The new away kit has come in for a fair amount of stick since it’s release. But could it be worse? Are there sports manufacturers out there capable of producing a more ridiculous kit than the glow-in-the-dark effort we’ve been lumbered with? See for yourselves…

Newcastle United goalkeeper kit – Puma

Goalkeepers often get short changed when it comes to the kit they’re lumbered with. They have to stand out from the rest of the team so you can easily spot them out of the corner of your eye in a congested penalty area.

Most club’s choose illuminous colours, or something that contrasts with the main kit. Newcastle United however decided a horrible brownish colour was the best bet – reminds me of nicotine stained wallpaper in a pub, getting increasingly darker the further up the wall you look.

Aston Villa away – Nike

I know what you’re thinking – ‘That pattern would look lovely on my kitchen floor’.

You’d be right too. That design wouldn’t look out of place on anybody’s kitchen floor. As a football shirt however, I’m not convinced.

Everton goalkeeper kit – Le Coq Sportif

I can only assume the logic behind this truly historic effort was that it camouflages the keeper from oncoming strikers. The Everton keeper can therefore hide until the striker gets right up in front of him, snatch the ball and boot it up the other end of the pitch before the striker realises what’s happened. Clever, but a truly awful kit nonetheless. Probably explains why Andy Lonergan didn’t want to play for them!

Bradford City away – Nike

Clearly what happened here was, Nike had already designed kits for all the good teams and by the time they got to Bradford City they had simply run out of ideas. Since Bradford sell roughly the same amount of kits as Pontefract Collieries, they figured a pink kit wouldn’t damage the reputation of a sportswear giant too much – after all, who will ever see it?

Juventus away – Nike

Someone at Nike clearly likes a touch of pink in their kits. Realising they’d lumbered Bradford City with the same colour, they gave Juventus an enormous star too – just to show they cared.

Brighton away – Errea

I deliberately left Brighton’s kit ’til last just in case it blinded anyone and you were unable to read the rest of the post. Sorry about that.

I hope the above examples have made you realise, it could be worse. Bradford City are a perfect example – already a football club nobody cares about, they’re now wearing pink to try and catch people’s attention.