From One-of-Kind to Totally Generic - The Pyramid Of Football Kit Designs
Nov 6, 2020, by Chris
In a perfect kit world, every club would receive a bespoke jerseys from its supplier that are well received by all supporters. However, the second thing is actually impossible, and it would be possible but not actually actionable to have only unique kits. We take a look at the different levels of football kit designs that therefore exist.
The History Of Football Kit Templates
Different design levels were introduced by the dedicated sport brands like Admiral, Adidas and Puma decades ago. How did it happen? Let us start with a brief history.
In the 1950s and 1960s, they started to create bespoke kits for their most important teams, while they at the same time offered a range of basic sport uniforms for amateur teams - two levels of football kit designs.
Brands started to release teamwear kits with the design of the brand's best team's jersey
In the 1970s / 1980s, marketing became more and more important and brands came up with the clever idea of releasing teamwear kits with the graphics of the best team's jersey. A third level of design was born.
There are today not only three types of football kit designs (bespoke, teamwear based on actual kits & basic) but a range of different design levels, with some just introduced in recent years.
Sports brands have at least two levels of football kit designs
Every serious sports brand has at least two levels of football kit designs - bespoke and teamwear. Most middle-sized brands have a third level like custom colors or graphics, while only the world's biggest brands have all the different levels featured below.
The Different Levels Of Football Kit Designs
For us, there are currently three main levels (custom, partly custom, teamwear templates) and seven sub-levels of football kit designs. Completely Bespoke As Part Of Brand's Global Campaign, Bespoke, Custom With Designs Borrowed From Old Kits / Other Clubs, Customization Service, Teamwear With Custom Colors, Teamwear With Custom Elements & Teamwear.
Completely Bespoke As Part Of Brand's Global Campaign
Those are the kits that only the Elite clubs of each top brand get - the biggest teams of Adidas, Nike and Puma receive streamlined but custom looks that follow a global design guideline, often created as part of a special project (10 Nike teams, 5 Adidas team, 3? Puma teams).
Examples for these kits are the global Nike third kits, the Adidas Humanrace jerseys as well as the Puma BALR kits.
Completely Bespoke
Every brand designs completely bespoke jerseys for their best teams. The designs, colors and possible graphics have been uniquely created for the team - they are one-of-a-kind (even though not all elements like collars are unique, but that is another story and only quite logical).
Generally, it can be said that the big brands create completely custom kits only for the teams on the "two top levels of their pyramid". Smaller brands create custom kits also for smaller teams, but that is often just because they are their biggest.
Custom With Designs Borrowed From Old Kits / Other Clubs
In recent years, Adidas ans Nike started to use the same design for different clubs. In Adidas' case, those designs are borrowed from the old kits of their biggest clubs, while Nike started to give non-related teams the same graphics if they think the design fits both clubs.
Customization Service - Nike Team & miadidas
Another thing that is only possible since a few years is that teams create their kits via brand's customization services (in example Adidas [miadidas] and Nike [Nike Team]). The brands also use it as marketing for those services - This is actually open for all teams, including amateur clubs.
Teamwear With Custom Colors
Standard template teamwear kits with custom colors and without other remarkable custom elements from the brand. Sevilla might be the biggest team on the planet that gets such kits.
Teamwear With Custom Elements
Teams who do not get custom jerseys from their supplier often try to refresh / better the teamwear kits. They add custom elements, graphics and other elements that hide they are wearing teamwear.
Teamwear (Template Without any Customization)
Teamwear is as standard as standard can be. The kits are just taken from the catalog, and finished with sponsors and the club logo.
Which Teams Get Which Jerseys?
That depends on the importance of a team for the brand and a few other things. In general, it can be said that the more important a club is for a brand the more likely the team will get a more customized jersey.
Have we forgotten a level? Which treatment does your favorite team gets? Comment below.
Grimsby Town 26-27 Third Kit Released
Grimsby Town and technical partner Lotto have officially revealed the club's new 26-27 third kit. Following the previous releases of their home and away strips, the new design draws inspiration from the earliest days of the Mariners playing at Blundell Park, combining a rich brown base with light blue and white accents.
The Grimsby Town 26-27 third jersey is predominantly brown, featuring a broad white chest band bordered by a thin sky blue line. The kit showcases an all-over sublimated diamond pattern across the body, with matching white and sky blue trim along the collar and sleeve cuffs. A monochrome white club crest sits on the chest, while a fisherman illustration is printed on the upper back as a sign-off detail.
Matching brown shorts and socks complete the full uniform for the Mariners. The new Lotto Grimsby Town 26-27 third strip will be available to purchase in-store from Friday, August 7, with online sales opening on Monday, August 10.
US Thionville Lusitanos 26-27 Home & Away Kits Released
French club US Thionville Lusitanos has officially unveiled its new home and away kits for the 26-27 season, made in collaboration with Kappa. The new collection draws direct inspiration from the history, architecture, and soul of the city of Thionville. The reveal shoot took place at the historic Tour aux Puces, emphasizing the deep connection between the club and its local heritage.
The 26-27 home kit features a sky blue base with white trim along the collar and sleeve cuffs, complemented by custom graphic artwork along the lower hem depicting local landmarks and symbols. The away shirt shares the same design blueprint, opting for a clean light grey base paired with white accents and tonal architectural patterns near the bottom. Both shirts feature crewneck collars and host a range of local club sponsors.
The new Kappa US Thionville Lusitanos 26-27 home and away jerseys will be available to purchase starting August 14, 2026.
Oliver Baumann Slams FIFA Over World Cup Jersey Badge
Germany goalkeeper Oliver Baumann has publicly spoken out against FIFA's commercialization, pointing to a controversial practice involving temporary kit badges at the 2026 World Cup. In a recent interview with BILD, the goalkeeper criticized what German media have dubbed "Trikot Gate," shedding light on how players' match jerseys were handled for profit behind the scenes.
According to Baumann, FIFA applied special commemorative patches to player shirts before matches, labeling players with titles like "Legacy" or "Debutant." However, immediately after matches, staff entered the dressing room to peel those badges off the jerseys. Frustrated by the process, Baumann stated that players just wanted to keep their authentic kits intact rather than having them stripped.
Baumann did not play a match in the 2026 World Cup. Those badges are removed from the kits to be later part of trading cards, as part of a deal with Topps. However, it remains to be seen if badges of players who finally did not make a debut will be made into cards, or if it was just removed because of the streamlined process.
The goalkeeper appealed to governing bodies to prioritize the sport itself over endless commercial initiatives. Baumann warned that excessive commercialization, from stripped kit patches to unnecessary breaks, threatens to alienate fans and players who care about the tradition and passion of football.
Mohamed Salah Takes Number 10 Shirt at Trabzonspor
Mohamed Salah has officially completed his move to Turkish side Trabzonspor after leaving Liverpool. Following his arrival, the Egyptian superstar has been assigned the club's number 10 shirt for the 26-27 season. The Turkish club had initially prepared the number 11 jersey, the same squad number Salah wore during his iconic stint at Anfield, but the winger requested number 10 instead to match his shirt number with the Egypt national team.
To accommodate the request, Trabzonspor player Ernest Muçi, who previously held the number 10 jersey, agreed to give up the squad number out of respect for his new teammate. During his arrival flight to Turkey, Salah was seen wearing a presentation kit featuring number 61. The number 61 holds special cultural significance in Trabzon, representing the province's vehicle code and a tradition celebrated by supporters in the 61st minute of matches.
Salah has signed a two-year deal with Trabzonspor, and his official number 10 kit is now available as the club prepares for the upcoming season.