2021-22 European Club Kit Preview: Ligue 1 (France)

France’s Ligue 1 is the first of the major European top flight soccer leagues to kick off, as AS Monaco takes on FC Nantes on Friday, Aug. 6. Let’s take a closer look at some of the kits teams will be wearing when they take to the pitch …

(Includes all kits released as of noon MT on Friday, Aug. 6)

Angers SCO unveiled a new club crest in May and quickly followed up with home and away kits before releasing a third kit in July. The third kit has a subtle pattern of fleurs-de-lis from the crest connected by thin lines.

On Friday, Aug. 6 — just two days before their first match of the season against Clermont — Bordeaux quietly released their home and away kits for 2021-22 on their web store. The club had adopted a new crest in June 2020 that proved to be unpopular with fans, and when new owners bought the club in 2021, they committed to restoring the old crest. However, the newer crest was expected to be used on the 2021-22 kits due to production timelines and restraints.

Stade Brestois’s nickname is “the Pirates” — hence the two crossed swords under the club crest on the black away jersey.

Clermont Foot 63 are in Ligue 1 for the first time ever in 2021-22, and they’ll do so in kits made by Patrick, a Belgian sportswear company. The home and away kits feature a tonal depiction of ancient Gaul king Vercingetorix, who was born near where the modern-day city of Clermont is located.

RC Lens usually wears red and yellow vertical stripes at home, so this year’s pinstripes and sash are a departure. The third kit is a tribute to the Artois region of France.

Defending Ligue 1 champions Lille’s home kit features a halftone gradient pattern made of pentagons — the same shape as the club crest.

Lorient’s third kit pays tribute to the town’s commercial seaport, and the tonal pattern on the front of the blue shirt represents the cranes found at that port.

FC Metz unveiled a new club crest over the summer, a stylized Cross of Lorraine. It appears without the wordmark on all three jerseys for 2021-22.

AS Monaco’s away kit is inspired by Formula 1 race cars. eToro takes over as shirt sponsor for domestic matches, while Fedcom remains the sponsor for European matches.

Montpellier HSC is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its only Ligue 1 championship with a special “CHAMP10NS” wordmark under its crest on all three kits for 2021-22.

FC Nantes narrowly avoided relegation from Ligue 1 last season, and hope to fare better this year in bright yellow home kits with a green halftone pattern down the front. The club darkened up the green for the accents on its 2021-22 away kit, and complimented it with metallic gold.

OGC Nice also has a fourth kit for 2021-22, which is bright red with black accents and logos.

Olympique Lyonnais’s home kit for 2021-22 features a red-and-blue vertical stripe for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The stripe includes a tonal pattern featuring the lion from OL’s crest.

Olympique Marseille’s home kit for 2021-22 is inspired by the 1989-90 Marseille team, which won a second straight Ligue 1 championship and reached the semifinals of the European Cup.

Paris Saint-Germain’s 2021-22 home kit is the first PSG home kit to feature the logo of Nike’s Jordan Brand on the chest. It also does not include a red-and-white vertical stripe running down the front — a design element that the club has worn in some iteration since the 1970s and is closely associated with former club president and fashion designer Daniel Hechter.

All three of Stade de Reims’s kits for 2021-22 feature a small French flag at the base of the collar.

The black side panels that run under each arm of Stade Rennais’s 2021-22 home kit feature a tonal pattern inspired by the flag of Brittany, where the city of Rennes is located.

The dark green side inserts with narrow white horizontal stripes on Saint-Etienne’s home kit are inspired by kits the club wore in the 1980s.

RC Strasbourg unveiled their 2021-22 home and away kits in an unconventional way, wearing each for a half in a preseason friendly against German team SC Freiburg (who were wearing their red home kit).

ESTAC Troyes is back in Ligue 1 for the first time since 2018. Their kits are made by Le Coq Sportif, and bear resemblances to those produced by the same company for Saint-Etienne.