Manchester City’s Tribute to Title-Winning Goal Headlines Recent Soccer Kit Unveilings

Time for another trip around Europe to check out the kits football clubs have unveiled for the 2021-22 season. This time, we have stops in England, Spain, Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands …

MANCHESTER CITY – Home

Defending Premier League champions Manchester City and manufacturer Puma have teamed up to pay tribute to another time the club won the PL title, in 2011-12. That year, Sergio Aguero scored in stoppage time against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the season to give Man City its first league title since 1968.

The 2021-22 kit is City’s traditional sky blue, with a tonal pattern of digital scoreboard numbers all over and white side panels and sponsor/Puma logos. Printed inside the collar is “93:20,” the time on the scoreboard when Aguero scored. A “10” can also be made out in the numbers, which was Aguero’s number for most of his City career – although he was wearing 16 in the 2011-12 season.

ASTON VILLA – Home

Premier League side Aston Villa have given a modern twist to their traditional claret-and-blue home kits, made by Kappa, for 2021-22. The claret body features tonal vertical stripes, while the blue sleeves taper to peaks near the collar. Claret panels run under each arm, and a claret stripe appears on each sleeve cuff. The crew neck collar is claret with blue trim.

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION – Away

Brighton and Hove Albion of the Premier League are keeping things minty fresh for their 2021-22 away kits, made by Nike. They are mint green, with a black stripe down each side and black sponsor and Nike logos. The club crest is rendered in black and white. The sleeves feature a grey fingerprint pattern found on Nike’s Strike II template.

VILLAREAL – Home, Away & Third

The “yellow submarine” floats on with Villareal’s 2021-22 home kits, made by Joma. The kits for the Spanish La Liga side are bright yellow, with black accents at the base of the collar and on the sleeve cuffs. The manufacturer and sponsor logos are also black.

The away kit gets wilder, with a tonal vertical blur pattern on a red base. Logos are in white, including a monochromatic white club crest. White accents are also found on the crew neck collar and the sleeve cuffs.

Villareal’s third kit features crosshatch patterns of varying densities on a bluish-grey base. The club crest is monochromatic pink, as are the sponsor and Joma logos. The collar and cuffs have black accents.

CELTA VIGO – Home

The new home kit for Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo features tonal angled lines on a sky blue base. The crew neck collar and sleeve cuffs are thicker than we usually see from manufacturer adidas, and are colored grey. The adidas shoulder stripes and logo are also grey.

1. FC KÖLN – Home

1. FC Köln, who won a two-leg relegation playoff to keep their place in the German Bundesliga for 2021-22, have stuck with a white base for this year’s home kits. The shirt features red double horizontal pinstripes down the front and solid white sleeves. The collar is also solid white, while the sleeve cuffs are trimmed with red.

GALATASARAY – Home & Away

Turkish Süper Lig powerhouses Galatasaray are putting a new slant on their home kits, made by Nike, for 2021-22. The club usually uses half-red and half-yellow jerseys at home, but this year, for the first time, the colours are split diagonally, from top left to bottom right. The split runs directly under the club crest.

Galatasaray’s away kit is mainly black, with yellow and red stripes running across the chest. The shield in the club crest has been changed from white to black to blend in with the body of the kit.

Photo courtesy **Todo Sobre Camiseta s**

BESIKTAS – Home, Away & Third

Galatasaray’s rivals and defending Süper Lig champions Besiktas also released multiple kits this week. Besiktas usually sticks with a white base for their home kits, but this year have added black and red vertical stripes down the center of the shirt. The collar, sleeve cuffs and adidas shoulder stripes are all solid black. A graphic referring to the club’s nickname, “Kara Kartallar” (“Black Eagles”), is found near the hem.

Besiktas’s away kit is solid black, with an embossed zigzag pattern on the chest. The two-button stand-up collar is solid black, and the adidas shoulder stripes are white. The placket of the collar forces the Turkish flag patch — signifying the previous year’s champion — from the middle of the chest to the right side, above the white adidas logo.

Besiktas’s third kit is a happy medium between the white home kit and black away kit. The dark grey shirt features light grey and red vertical pinstripes down the front. The crew neck collar is solid grey, while the sleeve cuffs are grey with red trim. The adidas shoulder stripes are red, while the adidas logo on the chest and the sposnor logo are white.

AFC AJAX – Home

AFC Ajax of the Dutch Eredivisie are turning back the clock to the 1970s for their 2021-22 home kits. The adidas kit features Ajax’s traditional thick red stripe down the front of the jersey — though, to mirror the style of the ’70s, it is narrower than it has been in recent years — along with silver adidas shoulder stripes and a white crew neck collar and sleeve cuffs. The club crest used on this kit is the version Ajax used between 1928 and 1991. The three stars that normally appear above the club crest have been moved to the back collar.

Ajax will not include players’ names on the backs of these kits in domestic competitions, again to mimic what the club wore in the 1970s. Names will be added for European competitions, though, as they are required by UEFA.