The Sports Optimator is proud to present its Top Ten Best Kits of 2009-2010. Sadly this list was painfully difficult to populate as the world of football jerseys has imploded for some reason *ahem* Adidias *ahem* and designers are going blind all over the world. We sincerely hope that things will turn around next year and we will wind up having a drunken argument over the top 10 instead of the worst 10 and nobody will get hurt. Once again, these are in no particular order and there is absolutely no bias even though the Sports Optimator(s) are Arsenal and Manchester United fans.
Arsenal (All Three) - After going through all the candidates for worst jersey it was a great relief to find a team with great jerseys. Arsenal managed not just one, but three great jerseys. The lesson here being that simple can be great, no need for complex piping or baffling colors (Barcelona, I'm looking at you, or more accurately averting my gaze) to create an exceptional design. The collar on the away and third jerseys is also awesome, the death of the collar saddens me.
Manchester United (All Three & Keeper) - If you told me that Nike, the reigning king of design abortions (Oregon Football), would land two multi-jersey entries in our top ten I wouldn't have believed you. Obviously the NCAA football crew isn't working on their football designs because simplicity is getting them rave reviews. The simple "V" and use of only a few colors makes Manchester United's jersey look good, so good in fact that even the Keeper is getting in on it (Petr Cech is very jealous right now) with a set of tops that look great.
Hamburg SV (White) - Shockingly, Adidas managed not to mangle a design and land in our top 10. It seems that Adidas has managed to keep some whites simple, but if the stripes didn't die into nothing mid-bicep this jersey would be great. My only gripe is Adidas' questionable logo placement, why not do Adidas & Hamburg at left and right chest? Why is one at a chest and the other centered? Olympique Marseille's white is very similar and just barely lost to Hamburg SV.
Roma (White) - Another simple design gone horribly right. Roma sticks to their colors and uses stripes to punch up their whites, which tend to be fairly dull around the world, without making it into a train wreck.
AC Milan (Home Red/Black) - A design that never gets old; vertical stripes, white collar, and a good color scheme. The only strikes against it are the centered Adidas logo and the shoulder stripes that stop mid-bicep.
Manchester City (All Three) - The dark horse of the group, and even though this list in in no particular order these may just be our top pick. Another great example of simplicity triumphing over flash, especially the black away and sash element on the whites. Major kudos to Umbro here, they seem to churn out great simple designs (England's kits from 2006-2010) without being boring.
Internazionale (Home & Away) - Nike is running away with the best 10 title with Internazionale being their third. This was almost PSV Eindhoven or Atletico Madrid, but the colors and classic striping were just too much, and their whites look great as well very much like Roma's. Simple and classic, nothing crazy here just good design. This could have been Sunderland as well, but their away kit made me think twice about including any of their jerseys.
Urawa Reds (Home Red) - Urawa just barely lost out to Manchester City as our top dark horse. I fully expected a carnival of horrors from the J-League, but was pleasantly amazed (even though half of them made me gag) by the Urawa Reds. Another simple design, avoids odd piping and randomly terminating stripes.
Celtic (Home & Away) - Nike strikes again with one of the most unique kits out there. They retained Celtic's long standing use of horizontal stripes, and even downed a few handfuls of shrooms to come up with the "bumble bee" look that actually looks pretty good. We won't get into the plaid shorts that go with their white international kit, we'll save that for our much anticipated worst shorts list.
FC Copenhagen (White) - This won out over others mainly as an example of how to use your logo well. A company that will not be named *ahem* Puma *ahem* likes to put its logo in 40 different places on its kits in the event you don't know who makes them. Kappa seems to have taken that approach and done something good with it on the sleeves. Too many logos? Definitely. An actual design element. Yes, so its ok.
Also Recieving Votes :
Lyon (White) - Very similar to Roma's, but added humor because their away black-red gradient is so hideous.
Paris Saint-Germain (Blue) - Arsenal away-esque, simple, and another Nike! Nike football seems to be bizarro-NCAA, can we have them switch teams for the sake of the Pac-10?
Atletico Madrid / PSV Eindhoven - Just barely lost to FC Copenhagen, this is what happens when more than one person tries to make a Top 10 list. To be fair they are very similar to Internazionale in the vertical striping, so maybe there should have been a Thick Vertical Stripes That Look Great category.