Why Football Clubs Launch New Kits Every Year (And Why It’s Completely Bonkers)

Breaking Down the Madness

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the most enduring relationship in a football fan’s life: their club’s football kit.

But like any long-term relationship, it comes with baggage. Namely, the fact that every year, without fail, football clubs unveil a shiny new kit. And we all just accept it like it’s totally normal. But is it really? Let’s dive into this wild tradition that seems more rooted in capitalism than in the beautiful game itself.

Note:

This article features content from the Marketing Made Clear podcast. You can listen along to this episode on Spotify:

A New Kit for Every Season: Necessary or Just… Because?

Picture this: you’ve just forked out for last season’s kit. You feel like part of the team, proudly rocking your favorite player’s number as you scream at the TV, convinced they can hear you. Life is good. Then, before you’ve even had a chance to wash that ketchup stain off from a wild home match, the club drops a bombshell – “NEW KIT OUT NOW!” And suddenly, your year-old kit looks about as fashionable as wearing Crocs to a wedding.

It’s as if football clubs have turned into fashion houses, releasing kits with the frequency of the next big runway show. Not only do you need one for home games, but there’s also the away kit, the third kit, the special one-off kit they’ll wear for a charity match.

Who needs this many kits?

Certainly not the players who only use them for one season before they’re sent to the dusty halls of retro kit nostalgia.

The Price Tag: Expensive Enough to Make You Cry into Your Chips

Let’s address the elephant in the room: football kits are getting ridiculously expensive. Not just “hmm, maybe I’ll wait for the end-of-season sale” expensive. We’re talking “should I buy groceries or this kit?” expensive.

In the UK, the average price of a Premier League replica shirt has now soared well over £70, with some clubs tipping into the £100 range once you factor in customisation with names and numbers. Throw in a cup-winning badge and suddenly, your wallet is weeping.

A kit! A glorified t-shirt! I mean, sure, it’s a bit more technical than a t-shirt, what with all that “moisture-wicking technology” that you’ll never need unless you plan on sprinting after your bus. But are we really paying for the fabric? Or for the honor of being a walking billboard for whichever sponsor’s logo is slapped across the front?

Don’t even get me started on the sponsors!

The Ethics: Do Fans Really Need a New Kit Every Year?

Here’s the thing – do football clubs need to launch a new kit every single year? And is this ethical, considering how much they already squeeze out of fans for tickets, streaming subscriptions, pies, and pints?

For a moment, let’s compare this annual kit-changing tradition to some other industries. Imagine if car companies released a new model every year and hinted that if you didn’t upgrade, your car would fall apart and look embarrassing in front of your neighbours. Or what if your favourite restaurant changed its menu every time you sat down to eat, and told you the burger you had last week is now “vintage”?

That’s essentially what football clubs are doing. It’s more about profit margins than loyalty. The reality is that fans don’tneed a new kit every season – but we’re conditioned to feel like we do. And clubs know it.

The Clubs Breaking the Mold: Heroes of Kit Conservation

There are a few clubs that have stood firm against this madness, launching kits every two seasons or more, because they understand that not every fan has Scrooge McDuck’s vault to dive into. Take Scottish club St. Johnstone, for instance, who keep their kits for at least two seasons. It’s a breath of fresh air (and a sigh of financial relief) for their supporters.

Further afield, teams like Athletic Bilbao in Spain often stick with kits for more than one season. These clubs are the unsung heroes of sustainable fandom, acknowledging that fans would rather spend their hard-earned cash on match tickets or, you know, actual food.

In the Premier League, Brentford FC made a big announcement in 2021 – that they are keeping the same home kit for two seasons in a row. That’s not normal for Premier League clubs. The club says the move will play a part in being sustainable and saving fans cash. Brentford’s chief executive, Jon Varney, emphasised the club’s strong support for the decision to extend the use of their kit for two seasons.

“Whilst it is not normal practice for Premier League clubs to roll a kit over for two seasons, fans have told us that they would be in favour of the savings that a two-season shirt would provide,”

The club also aims to promote sustainability. Most football shirts, made from polyester, have a carbon footprint of 5.5kg of CO2 per shirt, which is more than double that of cotton shirts at 2.1kg. Even recycled polyester takes centuries to decompose and contributes to environmental harm through the release of microfibres.

So, What’s the Solution?

Here’s an idea for football clubs everywhere: maybe just… chill? Perhaps we don’t need an entirely new kit every season. Maybe mix it up with minor updates, or launch new designs every two years. Fans would appreciate it, and wallets would take a breather.

Better yet, let’s make the old kits cool again. Bring retro back into fashion (seriously, those 90s kits were chef’s kiss). Not only would it honour the heritage of the club, but it would also be far more ethical than forcing die-hard fans to cough up cash annually just to avoid looking like they’re supporting last season’s failures.

My club Southampton FC have done this and it’s been a real success – I can now own a replica of the kits Saints wore while I was growing up, idolising players like Francis Benali and Matt Le Tiss – it was a beautiful time to be a Saints fan!

Final Whistle: It’s Time to Call for a Kit Rebellion

So next time your club reveals a brand new kit, and subtly suggests that last year’s kit now belongs in the “outdated” pile, take a moment to think. Are you really buying this for the love of the game, or are you playing into a cycle of consumerism that has nothing to do with football?

Football kits should be a symbol of pride, not a source of financial stress. Fans have the right to say, “Thanks, but I’ll stick with last season’s – it still fits just fine.” Maybe if enough of us rebel, we’ll see the end of this ridiculous cycle and bring back some sanity to football fandom. But until then, we’ll just be over here, marveling at our collection of more kits than we know what to do with.