Sky Bet Championship 2016 - 2017
Great British institutions like the armed forces, the Football Association and the Royal Mail have never thought it necessary to add a nationality to their title. It is a legacy of our imperial past that it is taken for granted that the Royal Navy is British, for example, so when William McGregor conceived a round-robin competition for the leading professional clubs of the day, his brainchild was named simply "The Football League." This tradition has been now been consigned to the bin and the competition has been re branded as "The English Football League." The cherry on top is a logo that conveys vapid corporate blandness.
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Contributors are credited in brackets. Opinions expressed on this page are those of HFK and not contributors.
Premier League | Championship | League One | League Two
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Designer: Under Armour
Sponsor: Intuit Quickbooks
Villa were relegated from the Premier League last term and to start life in the second tier they have switched from Macron to Under Armour. The first choice is very smart, devoid of the excessive detailing that detracted from last season's outfit. If the change strip looks familiar it's because it is a re-creation of their 1997-98 change strip.
(George Hartley)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: CK Bennett
Barnsley return to the Championship thanks to a 3-1 win over Millwall in the play-offs. They wore their new strip (with black shorts) in the final so that's a good start. The alternative is a very dark blue with gold trimmings: in fact it is the latest Pitch template but the colour of the panels is almost indistinguishable from the main colour.
(Travis Hogarth-Colby, Mark Littlewood, Antony Shaw, Graham Siddons)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 888 Sport
Last season's anniversary kits were always going to be hard to follow but it is particularly disappointing that the Blues have settled for a contract with Adidas and are now to turn out in a bog standard template. The contract was signed late in the day and there was no time for any bespoke tweaking (that would be a fine name for a band!). I must admit all blue does look quite smart with the latest three-strip trim and it seems to have gone down well with supporters. In the club's online shop the alternative appears to be an attractive shade of deep red, not unlike the shade of claret worn by another well-known team from the city, but it is in fact bright red.
(Robin Horton, Harry Meadows, @bcfcarchive)
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Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: Dafabet
It's very pleasing to see Umbro equipping Rovers once again: this was one of the contracts swept up by Nike a few years ago when the multi-national stripped Umbro's assets before selling the company off. Here we have a recreation of the classic 1980s shirt with a red v neck along with a dark navy outfit with an attractive blue and white flash on the shirt.
(Alexander Leiberich, Diamond One, @Joel Campbae, Roger Whiteside)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 888 Sport
The Bees latest shirts feature just two broad red stripes (which continue on to the back). The change kit, which may be worn with the "home" shorts and socks, is black and grey so a third kit will be needed at Newcastle. Last season's blue strip has been retained for this purpose.
(Eddie Hutchinson, Nick Bruzon)
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Designer: Nike
Sponsor: American Express
Albion's change strip is Nike's Challenge design in black with bright yellow trimmings. The first strip is updated but you need to look hard to see any difference with the previous version. The colours of the stripes are now reversed and continue onto the sleeves while a stripe is added to the side of the shorts.
(Phil Swain, Luke Conboy)
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Designer: Bristol Sport
Sponsor: Lancer Scott
The Robins have once again looked to the past for inspiration and opted for an all-red strip which was first worn in the 1960s. Much is made of the fact that the shirt carries two hash tags, #MakingBristolProud and #BristolCity in the launch. Unfortunately these fell foul of the Football League's rules and had to be removed from match shirts, which is just as well judging by the hostile reaction of supporters.
The gold change shirt is also worn by Bristol Rugby, who share the modernised Ashton Gate with the Robins and both were launched together.
(Travis Hogarth-Colby, Euan Slatter, Mark Leech)
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Designer: Tag
Sponsor: Tempobet
Successive promotions have taken Burton from League Two to the Championship for the first time, a considerable achievement for this modest club. Their new strips are in the same template and, by recent standards are restrained but still distinctive.
(Mark Mosedale, Dan Bower)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Malaysia
The new first strip may be a bit dull but it is at least blue. Red is again worn as an alternative and, not for the first time, is in a different template to the "home" version.
(Isaac Hooper, David King)
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Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: Just Eat
There is just a bit too much black trim on the new first shirt for my liking but I do like the change strip very much. It's in "Galaxy Blue" (a made-up colour if I ever heard one) with a motion-blur across the upper chest. The third kit is "marine" and black.
(Travis Hogarth-Colby, Alexander Leiberich)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Visit Florida
The graded band on Fulham's new shirts is a motif that first appeared on Northern Ireland's tops introduced for the Euros. The yellow and grey change strip is kept as a third strip.
(Jon Grossman, Juraj Gudába, Ryan Dalton)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Pure Legal Ltd (1st), Radian B (2nd), Covonia (3rd)
Huddersfield have managed to get hold of an unconventional Puma shirt that has stripes that curve away from the collar to meet the shoulder trim. The light blue favoured last season is dropped for a more traditional shade. Altogether this one is likely to be a hit with supporters. The change strip is again in acid yellow and black, a reference to coach Wagner's previous club, Borussia Dortmund. The third kit celebrates England's World Cup victory 50 years ago. Of course that team didn't advertise cough mixture on their shirts but the inclusion of Ray Wilson's signature below the crest is a nice touch. Wilson played at left-back in 1966 and started his career at Huddersfield.
(Roger Pashby)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Marcus Evans
The contrasting white sleeves on the new Ipswich first kit look attractive as does the graded chevron on the chest. A simple all-white outfit serves as the alternative. Last season's rarely used "Barcelona" strip is now third choice but with burgundy shorts and socks instead of navy.
(Kieran Bleasby, Rob Freeman)
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Designer: Kappa
Sponsor: 32Red
The popular yellow change strip worn last season is retained as third choice and a blue change strip is introduced. The club have signed a three-year sponsorship deal with an online gambling company. The new first kit has fine piping in blue and yellow on the shirts and shorts.
(Martin Hart, Richard Meir, Murray Croll, Matthew Wharmby)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Wonga
It's hard to conceive of how Mike Ashley's reputation on Tyneside could get any worse following the team's relegation last season. At least their new first strip is more presentable. The change strip is in navy and amber with what the children who write the club's marketing releases are pleased to describe as "a very remarkable stripe on the front." The choice of a white third strip for a team that usually plays in black and white shirts is clearly driven by a desire to capitalise on revenue from replica sales rather than anything else.
(Jonathan Leiberich, Diamond One)
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Designer: Errea
Sponsor: Aviva Community Fund
It's getting hard to keep track of which division Norwich are playing in. They are back in the Championship this season and are wearing a rather good Errea first strip. A nice detail is the textured trim down the sides of the shirt, shorts and socks. It is complemented by a fine black outfit with a dramatic yellow/green stripe down the front and to finish off the set, a third strip inspired by the much loved "egg and cress" shirt from the glorious days of the early 1990s. The media have sneered but I love it - so bad it's good.
(Stuart English, Zak Nelson, Tom Osborne)
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 888 Sport
It's back to conventional red and white in a standard Adidas template for Forest. After three seasons having the name of their chairman's company on the shirt, the club have secured an external sponsor. The change strip is Adidas' Regista design.
(Andrew Mihaleff, Chris Diamond)
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Designer: Nike
Sponsor: 888 Sport
North End have renewed their contract with Nike for a further three years, so don't look for any innovative designs here at least until 2019. The Striker first kit is conservative and smart and was originally launched with white socks because hooped ones, a favourite at Deepdale, were not available. Their supplier has now found some in the back of the stock room. Sash is used as the alternative. There is a yellow third strip.
(Graham Riding, John Smith, Dominic Saul)
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Special
4 March v Cardiff
Designer: Dryworld
Sponsor: Smarkets
Canadian sportswear company Dryworld have signed a ten-year contract with Rangers as part of their strategy to expand into Europe. If these outfits are anything to go by we have much to look forward to.
The white special kit commemorates Ranger's 1967
League Cup win against West Brom when they (QPR) were in the Third Division. The clever touch is that the strip recreates the white outfit worn in that historic match while incorporating the names of the players, manager and match details sublimated into the fabric to match the pattern of the beloved broad hoops.
(Alexander Leiberich, Simon Ståål)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Carabao
There are only minor differences in Reading's first kit compared to last season: the colours of the hoops on the shirt are reversed and hoops are added to the socks. The big difference is on the back of the shirt where the hoops fade towards white so improving the visibility of squad numbers and names. I have already gone on record as disliking Puma's Veloce design with its complex sublimated graphic on the front and my opinion is not changed by this combination of black and fluorescent yellow.
(Simon Wise)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Hodge Clemco (1st), Apogee (2nd, 3rd)
The standard Puma design that the Millers are wearing as a first strip is lifted by the addition of yellow as an accent colour. The same design is used for the change strip but in light blue and navy, "lime punch green" and black for the third.
(Travis Hogarth-Colby, @JoelCampbae)
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Designer: Sondico
Sponsor: Chansiri
In recent years Southampton, West Brom and Sheffield United have all briefly abandoned traditional stripes for pin striped shirts and now Wednesday have followed suit. The new first shirt is apparently inspired by a candy-striped version worn for a few games in 1962-63. The club have, I fear, wasted the goodwill created by the decision to introduce their original crest with this disregard for tradition.
(Mark Wild)
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Designer: Kappa
Sponsor: Inter Sport
The Latics bounced straight back into the second tier as League One champions. There's not a lot that's different in the new first strip: red is added as an accent colour and the sleeves are now partially white. The repeated Kappa logos on the sleeves and shorts are an unwelcome intrusion but then I don't like this sort of aggressive branding. The change kit is in teal and silver - very stylish indeed - while the third strip is predominantly white with red and blue features.
(George Chilvers, Alexander Leiberich)
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: The Money Shop
Wolves have adopted the updated Pitch design with the addition of pinstripes on the shirt. The change strip is lime green, a colour which will be banned when I am elected as Prime Minister for Life.
(Geoff Bell, Alexander Leiberich)
