Kitlocker.com Kits of the Year - 2022

Welcome to the Kitlocker.com Kits of the Year 2022! 🏆

We reckon that 2022 has been our best year so far for beautiful kits. And thanks to you guys for helping us to push the boundaries of kit design.

It was tough. It took hours of fierce debate in the office. But we’ve managed to pick out our 10 favourite kits of this year (in no particular order). 

Feast your eyes 👇

Tapton School

In the month that Argentina won the World Cup, we couldn’t help but include this one. And we had to take photos of the number 10 shirt because… well, Messi of course.

This shirt from Sheffield’s Tapton School is taking us back to the early Messi era when he had that scruffy mop of hair and was taking the mick out of defenders for fun.

Big pressure on the Tapton School number 10…

Mossley Hill JFC

Liverpool based Mossley Hill JFC’s U9 Girls team put out a post looking for a new sponsor back in January. And up stepped UFC star Molly “Meatball” McCann, who had played for the club in her younger years.

The result was this fantastic kit, featuring an image of Molly and the message “be true to you”. 

We loved everything about this story, and this kit 🥰

Hackney Wick FC – Sponsored by Top Boy

We couldn’t not include this beautiful set of shirts (click video below to see them in their full glory). We won’t bang on too much about them because they pretty much speak for themselves. And you can read all about them in their own dedicated article.

The kits were designed by Labrum, sponsored by Netflix’s Top Boy and produced by us. Not many better combos than that in the football shirt game. Plus, proceeds from all sales go to Hackney Wick’s charity of choice.

Still available on kitlocker.com if you fancy one of your own 🛍️

South Shields FC

Not every non-league club has a world famous pop star on hand to launch their new home kit. But we reckon that if any kit was worthy of such a high profile revealer (is that a word?) then it was this one 🤩

Some of the design features on this shirt are absolutely stunning. Including a premium silicone badge, club coloured swoosh, colour matched pin stripes and subtle iconography in between.

We reckon that’s a perfect Little Mix… so sorry 🤦

Sheffield RUFC

This little custom number for Sheffield RUFC by Umbro has to be one of the nicest Rugby kits to come in and out of Kitlocker in recent years.

We love everything about it. The colours, the team logo and even the sponsor prints. Sometimes too many sponsor logos can ruin the design of a kit but not here, they are all integrated into the design pretty seamlessly. Especially the Teenage Cancer Trust one, which matches up perfectly to the colour scheme.

Welbeck CC

We’ve had loads of interest from cricket clubs in Castore kits since England announced their partnership with the brand. And it’s easy to see why when you look at the design of this one. It looks a bit like something out of a horror movie, but in a good way 🔪🩸

Black and red is always such a reliable colourway for sportswear and Castore got this one spot on as ever. The team and sponsor logos look great too!

Botanic Fire AFC

The Botanic Fire AFC boys were plucked out of a hat to win a Kitlocker.com sponsorship for the season. And as a result landed themselves this unique Nike kit.

We don’t think there’ll be many (or any tbh) nicer kits in the Hull Sunday League this season 🔥

Queerspace FC

This is a club that have been making waves within their community since their foundation in 2016. So it was important that their first ever kit was fully reflective of that and really made an impact.

Queerspace FC provide a fully safe and inclusive environment for everyone to enjoy the beautiful game. This is echoed by some of the details on their kit, with the words “No one is Illegal” and “Football for All” displayed on the sleeves. 

Anyway, check the shirt out for yourself. It’s awesome 🏳️‍🌈⬇️

Grenfell Athletic

Our partnership with Grenfell Athletic continued last month after they unveiled yet another sensational new shirt. They just don’t miss do they?

And as always with a Grenfell Athletic shirt, it has signifiant meaning behind it. It features artwork and words that decribe the hopes and dreams of the children of Grenfell and the surrounding community. The club is a firm believer that the size of your dreams should not be limited by where you come from. Something we can all get behind.

We love a shirt that carries a strong message. And even better when it looks this good too 💚 Available here.

Manchester Bees Dodgeball

We’ve done a surprising amount of Dodgeball kits this year but none of them quite as eye-catching as this one.

The worker bee is an instantly identifiable symbol of the city of Manchester and it’s residents. The bee sits proudly on not only the team logo, but also the main body of the shirt. 

The honeycomb inspired graphic also brings another dimension 🐝🍯

Here’s to another year of beautiful kits 🍾

Well there you have it. What better way to bring 2022 to a close than with a lovely set of kits. We reckon it was a pretty vintage year don’t you?

We’ve got so many exciting things planned for 2023. So we reckon this time next year, Kits of the Year will be even bigger and better!

Have a great new year everyone! 🎇