Since the Umbro logo first featured on the Watford kit a half-century ago, the names of 12 more kit-manufacturers have appeared on the Hornets’ outfits.
Not included in that dozen is Nike, however, so that presents us with an ideal opportunity to tick that ‘what if?’ box as well as indulging interchangeability whims.
For our money, a good Watford home shirt requires the red and black elements to be well-balanced. For most of the past decade, black has been very dominant in that regard, while the 2024-25 shirt got the mix right but the new one for the current season is a bit too like what you might expect from the Catalunya national team.
When it comes to Watford, the mid-1980s kits using the Umbro Rivera design are the gold standard and of course they had a multitude of mix-and-match options. If we were to go with a Nike style that had horizontal bars, the risk is that they would only come across as poor imitations of the original and so instead we have plumped for the dual arm hoops of the Arsenal 2012-14 home kit.
In real life, by 2012-13 Watford were firmly back in black shorts territory – the 2011-12 home kit was the only one between 2007 and 2024 to have red as the default colour – but we have taken some licence by opting for red. Equally, the actual two-tone blue change strip was perfectly cromulent but going for white as a nod to the 1980s allows for the mixing across both.
In terms of alternative looks, swapping the shorts and socks – as with 1999-2000, Watford’s first season in the Premiership – makes for solid looks, while we always liked the yellow-red-black look as seen at the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. Just in case they didn’t solve any issues, we’ve packed white sets too, as a tribute of sorts to Dave Bassett.
And, just to round things off – and possibly lean into the fantasy element a bit too much – there are red and black versions for the goalkeepers. Such a situation might not always be suitable with the outfield combinations and so blue and green editions of the style are on hand, too.
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