The 10 Worst Kits in Football History (Ranked)

The 10 Worst Football Kits Ever Seen (Ranked)

Football shirts can often be works of art and can become iconic and written in folklore for all the right reasons. Whether it’s the design of the shirt itself or helped by the era and achievements which occurred whilst the shirt was worn.

However, clubs and manufacturers don’t always get it right, and football kits can also go down in history for all the wrong reasons too. Here is our ranking for the 10 worst football kits ever seen.

10: Tottenham Hotspur - Away (2022/23)

Kicking off with a modern example. Nike’s recent years with Tottenham Hotspur have seen both simple and strange shirts. And whilst we can say that their away effort for Spurs’s 2022/23 season is certainly unique, it’s fair to say it doesn’t quite work.

Por si te interesa, camiseta visitante del Tottenham 2022-23 por 28€ en @SportsDirectUK

➡️ https://t.co/tfsaou00tu pic.twitter.com/HCOGNU5EPx

— Xavi (@xavisetas) January 8, 2024

Having five different colours featured on a kit is odd enough, with the strange vibrant yellow on the collar standing out too much compared to the purple front and black sleeves.

9: La Hoya Lorca – Away (2013-14)

The first – but not the last – lower league Spanish club to feature on this list. Then second division side La hoya Lorca came out with this away shirt for their 2013-14 campaign.

Infamous La Hoya Lorca 'Broccoli' away now in stock http://t.co/vD6ZTcMIjk pic.twitter.com/YE2rzK82Uw

— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) December 3, 2013

The shirt may look like broccoli, and that’s because that was the intention. The vegetable was chosen as the inspiration for the shirt due to the fact it is the most successful export from the region of Murcia where the club is based.

Whilst that may be a fun reason for the design, it doesn’t mean that it is not a pretty bad design and deserves its place in this list.

8: Colorado Caribous – Home (1978)

A niche example for sure, but certainly one of the worst shirts ever seen in football.

🇺🇸 The rather eccentric kits of The Caribous of Colorado, a short-lived former NASL team who played only one season before being purchased, moved to Atlanta and renamed the Atlanta Chiefs.

Imagine having to wear this on a rainy December's night in Dundee 🥶 🤯 pic.twitter.com/onkmOpDFmO

— Forgotten Football Clubs (@_forgottenfooty) October 10, 2023

The Colorado Caribous competed for just one season in the North American Soccer League back in 1978, and the kit they chose to mark the occasion was definitely interesting, as they came out with this eyesore.

A black and brown colour scheme was a choice in itself, but having leather tassels across the chest was a decision which cements the kits place in this list.

7: Chelsea – Away (1994-95)

Another London club offering for this list, Chelsea’s away shirt in 1994-95 was once described by Peter Crouch as ‘disgusting’ during a shoot with TNT Sports, and it’s not hard to agree with the former England striker.

So this is just the Chelsea Away jersey from the 1994/95 season https://t.co/ekq9b0ib92 pic.twitter.com/cjg4rg5mwA

— Peadar (@padrman) July 26, 2025

The Blues then kit man Terry Blyne stated the idea behind the kits design was to avoid clashing with any opponents kits. And whilst that may be true, the mix of grey and orange doesn’t exactly make the kit appealing to look at.

6: Celtic - Away 1991/92

You can usually rely on Celtic to produce classic shirts, but the kit worn on the Glasgow giants travels during the 1991/92 season was not one to remember fondly.

It's #Celtic v Airdrie this evening in the Scottish Cup.

Here's a picture from a time we played them in 1991 and one of the few times we wore THAT kit 🙈. #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/Xe8rBCjZWw

— 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗰𝗚𝗶𝗻𝗹𝗮𝘆⭐️ (@philbertosilva) January 19, 2019

Having green for an away shirt for a club whose home colours are green is bad enough. But having different shades of green on the shirt, mixed with a strange write zig-zagged pattern through the middle which makes the shirt almost look unfinished has to put it down as one of the worst ever seen.

And to make matters worse for Celtic fans, the shirt was worn during an era where Rangers dominated the Scottish game, winning their fourth straight title during the 91/92 season.

5: Juventus – Third (2021/22)

Italy’s most successful club are responsible for donning some of the best shirts seen in football, but the third kit produced by Adidas for the 2021/22 season was one which won’t be remembered like some of their others.

Juventus have dropped their 21/22 third kit 💥 pic.twitter.com/7Csb7KcGrK

— GOAL (@goal) August 19, 2021

With two sponsors, a lack of proper symmetry to the design and colours that just don’t mix together, there is just too much going on here. It’s fair to say Adidas have had finer efforts than this.

4: Cultural Leonesa - Home (2014-15)

In 2014, Cultural Leonesa, who were then in the Spanish third division perhaps took the phrase ‘dress for the occasion’ a bit too literally for their home kit that season.

Think your team has a dodgy away kit this season? Thank your lucky stars you don't support Cultural Leonesa in Spain pic.twitter.com/oumbCDU4sd

— Dan O'Hagan ⚽️🎙️ (@danohagan) July 23, 2014

Designed by Juan Francisco Martin (more on him later) the club sported a tuxedo inspired jersey, featured with printed cufflinks and tie. It may not suit a football pitch, but there was definitely no team throughout the world in the 2014/15 season who were more smartly dressed on the pitch for sure.

3: Athletic Club – European Home (2004/05)

Athletic Bilbao 2004/05 pic.twitter.com/1JeJNOVh8r

— The League Magazine (@Theleaguemag) July 9, 2014

Local pride and tradition is at the very core of the identity of Athletic Club, which begs the question what the Bilbao club were thinking when they released their European kit to be donned in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup campaign.

Going away from the famous red and white vertical stripes, the kit’s design was inspired by the art seen at the famous Guggenheim Art Museum in Bilbao. But it’s fair to say the kit is anything but a modern art masterpiece.

2: CD Palencia - Home (2016/17)

The penultimate place in this list goes to perhaps another example of a lower league club sporting strange shirts which becomes the sole reason the club themselves becomes known to people, and the shirt itself becoming iconic in ways that could be argued were intended by the club.

Can you believe this is a real kit???

CD Palencia home kit (2016-17) pic.twitter.com/UbKT1Q4q5C

— The Huddle FC (@thehuddlefc) September 4, 2023

This is certainly the case for the home shirt worn in the 2016-17 season by Spanish fourth division side CD Palencia, who took to the pitch wearing something that looked more at home in a medical or science textbook than a football pitch.

Again designed by Juan Francisco Martin, It may have not looked great, but it brought the success the team needed as they earned promotion to the third tier that campaign.

1: Puma Third Kits (2021/22)

Maybe this is slightly cheating, as this isn’t one specific shirt, but the crown for the worst kit (or in this case, kits) has to go to Puma’s third shirt release for the 2021/22 season.

Rewriting the rules! 🔥

The 21/22 #ManCity x @pumafootball Third Kit is here!

SHOP NOW 👇

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 18, 2021

What they were thinking, we’re not too sure. But Manchester City, Olympique Marseille, AC Milan, Valencia, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Fenerbahçe had the displeasure of sporting these simply designed templates that didn’t even feature the clubs badge, instead the club’s name simply written across the front middle.

It’s no wonder this template has not been seen since. And hopefully it never will.