New 26-27 Football Kits: Black, Pink, and River Blue
The new season is still taking shape on the pitch, but across Europe and the lower leagues of England, clubs are already telling their stories in fabric and colour. From Venlo to Shrewsbury, four fresh shirts drop with one shared theme: identity first, gimmicks second.
VVV-Venlo: Night Colours for a City Tribute
VVV-Venlo have completed their 2026-27 kit set with a sharp away shirt that feels more like streetwear than second strip. Crafted by Craft, the design keeps the club’s ongoing tribute to the city of Venlo front and centre, only this time the tone is darker, sleeker.
The shirt leans on a black base, broken up by subtle tonal striping that you only really catch in the light. It’s not loud, but it’s deliberate. Mint green accents slice through the darkness: the trim, the details, the logos. Every mark on the front – manufacturer and sponsor alike – follows that mint theme, standing in clean contrast to the club’s traditional yellow-and-black crest.
That clash of mint and old gold gives the shirt its edge. It feels modern without abandoning what the badge represents. For a club in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, it’s a kit that wouldn’t look out of place under floodlights or in the city streets it’s meant to honour.
Rochdale: Back in the EFL in Soft Pink
Rochdale AFC’s return to the English Football League always needed a visual statement. O'Neills have given them one, and it’s not in blue or white, but soft pink.
The 2026-27 away shirt lands with a pastel pink base that instantly sets it apart in League Two. White side panels carve into the body, giving the shirt a clean, athletic frame. A white V-neck collar and matching sleeve cuffs carry black and pink detailing, a small nod to retro touches without tipping into costume.
The badge goes monochrome: a black Rochdale crest, paired with a black O'Neills logo and sponsor branding. Stripping the colour from the crest sharpens the whole design. It feels like a promotion statement—calm, confident, unafraid to be different in a division where bold colours often dominate.
Rochdale are back in the EFL. Their away kit looks like it belongs there.
FC Copenhagen Women: Tradition in White, Edge in Black and Blue
In Denmark, FC Copenhagen Women step into 26-27 with a pair of Adidas designs that echo the men’s launch earlier in July but still carve out their own space.
The home shirt stays loyal. A traditional white base forms the canvas, the identity the club never strays far from. Across it runs a fresh, streamlined Adidas graphic in blue and purple – a pattern already seen on the kits of Köln, Yokohama F Marinos and a handful of other clubs. On Copenhagen, it feels crisp, almost icy, a cool twist on a classic look.
The away kit flips the mood. Black dominates, setting up a strong, contrasting backdrop. Cutting across it is a blue sash, a simple but striking feature that instantly marks the shirt out. No clutter, no over-design. Just a bold diagonal that does the talking.
Between the two, Copenhagen Women have a set that respects tradition and still pushes into something more contemporary, in line with Adidas’ broader design language for the season.
ESTAC Troyes: Sunset Tones and Cat Alley
In Troyes, Puma have gone local. Deeply local. The new 26-27 away kit for ESTAC Troyes is built around one of the city’s most famous landmarks: the Ruelle des Chats, or Cat Alley.
The narrow, leaning timbered houses of that historic passageway inspire the jersey’s look and feel. Puma have chosen colours to mirror the tones of Troyes’ old building facades as they catch the light at sunset. It’s a romantic brief, but a precise one. The palette leans into those warm, fading shades that define the city’s skyline when the day is almost done.
This is not just a pattern for pattern’s sake. It’s a wearable snapshot of Troyes’ architectural charm, a reminder that the club’s story is rooted in more than just the four stands around the pitch.
Shrewsbury Town: A River on the Sleeves
Shrewsbury Town’s third shirt for 26-27 completes their new-season wardrobe with a concept that goes straight to the map. Oxen have turned to the River Severn, the famous loop that wraps around the town, and built a design that lets geography do the talking.
The 26-27 third jersey carries a distinct graphic pattern on the sleeves, tracing and echoing the river’s path. It’s a clever visual hook, tied neatly to the launch tagline: “In the Loop”. The idea is simple—Shrewsbury in the bend of the Severn, players and supporters in the loop together—but the execution gives the shirt personality.
With the third kit now on sale online and in the club store, it joins a 140th Anniversary home shirt and the away kit released earlier in the summer. Three different looks, one clear message: this is a club leaning into its history and its landscape as it heads into another League Two campaign.
The question now is which of these designs will still be remembered when the season’s results are long forgotten—the black-and-mint of Venlo, the pink of Rochdale, the sash in Copenhagen, the sunset of Troyes, or the looping river of Shrewsbury?
