If it seems like only yesterday that football was on the TV, you're right: the biggest Women's World Cup in history is in full swing. In between the games, however, we've seen the gradual release of this season's Premier League kits. While many would argue that it's purely an annual, cynical way to take more money from each club's dedicated supporters, shirt design has become an industry in itself – a few shirts each year break away from the sports world and enter the public consciousness, becoming a conduit for your favourite left-back to accidentally transform into a street-style icon.
When taking the shirt designs into account, sponsors can make or break a great shirt, doubly so if it's a gambling sponsor. The Government (and therefore Premier League) is snuffing out the use of gambling brands as front-of-shirt sponsors by 2025, in the light of research that shows the severe and growing effects of gambling addiction. With that in mind, the below ratings have been given a gambling tax, sending any remaining gambling sponsors to the bottom of the list. Amazingly, this hasn't actually changed some of the shirt rankings, but has drastically lowered the position of a couple (we're looking at you, Bournemouth and Everton).
20. West Ham United
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This is a rare instance where the template should've been left alone. The claret and blue looks the part (even if it seems a little more like Burnley than West Ham), but the sponsor is huge, and the JD Sports sleeve label is as big as the club crest. The main issue, however, is the collection of brackets meant to resemble West Ham's famous bubbles (in the air). The bubble effect is a fun idea, but also looks like it was initially worked on as a GCSE design project. Funky shirt decorations aren't anything new, and we appreciate West Ham trying to hark back to their roots, but while decals are something that work in Serie A, they're the Premier League equivalent of a non-League centreback wearing orange Nike Phantoms.
West Ham are offering the shirt without the gambling sponsor, which earns some Brownie points, but even that gesture can't save the shirt from relegation.
West Ham fan Kevin Fay says: “The designers at Umbro must have channelled all their efforts into West Ham's sublime away kit this year when you consider the home kit looks better suited to the kid's pyjama section of the club shop, with cartoon-esque bubbles dotted sporadically around and looking very much like an afterthought.”
19. Brentford
Brentford's new home shirt has a bit of everything. Thick stripes? Check. Gradient? Check. Sudden black on half the sleeves? You better believe it. It all comes together to make the shirt a little confused about what it is, and what it wants to be. On the plus side, Brentford have committed to wearing the same shirt for the next two seasons, bucking the annual slight-design-adjustment-that'll-be-80-quid-please behaviour of most clubs. On the downside, it means their poetically-unfortunate shirt sponsor will continue to be article and social media fodder for two full seasons.
18. Aston Villa
Villa have suffered from the gambling tax more than most. An otherwise super smart kit – with the new badge looking at home already – has been ruined by a deal with online casino BK8. You remember them: the ones that sponsored Norwich until a series of weirdly sexually provocative adverts were found by fans and the East Anglians pulled the plug. Apparently what was Norwich's loss was Villa's gain… we imagine the 2025 ban can't come quickly enough for the Holte End.
Aston Villa fan Reuben James says: “I'm loving the vibe of the new Villa home kit. I’m feeling the textured print – it’s giving me a throwback to the ‘92 home shirt, and ’96 too. I personally prefer the more retro-type kits, so I'm not crazy about the v-neck, but overall it’s quite stylish and one of the nicest ones we’ve had in a while.”
17. Burnley
While West Ham's shirt is a Burnley shirt, this season's Burnley shirt is an Aston Villa shirt. Besides the slight design confusion, it's a nice enough kit and the collar is lovely touch. It looks good in action, too, which is never a certainty; it's just not pulling up any trees.
Burnley fan Jordan North says: “Last season's kit was probably one of my favourites of recent years so it was always going to be hard to top it but I love that the club have gone for something completely different for our return to the Prem. The home top is a classic polo that you don’t really see anymore (I’d love to see one of our players do the ‘Cantona’ and flick the collar up). The yellow away kit is decent too, I especially like the claret brush effect down the side of the shirt. Overall I’m really happy with this season's kit, hopefully we can see us win plenty of games in it!”
16. Fulham
Fulham's Adidas effort is smart, even with the indecipherable gambling sponsor (they've wisely decided to put the logo in black). The buttoned-up collar is a lovely touch and fits with the “London's Original Football Club” vibe, but it's the different coloured stripes on each shoulder that elevate the shirt from run-of-the-mill to something slightly more interesting. Aleksandar Mitrović would look right at home in it if he hadn't decided he's never going to play for the club again. Swings and roundabouts at Craven Cottage.
15. Everton
We're suckers for Hummel and their characteristic chevrons, and the design on the collar and sleeves is superb as an ode to Goodison Park architect Archibold Leitch's criss-cross trademark. Even the ludicrous mixed-font sponsor wouldn't have budged this from the European spots had it not been for the gambling tax. That being said, we have high hopes for the Everton x Hummel partnership in the next few years.
14. AFC Bournemouth
Bournemouth and Umbro have played a blinder with this season's home shirt. Bournemouth benefit from having a striped colour combo you don't see that often in football, and they've used it to good effect for 2023. The yellow on the sponsor knocks it down a couple of places, unfortunately, but it still manages to hold its own among the shirt big boys.
13. Chelsea
Chelsea are lucky boys not to have a gambling sponsor, as they'd have been pretty low on the list otherwise. Fresh off a season of amortisation and mid-table mediocrity, Chelsea have gone conceptual for their new home kit, hoping that some fluorescence will help the players feel a bit more like performing. Unfortunately, shiny doesn't immediately equal good. Perhaps we're being a tad harsh, as the sponsor might help things, but as it is, the template shirt that's meant to be a nineties Chelsea throwback has missed the mark. We'll stick to our Tamagotchis.
12. Nottingham Forest
Yes, everyone knows that Garibaldi red is a nice shade. And yes, it's what shirt Twitter/X and a collection of press releases would probably call ‘clean’. But the shirt itself, when you actually look at it, is just a bit… boring. It's entirely inoffensive, and will look good on the pitch and in the stands, but it's not the sort of shirt that will be looked back on in ten years with dewy-eyed romanticism, especially as the kit it's inspired by (read: copied) is one of Forest's most famous.
Forest fan Andrew Saxton says: “Face it, the Forest home shirt is a thing of pure, understated beauty. That Garibaldi red will grace pitches across the Premier League this season – being sponsorless makes it all the cooler and more satisfying.”
11. Wolverhampton Wanderers
We don't know when the decision was made to change the colour of the Wolves home shirt from Old Gold to the current slightly insipid orange, but we do know they should change it back immediately. Castore have upped their game recently, and this kit isn't bad at all – the collar and sleeve accents are a canny addition. We just wish the powers that be at Molineux would think of Steve Bull and revitalise the Old Gold of yore.
10. Tottenham Hotspur
For the first time in a decade, Spurs will be playing in all-lillywhite this season. We say “all”: the lines and swirls on the kit are apparently an homage to the area's broadcasting history (nearby Alexandra Palace produced the first public TV broadcasts). We're tired of saying it, but they need to work out some sort of agreement with sponsors AIA to swap out the red. We can hear the chuckles from Highbury Square now.
9. Brighton & Hove Albion
There's something about the Brighton home shirt for 23/24. It's cheerful, charming and they've almost managed to match the American Express blue to the traditional Brighton shade. In a world of ‘AIA red’, that's not a given.
8. Crystal Palace
We like Crystal Palace, which is why we're choosing to see the palace design on the shirt as an endearing tribute rather than a naff-adjacent concept. The half-and-half design does whisper Ted Lasso, but it's certainly recognisable, and the sponsor is nicely balanced.
7. Newcastle United
Newcastle United have finally got rid of Fun88 as their front-of-shirt sponsor, replacing them with PIF-owned real estate and events company Sela. Castore's striped accents do the job in a similar way to the Wolves kit, and the designers have realised that sometimes, you don't need to mess with a good thing. It's a solid Europa Conference League finish for the Toon.
6. Liverpool
You might be wondering how we could place Forest so low and Liverpool with their sights on Europe. Our answer is the white at the end of the sleeves (another ode to the past, of course). It avoids the label of ‘school sports day t-shirt’ by a whisker, thanks to the Liverpool crest – but it's a close call.
Liverpool fan Mike Christensen says: “Clean as. The white detailing is halo-like around the neck and biceps and I'm big into the cormorant to chest proportions – our trusty liver bird ready to be passionately caressed when Díaz, Salah, Mac Allister, Núñez, Gakpo and Jota bang in a million goals this season. One thing I'm not down with though, is the whole shirt tucking into trouser situation.”
5. Sheffield United
Slowly but surely, Erreà has been putting together an interesting collection of partner clubs, from Como and Parma to FK Sarajevo and ADO Den Haag. Premier League new boys (again) Sheffield United have been with the Italian manufacturer for only a season, and despite some initial production issues – the first kit was only available once the ’22/’23 season had already begun – the more bespoke designs were appreciated by the fanbase. It's the same this time around, the thicker red and white stripes synonymous with the late-1990s United of Jan Åge Fjørtoft and second-stint Brian Deane. It's a strong look, especially with the stripes continuing down the back – Blades everywhere will be hoping their squad feels as strong by the end of the transfer window…
4. Manchester City
Let's be honest, we wouldn't want to anger Erling Haaland by criticising his top, but the shirt is a solid European effort regardless. This year's penchant for stripy v-necks continues here, and it fits well with the subtle graphic stripes on the shirt itself. These are apparently a reference to the top of the City of Manchester Stadium, which is celebrating 20 years of hosting last season's treble winners. To put that into perspective, the Premier League's resident fun footballer Jack Grealish was seven years old.
3. Luton Town
It's refreshing to see Luton in the top flight after so long away, and doubly so to see their punchy home colours. The design harks back to a fan favourite kit, during a particularly successful time for the club, but has been updated with a subtle gradient along the white stripe.
Luton fan Faye Carruthers says: “I absolutely love our new kit – it's a new era for the Hatters but this reflects back to the days we were a regular in the top flight before it became the Premier League. It's a modern-day version of our ’74/’75 orange home shirt with the white stripe on one side and navy collar and has gone down a storm.”
2. Manchester United
Manchester United fans haven't been used to seeing them above their noisy neighbours in recent years, but in this year's shirt standings, there's a comfortable gap. Geometric Lancashire Roses cover the top, the badge is big and bold, and the black accents (including the Adidas stripes) feel very United. Ten Hag has his team moving in the right direction, so we might see this shirt on a podium come the end of the season (although the League Cup Final is a bit earlier, isn't it?).
Manchester United fan Musa Okwonga says: “I'm a big fan of the richness of the red in this home shirt, and the bold logo. I'm not so sure about the rose-shaped patterns, but they’ll probably look great when the players are in full flight.”
1. Arsenal
Arsenal's 23/24 home shirt marks 20 years since their famous band of Invincibles, when the Gunners won the league without losing a single match. They say that's why there's a gold trim on the kit, but after coming so close to winning the league last year, the gold now looks a little premature. However, the shirt is a stunner, the best this year – and if they win the title in it, the off-season jibes from rivals will have all been worth it. The Premier League kits champions-elect.
Arsenal fan Jack King says: “A far cry from the repellent radioactivity of their miskicked away garb, Arsenal's new home shirt dials up the class for a retro strip recalling the Invincibles — with chic gold stripe accenting to boot. A winner's shirt, through and through.”
