Home
Away
6 April
v Crystal Palace
Designer: Nike
Sponsor: CK Beckett
Barnsley are wearing a special crest to mark their 125th anniversary.
Match officials would not allow Barnsley to wear their change kit
at Crystal Palace so the team had to buy a set of change shirts from their hosts, who generously offered a 10% discount. Many players threw their shirts to supporters after the game.
(Terry Morley, Tom Eatwell, Graham Siddons, Andy Burton)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Diadora
Sponsor: EzeGroup.com
As if City's financial troubles were not enough (the prosecution of their owner, Carson Yeung, rumbles on in Hong Kong and his personal assets were frozen in May), the club has cancelled their £7.8m kit sponsorship with their Chinese supplier. At least Diadora have produced a decent home strip for the new season.
Supporters who turn up at the club shop wearing the charcoal strip that was dropped last season without being worn get 10% off the new black away strip while the pink third shirt will be linked to a charitable initiative.
(Ryan Dalton, Harry Meadows)
Home
v Brighton
From 22 January
Away
v Blackpool
From 15 December
Third
Designer: Umbro
Sponsor:
It all went horribly wrong for Blackburn under their new management, Indian chicken providers, Venky's, and eleven seasons in the Premier League ended with relegation. Supporters have deserted in large numbers due to the hostility generated towards the new regime and the club appears to have descended into chaos.
The choice of "navy" (actually a rather richer shade)for the away strip, while smart, is questionable as it will not be suitable when playing away against teams in blue, so a third strip will be necessary. This has been revealed as white, which just seems perverse. Probiz a business-to-business brand focussing on wealth management and accountancy-based solutions (no, me neither) sponsored Rovers' shirts initially for two games and later agreed to sponsor them for the rest of the season.
(James Clyde, Thomas Evans, Ryan Dalton, Mark Leech, Roger Whiteside)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Fila
Sponsor: Wonga
To celebrate their 125th anniversary, Blackpool, who narrowly missed out on an immediate return to the Premier League last season, have introduced a smart dark blue third strip trimmed in tangerine. The other strips are unchanged.
(James Clyde, Matt Cannon)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 188 Bet
Relegated last season, it's time for a change and Bolton have announced their record 22-year partnership with Reebok has ended and Adidas will now be the kit supplier (or club technical kit sponsor as we must now call them). Reebok continue to hold the naming rights for Bolton's stadium.
(Craig Johnson, Bryn Lunt, Ramazan Karsak)
Home
Away
Designer: Errea
Sponsor: Brighton & Hove Jobs.com
Brighton's plan was to retain the rather good home strip for another season and replace the away strip. Sales of the garish green and black shirts exceeded expectations so in a gesture of support for fans, both are retained.
(Luke Conboy)
Home
Away
Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Blackthorn Cider
City have gone for a change strip in white and black, a combination that recalls the time when they played in the old First Division. I'm not sure about how well the the home strip will go down: the last time Bristol City wore black as prominently as this was back in 1981 and they plunged down the divisions.
(Mark Leech, Ryan Dalton)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Premier Range Kitchen Appliances
A bit of a curate's egg, is this one. The shirt is pretty good and placing the crest and Puma logo rather than the sponsor's stuff on the contrasting chest band works well. We're not sure, however about the blue shorts, last seen in 1979-80 when the club went into near terminal decline. We hope this is not an omen.
The dark blue
away kit may be worn with light blue shorts. The white third shirt was introduced for the match at Crystal Palace.
(Ralph Pomeroy, Simon Gibson, Ryan Dalton)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Malaysia
The decision by the Malaysian owner, Vincent Tan, to rebrand Cardiff City as a condition of a major investment programme caused huge controversy that went beyond the team's support. At its heart was the question of whether commercial considerations should outweigh tradition. The third kit, launched in September can be worn with the home shorts and socks when necessary.
(Mark Wild, Ryan Dalton and many, many others)
Home
Away
Designer: Nike
Sponsor: Andrews Air Conditioning
League One champions Charlton are now equipped by Nike.
(Al Gordon)
Home
Away
Designer: Avec
Sponsor: gac.com
The new Palace kits are "fan inspired" and have been made exclusively for the club by Avec. Instead of the usual manufacturer's logo, the shirts have "Founded 1905" embroidered on the right of the chest in a nice cursive script. The design combines elements from several favourites from the past: the central stripes are a reminder of the 1972-73 strip, the yellow trim dates back to 1969 while the combination of red and blue has been worn since 1973. The result is, well, a bit of a mess really.
(Al Gordon, George Chilvers)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Kappa
Sponsor: buy mobiles.net
Derby's contract with Adidas has expired and their new technical kit sponsor is the Italian company, Kappa, who turn out some interesting kits. The new away strip in all-black with Kappa logos picked out in orange, is certainly striking but we do find the use of oversize logos irritating. Because black shorts have been registered with both kits, a white set is also available.
The new outfits feature the return of the old 1970s ram badge.
(Ryan Dalton, Terry Morley, Mark Salt, Bryn Lunt)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: Rekorderlig Cider (Home), Radian B (Away)
Promoted last season, Huddersfield have adopted another home strip in homage to the great side of the 1920s. The lightish blue stripes have a delicate waffle pattern printed into them. By a happy coincidence, the Umbro yoke template bears a passing resemblance to very early Huddersfield kits.
(Graham Siddon, Roger Pashby)
Home
Away
Third
Charity
v Bristol C 27 Oct
Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Cash Converters
Hull have reverted to plain amber shirts this season with the new Adidas yoke template. The light blue change kit from last season is retained as a third choice. The "Tash Converters" shirt was worn at Bristol City in aid of research into testicular and prostate cancer.
(Nathan Spinola, Robin Thompson)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Mitre
Sponsor: Marcus Evans
Ipswich have once again had a rummage in the old kit hamper to come up with retro-inspired outfits. Red, worn as an accent colour between 1984 and 2001 is re-introduced to the home kit while white and black is always a popular choice for the change kit.
(David Rafelle)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Macron
Sponsor: Enterprise Insurance
Macron's recent designs for Leeds have been admirably restrained but the new home kit gives the impression that they are now trying just a bit too hard to be innovative. There is too much detailing and the shirt is curiously cut at the side to form a sort of apron at the lower hem. Although this can't be seen on our graphic, it is reproduced on the shorts and puts me in mind of a dinner-lady's tabard.
(Martin Hart, Nicky Daines - LUFC)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Puma
Sponsor: King Power
Leicester have adopted the latest "pauldron" template from Puma for their home kit. The 14-year-olds in the marketing deprtment claim it is inspired by the shirts worn by the Italian national team in the 1950s. Well they are blue.
(Josh Bayliss)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Ramsdens
Once again Boro have made a virtue out of necessity by choosing a kit from the Adidas catalogue that bears a passing resemblance to an old favourite, in this instance the iconic chest band introduced by Jack Charlton in 1973. When required to change, a strip in two shades of blue with white trim is available and the black away strip from last season serves as third choice.
(Andrew Mihaleff, Warren Laroche, David Rafelle)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Macron
Sponsor: Racing Plus
Mark Alden writes, "The (top) looks like a cheap polo shirt you'd buy from Lewisham market. And to make it worse, far worse, it has become apparent that Leeds, with whom we've had a certain antagonistic relationship over the past five or so years as we follow each other up and down the leagues, had this design as a casual shirt last year! Apparently we sell fewer shirts per person based on average attendances of any English club...and this won't change a thing." Harsh words indeed. And now back to the studio...
(Mark Alden, Mark Harding, Danny Harding)
Home
Away
Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: John Pye Auctions
Umbro have produced another fine, understated kit for Forest with interesting detailing. The unusual use of two shades of red is possibly a reminder that the team originally played in dark red tops. The new away kit is also delightfully simple, with a novel bright blue shirt and seriously funky socks.
(Terry Morley, Nathan Spinola)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Nike
Sponsor: Green Energy Parks
Posh fans voted on the choice of new away strip and plumped for this Dennis the Menace outfit. Quite right too.
(Gary Moore, Bruce Bailey, Raphel Howard, Richard Caulkett)
Home
Away
Third
Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Gilder Honda (Home), Westfield Health (Away)
Wednesday are back in the second tier and have restored black shorts to their home strip.
(Chris Lee, Calum Hall, Mark Wild, Ben Gershaw)
Home
Away
Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Football Manager
Watford's new owners, the Pozzo family (who previously owned Italian club Udinese) have stated, "We don't see football as a business. It's a passion for us....We are not expecting a financial return." In these cynical times when so many clubs have been ruined by the commercial ambitions of their owners, this is welcome indeed.
Sadly, the sponsorship deal with the Happy Egg Co, which produced the most amusing shirt of the season, has fallen through and instead SI Games are promoting their footie management sim. Slightly disappointed about that.
(Eric O'B, Pete Bradshaw)
Home
Away
Designer: Burrda
Sponsor: Sporting Bet
It doesn't seem that long ago when kits were cluttered with lots of detailing and visual gimmicks but the trend now is for simple, elegant design with the minimum of frills. Wolves' new home kit certainly meets this criteria.
The away strip is an unusual combination of two shades of blue set off rather well by gold trimmings.
(Geoff Bell, Perni)
In April the Championship clubs voted to adopt their own Financial Fair Play rules that will prevent owners funding their clubs through loans. Owners will be permitted to invest up to £6m in 2012-13, reducing to £3m in 2014-15. After that clubs will be permitted to make an operating loss of £2m and accept a maximum £3m investment from their owners allowing for a maximum £5m loss overall. Clubs promoted to the Premier League that fail to adhere to the new rules will be fined on a sliding scale that could rise to 100% on losses over £10m. Offending clubs that are not promoted will be placed under a transfer embargo. Clubs relegated to the Championship will not be sanctioned provided they met their financial obligations under Premier League rules the previous season but could be fined if they break the rules and win promotion.
