Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits Ranked

The Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits have been ranked, and us football fans all know a classic when we’ve seen one.

Modern football shirts can be rather blah of late and that fact it’s designed with player performance and a streamlined design in mind is not to blame, but it’s more about how lazy it’s got. The same templates, same styles, reused patterns, it gets boring.

It’s not to say there aren’t any stunners these days, Coventry and Cambridge just some of those a good example of late showing they can revisit a a past much loved kit and do it justice.

Listed below are SPORTbible‘s Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits Ranked, take a look at if your favourite features below…

10. Liverpool (1996 Home Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: Big fan of how much prominence the badge is given.

Red trim stands out on a white background and the touches of gold add a sense of elegance.

What do we think? It’s a nice, simple kit, not too much going on and rather like the collar and cuffs.

A classic club crest shows up nicely, though the sponsor could be slightly lower down. Overall we approve of it being within the Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits ranking.

9. Borussia Monchengladbach (1995 Home Cup Final Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: Can you get any more 90s than this? German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach enjoy mixing green into their shirts and this quasi-tiger print effort needs to be appreciated.

A lucky shirt, considering they won the 1994-95 DFB-Pokal wearing it.

What do we think? Well, it’s certainly unique. The logo is rather unusually the other side of the shirt, no complains. Like how the unique pattern stops and then restarts for a suitable size gap for a sponsor which fits well.

Proper retro, however we can’t help but feel there are other kits that are better than this one. Nice shirt, but different. Make of it what you will.

8. Aston Villa (1994 Away Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: More green, was green in vogue before the turn of the millennium?

Red and black is always a solid combo on a football shirt, as is a collar. ‘Müller’ being in a huge red block adds to the appeal.

What do we think? Now this is more like it. Ok there is lots going on with it, plenty of colours used too. You know for a fact that if this was brought back to life today that the crest would go with the same colour theme as used for majority of the shirt.

Mixed opinion on the buttons, like everyone tends to debate on, just like the colour. Overall we rather like this one.

7. Newcastle United (1996 Away Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: David Ginola looked good in anything, but this one is an absolute doozy.

‘Newcastle Brown Ale’ is the definitive Magpies sponsor and with spellbinding football under cult hero manager Kevin Keegan, there’s a reason Newcastle United were must-see in the mid-90s.

What do we think? When you see these colours on a kit, it instantly reminds us of Newcastle and not of Sunderland when they attempted to copy this.

Newcastle brought this style back for the 2020/21 season as their away kit, much to the delight of fans. However the collar was axed, buttons got rid of and the sponsor a lot bigger and to do with a betting company rather than the classic Newcastle Brown Ale.

This definitely deserves to be on the top 10 list.

6. Manchester City (1994 Anniversary Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: Does every Manchester City fan have a ‘Brother’ shirt?

Simple yet effective, the sponsor stands out on the glacial blue colour while darker triangles add more flavour.

What do we think? We love it, sponsor is clear to see, not too big either. Love the subtle blue triangles. Can’t fault it (even if it does have a button).

5. Everton (1986 Home Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: Half blue, half white was a risky move for the Toffees but it paid off.

Arguably their greatest shirt ever, it had one of English football’s all time greats wear it in the form of Gary Lineker.

He scored 40 goals in all competitions during his solitary season at Goodison Park before swapping Merseyside for Barcelona.

What do we think? Screams a classic, done brilliantly, sponsor is standout, no collar or buttons, nice looking cuffs, and rather cool glistening downwards strips.

4. Inter Milan (1990 Home Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: Simplicity can be key. When it comes to Inter Milan, that rings true.

Shirts further up this list have appreciated the bold and unique.

But when it comes to the ‘Nerazzurri’, all you need are the blue and black stripes.

What do we think? Black and blue always reminds everyone of Inter Milan. They’ve got an identity that no one else really tries to copy.

Decent enough collar, a sponsor not too big and is nice and clear, black cuffs, really like it. Much nicer than their risky current home kit (2020/21).

3. England (1982 World Cup Finals Home Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: The use of blue, red and white on the shoulders proved to be a popular design choice at the time, in a tournament that saw England go unbeaten but still go out in the second group stage.

It inspired 2018’s training shirt.

What do we think? One of the best England kits ever? We’d agree. Simple, much different to the usual kits thrown out today, great use of colours to match the crest.

No wonder it was inspiration for the training shirt of a few years back, even that couldn’t beat this though.

2. Brazil (1970 World Cup Final Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: An argument can be made this is ‘THE’ definitive football shirt.

Worn in the successful 1970 World Cup campaign, Brazil lit up the tournament with Pele, Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostão AND Rivelino attacking with force.

Carlos Alberto scored arguably the greatest goal of all-time in the final.

But it’s the most simple shirt on the list, yellow with green trim.

Further proof it’s the player who makes the shirt, rather than the other way round.

What do we think? May not look all that much but sometimes it simply doesn’t need to. Captures the eye, doesn’t need a pattern and for the time is came out, it’s pretty spot on.

1. AC Milan (1988 Home Shirt)

SPORTbible wrote: A staple of one of European football’s most dominant sides. Milan kept this shirt for two seasons, winning their first Serie A title in a decade in one and a European Cup in the other.

Just like their city rivals Inter, all you need for magic are the iconic stripes. Football’s greatest ever shirt.

What do we think? Got to love a classic AC Milan kit. Like Inter, you know AC Milan’s identity with their red and black stripes. Another you can’t fault, even the sponsor isn’t that bad.

Does it deserve to be number one of this Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits, we’ll let you decide that one.

So, you have now see the Top 10 Greatest Ever Retro Football Kits Ranked, which do you feel is missing that isn’t on here?

Let us know below or on our social media pages! We’d love to know what you have to say.