Sky Bet Championship 2017 - 2018
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Contributors are credited in brackets. Opinions expressed on this page are those of HFK and not contributors.
Aston Villa
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Designer: Under Armour
Sponsor: Unibet
Under Armour have produced a couple of crackers for Villa. The claret and blue shirt is traditional but with the addition of little lions rampaging across it. There's a neat collar with "Pride, Passion, Purpose" printed into the back of the neck along with some little yellow lions. The black change strip features a horizontal chest band with a random checkered pattern. The only thing I don't like is that yet another online betting company is sponsoring the shirts.
(Diamond One, George Pannell)
Barnsley
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: CK Beckett
Barnsley's new shirts have Puma's latest "ascension stripe" as a motif down the sides of the torso. Twenty years ago the team were in the Premier League and wore white shirts trimmed in bottle green as a change strip. Hence the marketing strap-line, "Inspired by Our Past" for the new set. The striking navy third strip has the Barnsley coat of arms printed onto the front of the shirt with an overlaid grid pattern.
(Diamond One, Graham Siddons)
Birmingham City
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 888 Sport
Adidas' Tiro design makes for smart, if uninspiring, strips. A bit "meh" according to our correspondent. Last season's red outfit was brought out for the visit to Reading.
(Harry Meadows, Robin Horton)
Bolton Wanderers
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Designer: Macron
Sponsor: Betfred
Bolton were promoted last season and are wearing new kits modelled on the Reebok outfits from twenty years ago when they left Burnden Park. The pale blue third kit is retained from last season.
(Diamond One, Alexander Perkin)
Brentford
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Leo Vegas
Brentford have introduced a smart new badge featuring a bee and have updated their first strip to the latest Adidas version which seems to have gone down well with the fans. The change kit in green and white is something of a departure. The black change strip from last season is recycled as the new third choice.
(Nick Bruzon)
Bristol City
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Designer: Bristol Sport
Sponsor: Lancer Scott
Purple, lime green and white for change strips is becoming something of a fixture and goes back 25 years. The new version is modelled on the 1992-93 original. White shorts are reinstated for the first choice kit.
(Euan Slatter, Diamond One, Robert Healey)
Burton Albion
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Designer: Tag
Sponsor: Tempobet
Burton are keeping their change kit for another season. On the face of it the new yellow and black strip is neat and tidy but nothing exceptional. Look more closely at the shirt, however, and there is some clever sublimated detailing. The subtle tonal band across chest is a honeycomb pattern (and no, I have no idea) while the footballing brewer from the club crest is printed into the front left shirt-tail.
(Dan Bower, @dakBAFC, Daniel Mann)
Cardiff City
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Visit Malaysia
Adidas' standard strips are smart if dull but I confess I like the Bluebirds' new first strip. The navy trim against mid-blue works really well. The change strip (solar green no less) marks a minor revolution as it's the first time since Vincent Tan took over the club that red has not featured in the first or second strip. However last season's red change kit has been retained as third choice.
(William Geddes, Daniel Mann)
Derby County
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Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: Avon Tyres
There are Umbro diamonds printed into the sleeves and shorts seams of the first strip. Apart from the new sponsor, there is not much else to distinguish it from last season's. Smart enough. For the change strip Umbro have used bright yellow and two shades of blue. The tapes on the shoulders and shorts are an alternative interpretation of the "running diamond" motif. This also appears in shocking pink on the black third kit which has an unpleasant graphic that suggest the Nineties are back again.
(Szin Fletcher, Daniel Mann)
Fulham
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Charity
v Birmingham 9 December
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Designer: Fulham
Sponsor: Grosvenor Casinos.com
There's not a lot to say about Fulham's new first choice. It's just a bog standard set with the club crest and yet another casino's logo added. The alternative is reversed but curiously, is in a different template.
(Diamond One, Jamie Glynn)
Hull City
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Designer: Umbro
Sponsor: Sport Pesa
Hull are going up and down like the proverbial fiddler's whatsit and this season grace the Championship again. The candy stripes on the new first shirt resemble the 1963-64 tops but those didn't have diagonal stripes on the sleeves. Whatever will they think of next, the little rascals. The team had a white change strip trimmed in amber a couple of seasons ago which I liked very much and they have revived that look with an even better version. The third strip provides a good contrast with the alternatives and is officially descrbed as "navy peony."
(Diamond One, Daniel Mann)
Ipswich Town
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From 11 January
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Marcus Evans, Magical Vegas
Pretty standard fare here. There are sublimated hoops on the first shirt while the change kit is the new Tiro design. Last season's white strip was worn for the match at Crystal Palace in the Football League Cup. Many supporters were upset by the announcement that the club had signed a shirt sponsorship deal with an online casino whose logo appeared on the red change shirts in the New Year. Magical Vegas will sponsor all the team shirts next season.
(Kieran Bleasby, Leo Howard, Simon Ståål)
Leeds United
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Designer: Kappa
Sponsor: 32Red
Kappa's Kombat Skin range makes a reappearance. Skin tight and manufactured without seams, these are designed to make shirt-pulling impossible. Svelte supporters can buy the Body Fit version: the rest of us can order the more relaxed replica version. And what better alternative to white trimmed in gold could there be than black trimmed with silver? Clever. The blue strip is held over from last season.
(Martin Hart, Leo Howard)
Middlesbrough
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Second
Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Ramsdens Currency
Yay! Adidas have introduced a new template with a broad band on the chest offering 'Boro the chance to recreate one of their best ever strips without the hassle of commissioning a bespoke kit from another supplier. The change kit is a reversed version in white and navy. Note that the three-stripe trim is placed across the shoulders on this version.
(Zachary Lewis, John McAleer)
Millwall
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Designer: Errea
Sponsor: DCS Roofing Contractors, TW Drainage
Millwall's achievement in winning promotion was overshadowed by the murky dealings of Lewisham Council whose attempts to compulsorily purchase the club's land and sell it to a shadowy developer threaten the existence of the club in the view of officials and supporters. An enquiry has now been convened to look into the affair but there are considerable doubts about how independent this will be.
(Joe Finnan, Daniel Mann)
Norwich City
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Designer: Errea
Sponsor: Leo Vegas
Now this is a bit cheeky. Errea have taken a favourite from the 1970s made by Admiral and stuck their own labels on the sleeve trim. The change shirt has fine horizontal stripes in grey tones. The bold purple third strip might come in handy when the team visit Hull.
(Stuart English, Zak Nelson, Diamond One, Sytse Korts)
Nottingham Forest
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: 888 Sport
Forest clung on to their Championship status by the skin of their teeth, having a slightly better goal difference than Blackburn who went down. Their new first choice outfit resembles the classic Adidas strips of the Brian Clough era but with silver pinstripes. The alternative is the Tiro design in dark blue.
Preston North End
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Designer: Nike
Sponsor: Tempobet
There's not a lot to say here. The "home" strip is just tweaked to the latest style, I rather like the two tones of yellow on the change strip and the third is, well, green. Last season's sponsor, an online casino, is exchanged for an online bookie.
(Dominic Saul)
Queens Park Rangers
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Special Edition
Designer: Errea
Sponsor: Royal Panda
Rangers could do no better than turn to Errea after ending their contract with Dryworld early. The Italian company have a flair for design which shines through in this outstanding set. The first strip is true to the club's cherished broad hoops and is executed in different colour combinations for the alternatives. Truly excellent. The special edition shirt, which will not be worn on the pitch, celebrates 100 years of the team playing at Loftus Road and reproduces the colours worn by the team in 1917.
(Diamond One)
Reading
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: Carabao
the good news is that Reading are wearing white shorts and socks once again, which I have always preferred. The bad news? Well everything else really. More of Puma's unpleasant fading spottiness on the "home" shirt and a change kit that is unspeakable. Apparently Borussia Dortmund have the same design and so do - well no-one else at all. Odd that.
Several fans angrily resorted to Twitter after their £48 replica shirts arrived with the sponsor's logo printed off to one side.
Could these become collector's items?
(Simon Wise)
Sheffield United
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Teletext Holidays
The Blades won League One last season and supporters can look forward to regular matches with Wednesday once again. Usually teams in stripes kitted out by Adidas are limited to variations on their standard templates but this season the German giant has come up with some bespoke versions. United's refers to the iconic shirts designed by Admiral in the late 1970s.
Many supporters are unhappy about the change kit because purple looks a bit too much like blue, which is worn by another local team. "Forged in Battle" reads the marketing strap-line. "Because it's the Corporate Colour of Our Shirt Sponsor" would be more accurate.
(Szin Fletcher, Matt Brownhill, Steven Oldale)
Sheffield Wednesday
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Designer: Own Brand
Sponsor: Chansiri, Elev8
Wednesday are 150 years old this year and have some special bespoke kits to mark the occasion. First to be released is an elegant third strip designed by a supporter, Karl Nuttall. The first choice strip is based on the iconic outfit adopted in the mid Sixties while the change strip revives a popular strip from the early 90s. The strips are produced in house but two have Elev8 branding. Quite why the producer of an energy drink so obscure it cannot be found on the internet, much less in the shops, should be credited with producing the first and second strips is at present a mystery.
(Leo Howard, Harrison Jennings)
Sunderland
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Designer: Adidas
Sponsor: Dafabet
Following a decade in the top flight, Sunderland have to start again in the Championship after an abject 2016-17 season. The narrow stripes on the shirt have an unfamiliar look but they are rather growing on me and I'm pleased to see the gold accents gone - a fourth colour was a bit too much. Sky blue should prove a popular choice for the alternative strip while the third choice is rather more funereal.
(Diamond One, Cameron Fletcher, Daniel Mann)
Wolverhampton Wanderers
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Designer: Puma
Sponsor: The Money Shop
Wolves have simply updated their first strip to the latest Puma design and introduced a black alternative, which has a fading vertical stripe down the left side of the shirt. There's rather too much going on with the third strip.
(Diamond One, Nik Yeomans, Anthony Benton)