Premier League Kits: 18 of the Worst Efforts in History

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​Have you seen Juventus' new home kit?

What am I saying, of course you've seen it. The Serie A side's monstrosity of a shirt, with a horrific pink stripe separating the chunks of black and white, is enough to make the Old Lady turn over in her grave.

Inspired - or disgusted - by what Juventus will be wearing at the Allianz next season, we took a look at some of the vomit-inducing strips that have tarnished the Premier League over the years. 

Take a look at these nightmares - memorable for all the wrong reasons.


18. Manchester City Away Kit 1992/93

We start with City - fitting, as the current champions, albeit we're 'honouring' them in a slightly different way.

 The strip itself isn't that bad - red and black stripes are classic (just ask Milan) - but what on earth is going on with those white shoulder pads? Madness.


17. Coventry City Home Kit 1992/93

You could make a case that both Coventry and Norwich (we'll get to them) deserved to be booted out of the Premier League for donning the kits shown below.

Coventry's in particular resembled a screensaver of splodgy clouds and blue skies reminiscent of the 90's and the introduction of Apple Macintosh computers.


16. Norwich City Home Kit 1992/93

Told you we'd get back to Norwich.

Truthfully, it's somewhat fitting that Norwich are known as the Canaries, considering this kit was affectionally labeled 'the bird poo kit'. Still, Norwich finished third in the inaugural season of the Premier League wearing this...thing.


15. Norwich 2015/16 Third Kit

This kit is purely on here for the fact that it's a third shirt - yet it has the same colours as Norwich's home and away editions, so it's completed redundant. 


14. Tottenham 2009/10 Home Kit

What do you get when you combine a lovely, classic white shirt, with an overenthusiastic designer armed with a yellow highlighter?

This.


13. Manchester United Away Kit 1995/96

The kit that will go down in history, as United's squad were so devastated by the fact that the shirt was touching their body they switched shirts mid-way through a match.

Yep, back in 1996, the Red Devils were getting thumped 3-0 away to Southampton entering the break. There's a famous story as to what happened next, with Sir Alex Ferguson storming into the dressing room demanding his team rip off the kit, with United's players claiming they couldn't see one another. Nevertheless, United still lost the match 3-1, Fergie blamed the kit for the loss, and it was immediately taken off sale.


12. Chelsea Away Kit 2007/08

Chelsea doing their best to match Norwich on the worst kit leaderboard with their second entry here, a kit so shocking that it can be seen from space.

Honestly - look at it! That steward could probably sneak on to the pitch and get a few touches in if he felt like it. The glow from the stadiums they travelled to must have made them look like a nuclear facility on the verge of collapse.


11. Newcastle Away Kit 2011/12

Pulling off an orange football shirt is a tricky task. Honestly, only the Dutch international team have seemed to master it (and perhaps Blackpool, on some occasions).

So when Newcastle decided to give it a go in 2011, they ended up with this recyclable piece of crap. Note the completely random black stripes, which completes the foulness you must bear witness to. Funnily enough, this isn't even Newcastle's worst-ever kit - sadly, the banana yellow pinstripes of 2009 came when the Toon were in the Championship, so it's ineligible. 


10. Manchester City Away Kit 2008/09

Yep, the rules of orange football kits still apply. 

9. Blackburn Away Kit 1996/97

Bright yellow kits are always a bad idea - after all, it's the type of thing you expect to see on motorway police and stewards, not footballers.

Blackburn tried to soften the blow with this away kit which, to be fair, is not as bright as a later entry on the list, but the scrambled black crest on the side of the shirt resembled the work of a mad tattoo artist who had been let loose on the Rovers squad.


8. Newcastle Away Kit 1997/98

Points for a retro look, with the Newcastle Brown Ale logo tucked to the side a nice touch.

However, orange and green is a pretty horrific combination, and the stripes to the side don't help. This strip is a stark contrast to the Magpies' home shirt in 97'/98 - one of the greatest in Premier League history.


7. Manchester United Third Kit 1992/94

Half and half shirts, combined with draw string collars, have thankfully become extinct.

Indeed, that's where they should have always stayed, but United had the temerity to resurrect a shirt befitting the era of Shakespeare and use it as their third kit for a couple of season. That said, the promo shoot - complete with fake moustaches - is fantastic.


6. Liverpool Third Kit 2013/14

Remember this rotting carcass of a shirt? Or, like me, did you burn it from your mind?

Sorry to do this to you if that's the case, but those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. So, for all our sakes, let's hope no club in world football ever do what Liverpool did to the beautiful game in 2013. Shame.


5. Sunderland Third Kit 2016/17

A kit that's a perfect reflection of how terrible Sunderland were that season, this multi-shade purple number made the Black Cats look like Disney's Cheshire Cat as the club finished bottom of the Premier League.


4. Aston Villa Away Kit 1993/95

Whoever thought it was a good idea to combine red, green and black stripes, in any combination?

Add in the fact that this kit had a yoghurt manufacturer slapped on the middle of the shirt, and you really have produced the stuff of nightmares. Now spare a thought for Villa's travelling support, who had to suffer long hours following their team all over the country and were forced to watch their team play in this abomination for TWO YEARS.


3. Chelsea Away Kit 1996/97

Having banana pinstripes on your kit is worthy enough of being in the ugly kits hall of fame.

But when you add in an unnecessary two-tone blue kit that clashes with the aforementioned yellow in the most despicable way possible, then you've got something that only Stephen King could dream up.


2. Nottingham Forest 1997/98

This kit is essentially an unfinished crossword/graffiti design on a drying yellow canvas that some art student couldn't be bothered to finish.

There's no other way to put it: It's crap. Total and utter crap.​


1. Coventry City Away Kit 1992/93

We're back again with the Sky Blues, this time with a quite astounding and very red shirt.

This honestly makes me think of a mesh of sliced salami and pastrami. Good for a sandwich, not for a football shirt. Disgusting, and worthy of our number one spot as the worst Premier League kit in history.