Soccer Equipment Guide

Kitbag kicked off their end of season sale with special prices on shirts, equipment, boots, training gear and much more. Check out their full inventory of discounted soccer merchandise here.

UKSoccerShop is out with another weekend offer: 10% off everything. Ends midnight Sunday May 13th 2012 UK time. No coupon code needed; that will save you some typing.

Adidas released today, after a very long tease campaign, the 12-13 AC Milan home shirt. I’m not particularly impressed by it and am looking forward to see the release of the 12-13 AC Milan away shirt which is supposed to be this beauty (on the right). Anyway, here are the photos, videos and the press release:

Photos:

Videos:

Press release from Adidas:

The new jersey is going to debut May 2nd for the match against Atalanta.

April 30th 2012

A cutting-edge communication campaign reminding the origins of AC Milan Club, born in 16th December 1899. The debut of the new redandblack jersey will be set for May 2nd during the match against Atalanta.

That’s how adidas and the most successful Club in the world have chosen to present the redandblack jersey for the 2012/13 season. Once again 2 brands, that represent the excellence in football, have found an innovative way to communicate with all the Rossoneri supporters around the world and enhance Italian and Milanese roots of A.C. Milan.

The idea of the communication campaign, created by TBWA\Italy for adidas, is to rediscover the reasons that 113 years ago inspired Kilpin and all the founders of Milan Cricket and Football Club, by retracing the sites where the story took place.

The communication campaign is set by a press campaign of three subjects where players are portrayed in front of three symbolic sites in Milan (Castello Sforzesco, Colonne di San Lorenzo and San Siro stadium), and an activation on adidas and AC Milan digital platform – through their official websites – Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, thanks to three viral videos, made on the streets of a very gothic Milan, from the dusk till dawn of the next day. That’s the night, when the most significant moments of AC Milan history took place and unforgettable national and international trophies were won.

That’s because in a December night, among the liberty buildings of the historic center of Milan, just a few steps from the Duomo, began the history of AC Milan, in that night Herbert Kilpin said: “We are a team of devils. Our colours are red as fire, and black, to invoke fear in our opponents”.

The videos show key places in AC Milan history , during this story some details of the new jersey, are revealed, step by step. The Rossoneri fans had to find out on Facebook, like after like, the three episodes and also the day on which the jersey will be fully revealed.

Design

Back to the wider stripes: 5 in total including 3 black and 2 red. The polo collar is back after three years, with “AC Milan” labeled on its back and the three white stripes are confirmed. The main detail is an Italian flag’s reference, in vertical, between the black and red stripes, and on the front side this detail is recognizable by a green oblique insert, and another one red, interposed with a white neck.

Technology

In the next season the AC Milan football players will have only one shirt that includes both TECHFIT ™ and FORMOTION ™ technologies. The new jersey will not have the TPU stripes anymore, but it will still ensure the advantages of the muscle compression thanks to the built-in stretch fabrics, knitted in the T-shirt and thanks to a perfect fit obtainable with the FORMOTION ™ technology.

To celebrate their fight for the top EPL spot, UKSoccerShop is offering for a short period of time 10% off Manchester United and Manchester City merchandise. Ends midnight, Wednesday April 25th 2012 UK time. Enjoy!

Kitbag is making some spring cleaning through their inventory and while they’re on it there are some great deals to be had, with up to 60% off football apparel. You can take a look at their deals here.

If you already started shopping for Easter gifts then make sure you stop by UKSoccerShop to see if they have something worth your while because they started running an Easter sale with up to 50% off football shirts. Happy weekend!

Other than the French new away kit and a couple of other kits, Nike released the new Netherlands away kit as well. This one debuted on Wembley against England in a friendly the Dutch won 3-2. It features some ‘laser-cut perforations for maximum breathability’ and a ’sweat-wicking fabric’ . Here are some very aesthetic images of it from NikeStore:

And here are the most important kit items:

12-13 Netherlands Away Shirt – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 Netherlands Away Shirt

12-13 Netherlands Away Shorts – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 Netherlands Away Shorts

12-13 Netherlands Away Socks – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 Netherlands Away Socks

Let us know what you make of this new soccer kit and Netherlands’ odds of winning the Euros.

France is another national team involved in Euro 2012 that recently released its kit. Made by Nike, it debuted a few weeks back in France’s friendly victory over Germany away from home. As far as I’m concerned, Nike seems to be doing a particularly good job when it comes to France’s away kit, last season’s one looking quite good as well. Here are some images courtesy of NikeStore:

And here are the most important kit items:

12-13 France Away Shirt – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 France Away Shirt

12-13 France Away Shorts – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 France Away Shorts

12-13 France Away Socks – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop | NikeStore)

12-13 France Away Socks

Let us know your take on France’s new football kit in the comments.

With Capello gone and fresh management in charge, England is looking forward to Euro 2012 where they meet France, Sweden and one of the hosts, Ukraine. Not a particularly tough group, only group A seems weaker than this one.

Umbro recently released the 12-13 England home kit. As far as I’m concerned, it looks wonderful, definitely not where this English team lacks in quality.

Also, if you buy the shirt from Kitbag they’re going to give you a free Umbro football worth £10 but only one per order.

12-13 England Home Shirt – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop)

12-13 England Home Shirt

12-13 England Home Shirt Kids – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop)

12-13 England Home Shirt Kids

12-13 England Home Shirt Women – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop)

12-13 England Home Shirt Women

12-13 England Home Shorts – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop)

12-13 England Home Shorts

12-13 England Home Socks – buy from Kitbag (or UKSoccerShop | World Soccer Shop)

12-13 England Home Socks

12-13 England Home Goalkeeper Shirt – buy here

12-13 England Home Goalkeeper Shirt

Let us know your take on England’s new home kit in the comments.

Kitbag’s offering up to 50% off everything Irish and green this weekend but not too much off the new Ireland away shirt unfortuately (only 10% off). Ends midday Monday March 19th 2012 GMT.