The all new 2025 Kit Thread!

[Dave T]

32 minutes ago, RP London said:

lions head badge.. if you must tweak it from year to year you can add some blue or red to the colour or piping or a side panel if you must but I would be happy if the decision was generally made to just go all white.. 

 

I think this is where personal preference comes in and there just ain't a right or wrong answer.

I quite liked the above kit, but I'm not a fan of plain white, there is an England Rugby team already wearing 99% plain white. I do quite like mixing the kits up, I find minor detail variations a touch underwhelming on kits, and a white kit with blue and red detail works well imo.

[Chrispmartha]

40 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is where personal preference comes in and there just ain't a right or wrong answer.

I quite liked the above kit, but I'm not a fan of plain white, there is an England Rugby team already wearing 99% plain white. I do quite like mixing the kits up, I find minor detail variations a touch underwhelming on kits, and a white kit with blue and red detail works well imo.

No issue with adding the colour - it's the application that I find poor, but I know probably more than a lot of people, design is subjective.

[RP London]

45 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is where personal preference comes in and there just ain't a right or wrong answer.

I quite liked the above kit, but I'm not a fan of plain white, there is an England Rugby team already wearing 99% plain white. I do quite like mixing the kits up, I find minor detail variations a touch underwhelming on kits, and a white kit with blue and red detail works well imo.

oh dont get me wrong I like the new one and I like the community training shirt they produced which I would have been happy with as the kit. I just wish they would pick a general style and build on it. 

[EastLondonMike]

I wasn't going to dig in to the new England kit, but I cant resist.

I don't dislike the link to the old England football jersey of the 80s - it is a classic jersey - but feel things like this should always be highlighted - its a story to tell and helps buy in from the fan base - even if it is a different sport. If that was the inspiration.
I'm not the biggest fan of this particular aesthetic on he RL jersey, but as we all know such things are subjective, so can get o board with it. 

The issues with the kit for me are more to do with everything else.

Blue shorts - which are probably the most appealing part of the whole kit, on a basic level - are simply not 'England RL'. Not in my eyes anyway. Even though theres a clear desire to push this additional blue element into the colour scheme.

Chevron detail on the side inserts is completely unnecessary IMO, and adds nothing to the jersey. It doesn't tie in to anything. Chevrons may well be a historical RL element, but in this instance doesn't link to anything else. And with the 80's football jersey story the primary focus, this just confuses things.

The slight horizontal chevron pinstripes on the main body of the jersey are completely at odds with the Betfred logo. One angled, one straight edged - which when worn, to me, just looks messy, and although it likely isn't, makes the Betfred logo look poorly printed. It may also just be me, but the Betfred logo looks way too low on the body, something the last jersey suffered from also.

The other thing is around the general shape and structure of the kit. Its the same old Oxen jersey - nothing new. Such kits for me are an opportunity for a sports brand to showcase their quality, latest and greatest fabric developments, new shape and structure and any other new technical developments in the sportswear field. This sadly has none of that. And i get Oxen aren't quite there yet in terms of being able to work with the latest and greatest in tech sportswear apparel, but they can certainly create something a bit more progressive and appealing than what they have in this case. certainly in shape. Though there obviously has to be a desire to do that. Which may not be there currently.

Its also worth keeping in mind theres rarely bad design without a bad brief. Who knows what was requested by the RFL/RL Commercial. All the critique thats being thrown at the kit may have been a direct request from the RFL/RL commercial.

I'm sure many will buy it, and many seem to like it, so thats good for Oxen and the RFL. But from a creative quality point of view I think it misses the mark.

[KiwiRL]

2 hours ago, RP London said:

red? why would Wales play with a lion on the shirt?

Forgive me, didn't realize Wales had exclusive access to the colour red.

[KiwiRL]

At least it doesn't clash with anyone else's jerseys. Save the RFL some money on alternates. 

Though I suppose with only a handful of genuine international teams that's not hard. 

Edited September 10, 2024 by KiwiRL
Duplicate

[Chrispmartha]

44 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

I wasn't going to dig in to the new England kit, but I cant resist.

I don't dislike the link to the old England football jersey of the 80s - it is a classic jersey - but feel things like this should always be highlighted - its a story to tell and helps buy in from the fan base - even if it is a different sport. If that was the inspiration.
I'm not the biggest fan of this particular aesthetic on he RL jersey, but as we all know such things are subjective, so can get o board with it. 

The issues with the kit for me are more to do with everything else.

Blue shorts - which are probably the most appealing part of the whole kit, on a basic level - are simply not 'England RL'. Not in my eyes anyway. Even though theres a clear desire to push this additional blue element into the colour scheme.

Chevron detail on the side inserts is completely unnecessary IMO, and adds nothing to the jersey. It doesn't tie in to anything. Chevrons may well be a historical RL element, but in this instance doesn't link to anything else. And with the 80's football jersey story the primary focus, this just confuses things.

The slight horizontal chevron pinstripes on the main body of the jersey are completely at odds with the Betfred logo. One angled, one straight edged - which when worn, to me, just looks messy, and although it likely isn't, makes the Betfred logo look poorly printed. It may also just be me, but the Betfred logo looks way too low on the body, something the last jersey suffered from also.

The other thing is around the general shape and structure of the kit. Its the same old Oxen jersey - nothing new. Such kits for me are an opportunity for a sports brand to showcase their quality, latest and greatest fabric developments, new shape and structure and any other new technical developments in the sportswear field. This sadly has none of that. And i get Oxen aren't quite there yet in terms of being able to work with the latest and greatest in tech sportswear apparel, but they can certainly create something a bit more progressive and appealing than what they have in this case. certainly in shape. Though there obviously has to be a desire to do that. Which may not be there currently.

Its also worth keeping in mind theres rarely bad design without a bad brief. Who knows what was requested by the RFL/RL Commercial. All the critique thats being thrown at the kit may have been a direct request from the RFL/RL commercial.

I'm sure many will buy it, and many seem to like it, so thats good for Oxen and the RFL. But from a creative quality point of view I think it misses the mark.

What he said.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

My main issue is it just highlights how little identity the England RL brand has when we are reduced to ripping off a 40+year old classic football strip.

Like I've said, I feel like we're just taking baby steps to make red and blue part of the England shirt so we can take the big step of adding the famous GB Chevron next. And I'd have no issue with that.

[RP London]

1 hour ago, KiwiRL said:

Forgive me, didn't realize Wales had exclusive access to the colour red.

Thats an away kit... when did england RL last have/need an away kit?

[Click]

7 minutes ago, RP London said:

Thats an away kit... when did england RL last have/need an away kit?

Using Red makes a lot more sense than using blue for an England kit.

[RP London]

12 minutes ago, Click said:

Using Red makes a lot more sense than using blue for an England kit.

where have we got a blue kit?

(note: bits of colour is different to a whole shirt)

Edited September 10, 2024 by RP London

[Dave T]

9 minutes ago, Click said:

Using Red makes a lot more sense than using blue for an England kit.

This gets raised a lot and I don't get it. Blue is used a fair bit in England kits. Many sports have used white, red and blue for an England shirt.

[gingerjon]

Just now, Dave T said:

This gets raised a lot and I don't get it. Blue is used a fair bit in England kits. Many sports have used white, red and blue for an England shirt.

The reason the 1982 Admiral football shirt gets so much attention is largely because it was the first time red was prominent on a home England shirt.

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

I wasn't going to dig in to the new England kit, but I cant resist.

I don't dislike the link to the old England football jersey of the 80s - it is a classic jersey - but feel things like this should always be highlighted - its a story to tell and helps buy in from the fan base - even if it is a different sport. If that was the inspiration.
I'm not the biggest fan of this particular aesthetic on he RL jersey, but as we all know such things are subjective, so can get o board with it. 

The issues with the kit for me are more to do with everything else.

Blue shorts - which are probably the most appealing part of the whole kit, on a basic level - are simply not 'England RL'. Not in my eyes anyway. Even though theres a clear desire to push this additional blue element into the colour scheme.

Chevron detail on the side inserts is completely unnecessary IMO, and adds nothing to the jersey. It doesn't tie in to anything. Chevrons may well be a historical RL element, but in this instance doesn't link to anything else. And with the 80's football jersey story the primary focus, this just confuses things.

The slight horizontal chevron pinstripes on the main body of the jersey are completely at odds with the Betfred logo. One angled, one straight edged - which when worn, to me, just looks messy, and although it likely isn't, makes the Betfred logo look poorly printed. It may also just be me, but the Betfred logo looks way too low on the body, something the last jersey suffered from also.

The other thing is around the general shape and structure of the kit. Its the same old Oxen jersey - nothing new. Such kits for me are an opportunity for a sports brand to showcase their quality, latest and greatest fabric developments, new shape and structure and any other new technical developments in the sportswear field. This sadly has none of that. And i get Oxen aren't quite there yet in terms of being able to work with the latest and greatest in tech sportswear apparel, but they can certainly create something a bit more progressive and appealing than what they have in this case. certainly in shape. Though there obviously has to be a desire to do that. Which may not be there currently.

Its also worth keeping in mind theres rarely bad design without a bad brief. Who knows what was requested by the RFL/RL Commercial. All the critique thats being thrown at the kit may have been a direct request from the RFL/RL commercial.

I'm sure many will buy it, and many seem to like it, so thats good for Oxen and the RFL. But from a creative quality point of view I think it misses the mark.

I like the shirt, but I agree with some of your points. I'm surprised with the choice of using a retro England football shirt as inspiration - and as you say, not even mentioning it is odd.

I also do wonder how many chevrons need to be added into a shirt I was going to try and count how many are on there, bit it sent my eyes funny!

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

The reason the 1982 Admiral football shirt gets so much attention is largely because it was the first time red was prominent on a home England shirt.

Yeah, I didn't necessarily mean all together, but in various combinations white, red and blue are used for England. 

For any faults people may find with the kit, the colour scheme isn't controversial in the slightest. 

[Wilderspoolmemories]

I like the more traditional shirt styles. That Leeds kit reminded me of David Ward! My favourite wire kit was always the white one with the blue and yellow "V" across the chest. 

I know shirt sponsors pay a lot of money, but I have never  been keen on a primrose yellow and blue shirt with a large red dot in the middle! 

[EastLondonMike]

15 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Yeah, I didn't necessarily mean all together, but in various combinations white, red and blue are used for England. 

For any faults people may find with the kit, the colour scheme isn't controversial in the slightest. 

Yeah, using blue isn't a problem as such - its how its used and to what percentage. For me - again, just my opinion for what its worth, White should make up 90% of the kit colour, with the remaining 10% used as complimentary colour pops.

I'd go mostly with red, but adding in some blue is no big thing.

[EastLondonMike]

One other thing i forgot to add was about the presence and location of the ABK Beer branding. They obviously don't plan on adding any additional sleeve sponsors, as there really isn't that much room to accommodate - which seems odd to me. Also the presence of the stripe detail on the sleeve cuffs takes up space that could be used potentially for additional sponsor partners (we always seem to pick up one or two a week before a test series/world cup).

The sleeve stripes also seem inconsistent in depth with the collar/neck stripes. Just saying.

[RP London]

41 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I like the shirt, but I agree with some of your points. I'm surprised with the choice of using a retro England football shirt as inspiration - and as you say, not even mentioning it is odd.

I also do wonder how many chevrons need to be added into a shirt I was going to try and count how many are on there, bit it sent my eyes funny!

Well its more than 13 which IIRC was built into the world cup shirt (or at least the shirt they eventually wore at the world cup) and was all shouted about, so nice consistency there.. 

[Gav Wilson]

1 hour ago, RP London said:

Thats an away kit... when did england RL last have/need an away kit?

[RP London]

14 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

so mid to late 2000s.. both at world cups.

[EastLondonMike]

48 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

I don't ever recall seeing the 2nd kit here. Did we ever wear it? Pity ISC decided to drop out of RL here in the UK, they were by far the best kit supplier we've had.

[Gav Wilson]

47 minutes ago, RP London said:

so mid to late 2000s.. both at world cups.

2011-2012 and 2013-2014 I believe. The second one may just have been a captain's run shirt though.

[RP London]

7 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

2011-2012 and 2013-2014 I believe. The second one may just have been a captain's run shirt though.

jeez I could have sworn that st georges cross one was earlier than that... time does funny things!

[EastLondonMike]

7 minutes ago, RP London said:

jeez I could have sworn that st georges cross one was earlier than that... time does funny things!

That shirt always reminds me of Jack Reed. For some reason more than anyone else.