- By Jonathan Rudland – check out his Twitter account Arsenal Shirt Project here, while he has already reviewed the Gunners’ 2021-22 change kit
In a change to the normal release pattern by adidas, the Arsenal home shirt is the second out of three new shirts to be released this summer. In the early leaks, many compared the shirt to an Ajax copy but after the official release the consensus was Adidas have again produced a brilliant home shirt.
Drawing comparisons to the 1998-00 design, which had both a JVC and Dreamcast sponsor, adidas have bought back the white side panels but this time without the blue outline – increasing the comparisons to the traditional design of an Ajax shirt. This season we see the return of the bright scarlet red colour first seen for the 2019-20 season after last season’s darker edition.
The white sleeves continue to be free of any adidas branding with the blue adidas stripes back on the shoulder, which gives a subtle change to previous kits. As with the away kit, we see the same level of detail on the sleeve cuffs with the main red colour with blue being interwoven, giving it a nice touch. The collar is however different, with the standard Condivo 21neck, which is a lot better-fitting than the previous Condivo 20.
This year’s stand-out features were away from the shirt, with the shorts having two-colour adidas striping, blue and red, which is a move from the all red of both previous seasons. Also available for the first time were alternative red shorts, seen on the pitch in previous seasons due to kit-clashes but never available to the public. My prediction is the club had a minimum order amount to meet and, not being in Europe this year, they didn’t need as many shorts as previously, therefore leaving the addition shorts available to buy from the club store. These have, however, since sold out and are not available on the adidas website, either.
But, for me, the star of the whole kit was the return of the red and white hooped socks bringing back memories of the mid-1990s Nike kits or even the last time was saw striped socks, which were by Puma in 2017-18. The socks have the art déco-style AFC lettering, matching the name font.
Once again, we see the similar authentic details of the club’s motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit, on the bottom of the shirt as well as the Arsenal for Everyone logo inside the neck.
Premier League numbers/letters 
For the first time in since the Puma days, the club has stuck with the same name and number style for this season, which I personally think is a great decision as I love the style and it looks great on the kit. It’s just a shame that we’ll only see it in a handful of games in the League Cup and FA Cup!
Overall, I absolutely love this kit with subtle hints to our history of previous seasons which will bring back fond memories for fans of a fresh-faced Henry running on the Highbury turf! The level of detail in the shorts and socks make them feel part of the design rather than an add-on, as in previous years. Adidas haven’t let the club down yet and I’m sure will continue to keep bring us great kits!
The shirt was worn for the first-time last weekend against Rangers in a pre-season friendly. What do you think of the shirt? Where do you rate it to previous designs? Tell us your view!
