The best and worst of 2016/17 kit. Who is the Bees knees and who is in the chamber of horrors?

With Brentford finally treating fans to a quick peak at our new shirt last night, I thought I’d cast the net that bit further afield whilst we are waiting for the full reveal. Specifically to look at what is on offer so far. Will we stand above QPR, sartorially speaking? What about fellow Championship rivals Ipswich Town ? How will Middlesbrough look now they’ve finally escaped the Championship?

All feature in the best and worst of 2016/17 so far. As ever, these are judged using no more scientific a method than than my own personal opinion. And so without further ado:

The top five best:

5: Tottenham (home) Simple and stylish. Traditional white  but the offset used in  an old school shoulder bar. I’d presumed it was  nod to Victorian times but Spurs have never gone down this route before. Regardless, it looks great and we’ll even forgive them double slogans.

4: Port Vale (home). You could, likewise, have opted for their third kit. Steering away from the likes of an adidas and Nike can give an additional element of the bespoke when it comes to kit selection. As with Spurs, its all about the shoulders. As with Spurs, we’ll forgive their hashtag.

3: Bradford City (home). The Bantams have never been shy to innovate with their kits. 2016.17 sees them continue that tradition but with diagonal, rather than vertical, stripes. The result is wonderful whilst the good taste continues onto their away/third shirts too.

2: IpswichTown (home). What’s not to like? Chevron chest stripes along with contrasting sleeves to body. This really is a standout design and one I’ve not seen elsewhere this season.

 

1: Crystal Palace (away). Mention sashes and, windows aside, the two things I automatically think of are Peru and Crystal Palace. The eagles have gone for their iconic design once more, over a yellow shirt, and the results speak for themselves. Even the sponsor seems sympathetic to the design.

If they are the best (to date) then what about the other side? The five worst. Its been a bit tougher this time around, simply because it seems to really be the season for ‘safe’ kit design. Chelsea away and Manchester City home look like a marketing man’s wet dream – no doubt the phrase “designed to go with jeans” was bandied around design meetings

There has been a marked return for 80s pinstripe – Leicester City, West Brom and Tottenham all going for this option in their away kits. Great news for the lovers of retro design. not such great news for the, erm, fuller figure.

Yet there is still plenty of rough in the diamonds, of which my take on the ropier efforts is as follows:

 5:Barnet (away). I love a sash, but not like this. A staggered design in a very strange colour combination. Add in horizontal pinstripes and the phrase ‘busy’ springs to mind.

4:Southampton (home). I’m sorry. I loathed this, then liked it but now I’m back out of love with it. You can’t deny it’s striking but I’m struggling to look past the hitched up bra that the players seem to be wearing.

3: Middlesbrough (home). This isn’t sour grapes on account of their beating Brentford 6 times out of 6 in the last two seasons. Simply the fact that the low sash looks somewhat peculiar. Moreso, when you imagine this shirt on the ‘larger’ supporter where this paunch level trim has been placed in a most unflattering location.

2:Coventry City (home). Awful disappearing stripes and even worse marketing . That pose. That press release “Coventry City FC will be turning out in the famous Sky Blue and white stripes once again! “ Yes, to an extent. As long as you don’t look above the chest.

1: QPR (third). Great if you like Frazzles.

Honourable mention: Rochdale – if for no other reason that it is the winner of a competition last September for fans to design and then vote for what will now be their forthcoming kit.

Mark Devlin, Kitman Bob, Mr Benahm. If you are reading, any chance we could go attempt something similar next season? With a fan’s forum coming up on August 1, that question may well be on the agenda….

Nick Bruzon

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Pack those sunnies. Is this the best football shirt ever?

After the excitement of the new Brentford shirt being revealed on Monday, the club has gone one better with Tuesday’s announcement of the new Adidas goalkeeper top. Championship visitors such as former Bee Jordan Rhodes (now Blackburn Rovers) and Wolves Nouha Dicko may be familiar with Griffin Park from previous seasons but I’ll bet they’ve never faced off against one like this before.

Check that Championship kit list, lads – boots, shin pads, shirt, sunglasses. This is less a goalkeeper’s shirt and more the result of some LSD induced design meeting. If ever there was a lesson in not doing drugs then here it is (metaphorically, of course – kids, don’t do it).

Yet despite the initial shock – and I honestly thought when I saw a leaked picture on Monday that it was a fake, with somebody just turning up the contrast on Photoshop – I think the club and Adidas have stumbled on a stroke of genius.

The club really are promoting this with the line: Brentford FC blue and purple goalkeeper kit.

Sartorial genius from Brentford – as seen on the clubshop website (link above) where you can order it now

It is so shocking, so lurid, so bad that it is actually genius. Whatever it does to our opponents, I know what it is going to do to my already dwindling piggy bank. Unless the away shirt turns out to be some form of lost Da Vinci masterpiece then rather than lining up for that, I think I’ll be opting for ‘GK’ as my second choice shirt next season.

And in other shirt news, I wandered up to the club shop on Monday evening where the new home kit is sitting in the window. I’m still very happy with the design of this, despite the observations floating around cyberspace about the sponsor’s logo, and note also the ‘Osca’ style at the end of the sleeves. Thanks to Luis Adriano for that tip off and, for the record, you should also check out his excellent Beesotted piece on our new kit. I’m glad I’m not the only one with shirt obsession.

The other interesting point was the use of ventex style material (teabags) in the armpit region. An interesting choice, given the controversy around the perforated back form two seasons ago although, to be fair, only a small area this time around.

I’m sure that the marketing chaps would call this something like ‘air flow technology designed to help players keep cool’. That said, given the bespoke design of our kit, perhaps ‘Mr Brentford’, Peter Gilham, has been involved in the creative process.

Being as it features ‘teabags’, has he offered his P.G. Tips?

Teabag armpits – a statement of design fact rather than a comment on anybody’s personal hygiene