Ranked: Our Top 25 Shirts of 21/22
With every 2021/22 home, away and third shirt now unveiled we’ve put our tin hat firmly on and ducked under the desk to rank our top 25 football shirts of the new season. The bad news? It’ll make a lot of you upset, confused or angry. The good news? We’re hiding under the desk so we’ll avoid the backlash.
We’ve gone deep into our colossal Fan Store to pull out shirts from Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and Europe to celebrate a season where designers ripped off the shackles and went in hard in what is arguably one of the most creative years of football shirt design. From the best of performance to some of the most obscure designs that hit that Jersey Culture meets Off-Pitch space. Let’s do this…
Like what you see? Shop every 21/22 jersey at the Pro:Direct Soccer Fan Store.
25: Lille Home
The rise of New Balance back into the football replica game has been a welcomed sight. A Premier League title with Liverpool and a French title with Lille isn’t bad work, is it? The latest design for the Ligue 1 champions is a slick design finished with a lovely little collar. Into it.
Shop all Lille 21/22 Replica here.
24: West Ham Home
Anything that had a fold-over collar was making this list. Let’s get that right straight away. Stick a Double Diamond on there and a sprinkle of 90s goodness and you’ve got yourself a winner. The sleeves, shoulders and clean sponsor have us massively on board with West Ham this season.
Shop all West Ham 21/22 Replica here.
23: Wolfsburg Home
For a home shirt, this is ballsy. And that’s why we like it. The simplistic club crest and sponsor on top of a busy graphic display hits that perfect balance of respecting tradition of the home shirt whilst keeping it interesting and fresh. This should be higher, shouldn’t it?
Shop all Wolfsburg 21/22 Replica here.
22: Bayern Munich Third
Honestly, third shirts are where it’s at. Brands have almost run out of traditions and inspirations and now they’re having to make new ones, and the third shirt is the perfect canvas for experimenting. Inspired by Munich’s Alpine backdrop, the Bayern third shirt delivers.Shop all Bayern Munich 21/22 Replica here.
21: Man City Away
How many times has an ugly sponsor ruined a beautiful football shirt? Big shoutout to Etihad here for the fact that they’ve let PUMA match their logo with the colours of the shirt to create a kit that drops in clean. A seriously underrated 21/22 Premier League jersey.
Shop all Manchester City 21/22 Replica here.
20: Arsenal Away
Emirates might sponsor 82% of any club that's ever kicked a ball, but credit where it's due, they're versatile when it comes to shirt design which helps create some aesthetically pleasing kits. Any yellow Arsenal away kit was always going to make this list, but that stripped back club crest sneaks it into our top 20.
Shop all Arsenal 21/22 Replica here.
19: PSG Third
Black kits, man. That suit of stealth to turn up on opposition territory and sneak out the back door with 3 points without them even seeing you. Love them. A central badge and a reverse Swoosh on the sleeve. Do you know what, if we weren’t also gonna feature two more PSG kits on this list then the third shirt would be breaking into that top 10.
Shop all PSG 21/22 Replica here.
18: RB Leipzig Third
RB Leipzig have smashed it this year. We could’ve picked any of their 3 shirts for this list but we’ve plumped for the third shirt. Why? Because it’s got that mixed Slush Puppy feel and it’s our list so that’s a perfectly valid reason. Disagree? Slide a note under our desk. Yep, still hiding.
Shop all RB Leipzig 21/22 Replica here.
17: Marseille Away
As if it’s not difficult enough in life to save money people keep coming out with beautiful new kits that we’d like, nay, have to buy. Seriously PUMA, there’s a global pandemic, do us all a favour and just churn out something boring.
Shop all Marseille 21/22 Replica here.
16: AC Milan 3rd
While others were asking why, PUMA were asking why not. And that, for us, is exciting. The PUMA 21/22 Third Shirts are growers, but you’re not allowed to admit that until you delete those knee-jerk tweets you posted calling them Pro Evo training tees. The AC Milan one is the pick of the bunch for us, because, well… black kits init.
Shop all AC Milan 21/22 Replica here.
15: Orlando Pirates Home
Has this shirt just made the top 15 because their badge is a skull and crossbones? Yes, but let us elaborate. It’s got a skull and cross bones on the back of the neck and a subtle print running across the chest. So yeah, mainly about the skull and cross bones.
Shop all Orlando Pirates 21/22 Replica here.
14: Man United Away
Another blast of throwback goodness as the Manchester United 21/22 away shirt takes inspiration from the away jersey worn three decades earlier from 1990-92. A smart release, although United could release a bin bag this season and fans would still get Ronaldo 7 printed on it wouldn’t they?
Shop all Manchester United 21/22 Replica here.
13: Frankfurt Home
If you’re getting a bit tired of black kits on this list then we make absolutely no apology. This is one deadly looking shirt. Black base with blood red trim and a club crest that looks like some kind of Pokemon on steroids. Even the name Eintracht Frankfurt sounds aggressive. That fold over collar is sharp, too. Our favourite Bundesliga kit this season.
Shop all Frankfurt 21/22 Replica here.
12: Club America Away
We talk about how football shirts have broken into that Off-Pitch space and how Jersey Culture is changing how designers design kits in that they think as much as how a shirt will look on the streets as they do on a players back on pitch. Well, Club America have been doing that for years. For us, Jersey Culture is still wearing a shirt that others ask you what it is, and that’s what this is.
Shop all Club America 21/22 Replica here.
11: Barcelona Away
Just about missing out on a place in our top ten is the Barcelona away shirt. It’s beautiful. Some clubs can just pull it off, and Barcelona, even without Messi, are still very much one of those clubs. Your mum likes this one.
Shop all Barcelona 21/22 Replica here.
10: PSG Away
We promised not to include all three kits of the same club in this list, but with PSG we broke that promise. The trend of monochrome club crests continues in style as the Parisians deliver time and time again.
Shop all PSG 21/22 Replica here.
9: Inter Milan Away
Inspired by the classic jersey from 10/11, the Inter Milan away shirt brings back the Biscione Snake graphic and combines it with the new club crest for a sleek design that puts a big tick in the nostalgia box.
Shop all Inter Milan 21/22 Replica here.
8: Venezia Third
If we could wear this and this only to row around Venice on a Gondola without being arrested, we would. In a heartbeat. Finding football where you don’t expect to find football is one of life’s priceless joys, and when it looks this good, it’s beautiful. Venezia are your new favourite Serie A team and Kappa are the cupid to this city of love.
Shop all Venezia 21/22 Replica here.
7: Liverpool Away
More 90s vibes in the Premier League, is that too much to ask. Luckily Nike are on the same page and the LFC 21/22 away shirt is classy tribute to the 96/97 design. After two pre-match pints you know that collar is coming up.
Shop all Liverpool 21/22 Replica here.
6: Kaiser Chiefs Away
More Jersey Culture perfection and more proof that modern jerseys can challenge retro on the Off-Pitch scene. Another of South Africa’s finest, the Kaiser Chiefs away shirt is a certified banger.
Shop all Kaiser Chiefs 21/22 Replica here.
5: PSG Home
The first PSG home kit to carry the Jordan logo. Shorts inspired by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls basketball uniform and a certain Lionel Messi wearing it. Sometimes everything just falls into place and this kit will forever be iconic.
Shop all PSG 21/22 Replica here.
4: Arsenal Third
We could rearrange this top 4 in any order and we’d still be satisfied with it such is the standard of kit designs this season. Most Arsenal fans would quite happily stick a video of this shirt on repeat for an hour and call it their 21/22 season highlights and we wouldn’t blame them. The bodywork of a Ferrari with the engine of a Fiat Punto. Gooners, we’re sorry, starting to feel brave from under this desk. At least it wasn’t a fourth place pun.
Shop all Arsenal 21/22 Replica here.
3: Corinthians Home
The mysterious element of wearing a club shirt not known in a mainstream sense on your shores is what Jersey Culture is all about, and this season they don’t come much better than the Corinthians 21/22 home shirt. Yep, you wish you were Brazilian too.
Shop all Corinthians 21/22 Replica here.
2: Ajax Third
A black kit that’s a tribute to Bob Marley? Honestly, the club should charge an admission fee just to look at it. A new chapter of a football club’s history made immortal by the power of shirt design. That’s what we love to see.
Shop all Ajax 21/22 Replica here.
1: Venezia Home
We’ve fallen head over heels for Venezia FC this summer. Hidden around a corner in the shadow of a street that welcomes 33m tourists a year, the home club of Venice is full of charm. A sub 10k stadium that’s only accessible by boat and the kits – wow – the kits. Kappa, take a bow. The Venezia 21/22 home shirt looks like it’s been taken straight off the wall in the city’s Doge’s Palace. Bellissimo.
Shop all 21/22 replica at the Pro:Direct Soccer Fan Store.