It used to be that teams could pick their own name and number sets – just remember that military-style stencil font at Real Madrid in the early noughties, or England’s iconic two-tone typeface at Euro 96.
These days, that level of individualism – at club level, at least – tends to be restricted to pre-season tours in far-flung locations.
We’ve been treated to some highly creative approaches in recent weeks, so we’ve picked seven of our favourites.
Brondby away 2022/23
Firstly, what a shirt. We digress – that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Instead, let’s focus on that insane and largely illegible font, which is inspired by graffiti and completes the tattoo-inspired design of the jersey. We like the look of it all – but not great if you are, you know, actually trying to read it.
England home 2022
Truly one of the worst England shirts in maybe forever but the name set was decent. According to the press release from the FA, the "angular typeface applied to the name and number is inspired by industrial fonts used by heavy metal rock bands throughout England". Yeah, that sounds like bollocks.
Shop ALL England shirts here.
Borussia Dortmund limited edition 2020/21
Big 90s derivation going on with this one and we are absolutely here for it. A font that absolutely screams KARL-HEINZ RIEDLE, YAHHHHHHHH. Wunderbar.
Shop ALL German club shirts here.
Roma Japan tour shirt 2022
Literally every time you stick Japanese letters on the back of a shirt, it makes it look at least 27 times better. And this is no exception.
Shop ALL Italian club shirts here.
Ajax “Three Little Birds” third shirt 2021/2022
You know the story with this shirt. Bob Marley’s legendary Three Little Birds has become a terrace anthem for Ajax fans, hence the green, yellow and red detail on their 2021/22 third shirt – and those colours are replicated on the back-of-shirt typeface.
Shop ALL Dutch club shirts here.
Manchester City Third Shirt 2023/2024 (Japan tour)
City used a bespoke font that took stylistic cues from the Kanji characters that make up the Japanese alphabet during their tour of the country earlier this summer. It’s a bit cliched but still looks great.
Shop ALL Premier League club shirts here.
Italy home shirt 2022/2023
Italy’s switch to adidas included the creation of their very own font - inspired by traditional Italian typefaces. Both the numbers and the letters come with a subtle modern 3D effect. Understated elegance.
Shop ALL Italy shirts here.
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