Ranking All 20 Premier League Home Kits for the 2012-13 Season

The Premier League season is now well underway with 19 clubs—the exception being Sunderland—having played at home, meaning they have showcased their brand-new 2012-13 home kits at least once.

How do the new shirts compare to each other?

Do the stripes outperform the plain jerseys? Which of the major kit-makers has been consistently good in their new designs?

Here they all are in reverse ranking order, from 20 to 1.

Southampton

Southampton's rather tame effort is almost a compromise; they didn't want to entirely abandon the red and white stripes which have been their kits' hallmark, but also wanted to appear as though they had a wholly solid top.

The result is almost a pinstripe effect, not at all awe-inspiring or reminiscent of their greats of the previous Premier League generation: Matt Le Tissier, Uwe Rosler, Alan Shearer and the like.

Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers' kit is just a bit of a mess.

The familiar horizontal blue and white stripes are just the QPR kit; there's not much you can do with them, is there?

The red sponsor doesn't sit too well on the front either, while the collar is a mix of v-neck colour and round-neck shape. Odd.

Norwich City

Kits such as those worn by Hull City, Blackpool and Norwich City are pretty much one-offs; you either like them or you don't.

Norwich's green and yellow is very distinctive of course, and the badge is easily identifiable, but there's not much more you can say for it other than it makes a pitch colourful.

Reading

Either the designer of the Reading kit was very bored while he worked, or else they had three different people working on it and they eventually decided to just lump all their ideas together and see what came out.

The result is a one-stripe blue and white effort with an out-of-place splash of red across a single shoulder.

Manchester United

"The tablecloth," as it has been called.

Manchester United's newest kit, sported by the likes of new signing Robin van Persie, is a checked effort which looks slightly darker than usual.

The collar is actually nice and neat and contains their usual black splash, but the colour of the shirt looks wrong with its pattern, and the sponsor still looks like a child's handwriting.

West Ham United

One of the two claret and light blue kits in the Premier League, West Ham's is a bit of a scruffy-looking attempt with a slimline neck and chunky text sponsor.

Not much wrong with it, to be fair, but claret is one of those colours which some fans like, some don't.

Sunderland

Sunderland, having only played one game this season—away to Arsenal—have not yet displayed their new home top in a Premier League match.

Their usual red and white vertical stripes are a little improved this year by having a better-looking (and perhaps morally better?) sponsor than last year, but overall, like with QPR's kit, there's not much you can do with stripes.

Stoke City

And so to a very similar kit with Stoke City.

Stoke have gone for the white collar as opposed to Sunderland's red, and the tops of the sleeves are a little more jazzy with the white-red overlap, but that's about it.

Aston Villa

A kit which sometimes divides opinions, the claret of Aston Villa is synonymous with the club, and this year's version neatly blends in with the light blue.

Perhaps slightly more distinctive than West Ham's similar kit, with the collar and multi-language sponsor on front.

West Bromwich Albion

West Brom's dark blue and white vertical stripes looks a little smarter than their red counterparts worn by Stoke and Sunderland.

A classically-designed kit, it features clean lines and a sharp neck line.

Wigan Athletic

Wigan have gone for almost a reverse of Reading's stripes, with just two white stripes vertically bordered and centred by the traditional blue.

They are bold and wide stripes, though the sponsor is somewhat unnecessarily plastered across the middle on a printed white background.

Everton

Everton's clean-looking kit is almost a solid-blue effect, save for the white neck outline and a bold, chunky sleeve ending.

The minimalistic look is accentuated by the kit-maker's logo, while the sponsor is also easily visible. Far better than their pink away kit...

Newcastle United

The black-and-white stripes kit is one of the most famous kits of all-time, no matter who is wearing it.

Newcastle's version features a gold logo, white collar and a sponsor which isn't randomly smeared across the front, but boxed off in its own area.

A nice touch.

Fulham

Fulham's kit for this season is a fine-looking specimen, with the same bold and visible sponsor as last year and their updated badge, while the thin stripes add a touch of elegance to the white.

Not too much wrong here.

Chelsea

Chelsea have gone for a plain, solid blue kit which is made a little special by the touch of gold in the trim and sponsor.

Less is more these days for football kits, which, after some of the efforts of the 1990s, is probably a good thing.

Arsenal

Arsenal have themselves a snazzy little number with a solid red front, white sleeves and two-tone trim.

The elegance of the dark blue and red on the sleeves makes Arsenal's kit easily identifiable, and the sponsor fits in well with the rest of the kit.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs this season have an almost all-white home jersey, with a smart collar, minimal lines as trim and as little detail as possible for the club crest.

The sponsor is the most visible part of the kit.

Manchester City

Manchester City's light blue home kit brings us into the top three.

Their wide, bold sponsor is almost the only part of the top which has any detail; other than the neckline having a small amount of black, there is no trim on the City top.

As last season's Premier League champions, they have gold league badges on their sleeves this term.

Liverpool

In second is Liverpool's new kit, the first effort of their new kit designer.

It is a complete break from previous jerseys as Liverpool return to a secondary colour of gold, standing out well against the all-red top.

The club crest has, like Spurs', been included with only small detail. Red and gold are the only colours on the kit.

Swansea City

After an exceptional debut season in the Premier League, Swansea City have come up with an exceptional kit for their second term.

The all-white affair stands out brilliantly behind the gold logo, sponsor and sleeve trim giving a clean yet luxurious look.

The nicest kit in the league!

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