched on July 12, Everton has released an image of theiy 2007-2008 away shirt on the club's official website. I'm not sure where the inspiration for this jersey came from; for a club that is visually separated from its Merseyside neighbors Liverpool by the blue in their uniform, I see nothing on their jersey that would make me think "Everton" immediately. Particularly when you take a look at their new home jersey (which can be found at the bottom of this site's homepage), this one doesn't seem to make any sense. The sponsor's logo is green and the accent color is black! No blue whatsoever can be found on this jersey.

Memo to the marketing/business staff of Everton: Next time you come out with a new jersey, at least put your club's traditional color on it somewhere!

Jersey designer: Umbro

New Jerseys for West Ham and Chelsea

West Ham have released images of their new home jersey, which, according to the club's official website, is "exclusively available online and in store. New shirt. New beginning." It is available through pre-order and will be officially ready for purchase beginning June 16. It's not much of a change from last year's edition; the jersey designer is now Umbro instead of Reebok, but the colors remain the same. In addition, the home shorts are white with a bit of claret and blue at the bottom, and the socks are white with claret trim. All-in-all, I like this new uniform, my only complaint lies in the size of the sponsor's logo on the shirt. The full away kit is scheduled to be unveiled July 26.

Jersey designer-Umbro

I wish I could say I liked Chelsea's new away shirt, modeled here by John Terry, Didier Drogba, and Michael Ballack, but that would be a horrendous lie. The only thing it has going for itself is the fact that it's unique, but this is more of a testament to the wise judgement of other clubs who understand that fluoresecent yellow makes little sense for a soccer jersey. Fans may purchase it for the novelty and from that perspective, the jersey could be successful but if I played for Chelsea, I think I would request a transfer simply so I didn't have to wear this day-glo yellow away from Stamford Bridge. Last year's away jersey was a nice, conservative white and blue which simply reversed the colors from their home jersey. If Chelsea intend to make a statement, this is it, although I don't know if it's the right one. This jersey will make its match debut July 17 when Chelsea come to the Home Depot Center in suburban Los Angeles to play a friendly against the LA Galaxy. The match is expected to be sold out as is it scheduled to be David Beckham's MLS debut, though with all these rumors flying around that have him staying in Europe, you never know. Preorders are set to be delivered June 28. Here is Chelsea's official press release explaining why this jersey, but one word can sum it up: Bull----

http://www.chelseamegastoreusa.com/chelsea_away07.tem

Jersey designer-Adidas

New Away Uniform for Arsenal

Arsenal's new 2007-2008 away uniform has been released (though not for public purchase yet) and it is an extremely classy tribute celebrating the contributions of their legendary manager, Herbert Chapman. It will be launched on July 5 and is available for pre-order directly on the club's official website (http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=464540). Now that Arsene Wenger has pledged to see his contract through, Arsenal have every reason to hope for a promising season and have an away uniform to reflect it.
Jersey designer-Nike

New Jerseys for 2007-2008

Several teams have made changes to their uniforms for the upcoming Premiership and Football League season. Here, we'll take a brief glance at some new jerseys and I'll offer my opinions; yours are always welcome as well.

Some teams have scheduled their uniform release date for later on in the summer, though all of these dates are subject to change by the team:
Arsenal (July 7-home, August 7-away)
Chelsea (July 7-away, August 7-third)
Everton (July 12-away, September 6-third)
Liverpool (July 20-"European change")
Manchester City (August 7-away)
Manchester United (July 7-home, August 7-away)
Wigan (June 14-home, August 2-away, September 6-third)
Dates courtesy of: eplleague.blogspot.com

Blackburn Rovers unveiled two new jerseys for next season around the beginning of May. They were apparently voted on by the club's fans (I'd like to know why fans would vote for that away jersey, but I digress). The solid red away Blackburn wore last year was much more conservative, but the home jersey looks very similar. The 2007-2008 editions are a bit curvier and remind me of the jerseys which Adidas makes for the MLS teams, though Lonsdale is Blackburn's manufacturer again for next season.
Jersey designer-Lonsdale

Newcastle have released a new home jersey which they will wear up through 2009. It also looks fairly similar to last year's jersey; black and white stripes are the focal point. This is a very sleek-looking jersey, and Newcastle are marking the new era under Sam Allardyce in style.
Jersey designer-Adidas


The runners-up in the Championship intend to show up well-dressed when they make their return to the Premiership next season. Birmingham City will march into St. Andrews with a new home jersey, and hopefully for them, Steve Bruce (aka Jay Leno) will be able to solidify that club as a Premiership team to stay.
This jersey is not bad looking, but I would've liked to see a bit more blue in the middle and less white.
Jersey designer-Umbro

Liverpool's new black third jersey, worn here by John Arne Riise, is my personal favorite of all the new jerseys that have been released. I like this jersey far more than I liked the yellow one Liverpool wore this season during some away Premiership and away Champions League games, don't you agree? Adidas is also running a new campaign (http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/liverpool/content/liverpool.asp?adidas_cc=com&lfcprmid=18448104ool.asp?adidas_cc=com&lfcprmid=18448104)) that has a countdown clock which will supposedly reveal Liverpool's new away jersey on May 30, however, it's widely rumored that this jersey is white with red trim and images of it have already been leaked. Steven Gerrard is pictured modeling it to the right in fact. Well-kept secret, huh?

Jersey designers-Adidas

New Jerseys for 2007-2008 (Continued)

As noted at eplleague.blogspot.com today (May 26), the champions of the Championship, Sunderland, have released their latest away jersey. The club's logo is found at the upper right of the picture (the model's upper left), and the jersey keeps with Sunderland's traditional colors, as it should.

Jersey designer-Umbro



Manchester City unveiled their new home jersey about two weeks ago (May 14). Again, the team's logo is prominently displayed though the ThomasCook.com is a bit too large and takes away from the overall aesthetics of the shirt. New York Yankees-style pinstripes are included as well, which is a nice touch. Manchester City have a classy new home jersey for next season, but can they manage to score more than 10 goals in it? We'll see.

Jersey designer-Le Coq Sportif

Everton introduced their new home jersey on the team's official website on May 3. This jersey is a bit more traditional than the two mentioned above in terms of its similarities to last year's edition, but a hint of yellow around the collar is something the club did not have on their home jerseys for the '06-'07 season. It also appears to be a darker shade of blue; and the reason for this change is unclear. All the logos (Umbro, Chang, and Everton's) are located in the same place, and this jersey is not a dramatic change from last year's.

Jersey designer-Umbro

Tottenham unleashed their own version of the rainbow on May 12, with four new jerseys scheduled to debut in 2007: White (home), Yellow (away, and hideous), Dark Blue (third jersey), and Half-White, Half-Light Blue (125th anniversary shirt). Are four jerseys really necessary? There is most likely a color which every fan likes, but four jerseys seems a bit much.

Jersey designer-Puma