Ranking the 9 best Arsenal home kits in Arsenal history (2025)

With Premier League clubs now releasing up to three kits per season, the hype surrounding shirt launches is bigger than ever. For manufacturers, the challenge with designing a new home kit is maintaining club traditions, but creating a design different enough to make the fans want to buy it.

Arsenal have worn red shirts with white sleeves for nearly a century now, so the manufacturer must get the fundamentals right when designing a new kit for the London club. The colours represent the club's history and culture, and each kit has a story to tell from the memories made in them. Finding a balance between developing new kits that meet the latest trends and ensuring they respect the club's history are just some of the factors kit manufacturers need to consider when planning a new design.

The likes of Umbro, Adidas, Nike and Puma have been Arsenal's manufacturers in recent memory, with some designs more successful than others. In this list, we have ranked what we believe are the top nine home designs in the Gunners' long and illustrious history.

10 Ranking Factors

• Style - how timeless the kit looks.
• Iconic moments in the kit - this will look at what trophies were won while wearing each respective kit.
• Players who wore the jersey - the more legends that wore the kit, the better its rating.

9 2019-20

Adidas

Arsenal and Adidas were reunited in 2019, having not worked together in over 25 years. The first set of kits were eagerly anticipated by the Arsenal faithful and the home version for 2019-20 certainly didn't disappoint.

A modern twist on an 1980s classic, this shirt sparked nostalgia for those old enough to remember Adidas' first attempt at an Arsenal home shirt in the 1980s. The 2019-20 shirt was worn in a disappointing campaign for the north London side - Unai Emery was sacked in November 2019, with Mikel Arteta replacing his compatriot a month later. Arteta guided the club to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League in a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gunners did go on to lift silverware as they beat Chelsea in the 2020 FA Cup final, but they wore their 2020-21 home strip for the final instead. Therefore, the 2019-20 home kit is probably best remembered for a surprising 2-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.

8 1985-86

Umbro

The only Umbro kit to make the list is the one created to mark Arsenal's centenary year. It follows the traditional Arsenal home kit formula, but with it being an anniversary shirt, it earns a place in the rankings for that. The season itself wasn't particularly memorable for the club, as they finished seventh in the league and didn't win any trophies.

However, this kit was made in an era where they were on the brink of becoming a force in English football again. George Graham arrived in the summer of 1986, and he helped the club to a League Cup triumph the following season, before leading them to a league title two years later.

7 2010-11

Nike

Arsenal's 2010-11 home kit paid homage to the home shirt from the early 1970s. A rounded white collar, red body with white sleeves and a red cuff. The inside of the shirt featured the club's motto 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' which translates to 'Victory Through Harmony'.

The throwback shirt was worn in a season Arsenal came close to ending a six-year wait for silverware. The north London side suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City in the League Cup final in 2011 and their title hopes faded away in the latter stages of the campaign.

The best moment for the club in this shirt came in February 2011, when the Gunners came from behind to beat eventual Champions League winners Barcelona in the first-leg of their round of 16 clash. David Villa gave Barcelona the lead in the first half, but Arsenal rallied late on, and goals Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin secured a famous win for Arsene Wenger's side.

6 2023-24

Adidas

To the surprise of many, Arsenal mounted a title challenge in the 2022-23 season, finishing five points behind eventual champions Manchester City, despite leading the way for the majority of the campaign. Having struggled to get into the top four in the years prior to that, the question surrounding Arsenal headed into the 2023-24 season was whether they could go one better and edge City to the title, or if they would go back to being top four contenders.

Mikel Arteta's side pushed Pep Guardiola's men to their limit in 2023-24, taking the title race down to the final day, but eventually falling just short once again. Arteta's team wore a design once again featuring a zigzag pattern, similar to the 1994-96 home kit by Nike. The Adidas design featured the famous three stripes in a gold colour to mark the 20-year anniversary of Arsenal's invincible title-winning campaign.

5 1996-98

Nike

This home shirt was worn by Arsenal on their way to securing their first league and cup double in 27 years, as the Gunners got the better of Manchester United in the title race. Arsenal's nickname 'Gunners' is printed into the back of the shirt, as well as a retro Arsenal logo on the front. The classic JVC sponsor, coupled with Arsenal's success wearing this shirt ensures that this one scores highly in the rankings.

Tony Adams scored a famous goal against Everton in 1998 on the day Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy at Highbury. His celebration from that day is now cast in bronze outside the Emirates Stadium in the form of his statue, meaning that this kit will always be remembered by the club's fans.

4 2002-04

Nike

This will go down as one of the most famous Arsenal home shirts of all time, because it was worn during arguably the best season in their entire history. The design itself is fairly simple in that it follows Arsenal's red and white colour scheme, as well as Nike's design template from that era.

The shirt debuted in 2002 and brought significant changes to the club, as Arsenal redesigned their club logo. The north London side also switched shirt sponsors at the same time, with Sega's ill-fated Dreamcast console being replaced by telecommunications company 02.

Arsenal looked good for a second consecutive Premier League crown in 2003, before another late-season collapse saw Manchester United pip them to the title. An FA Cup final win over Southampton in 2003 proved to be a silver lining, as the Gunners looked to regain the title the following season. The Gunners completed the entire 2003-04 league campaign undefeated and won their third title of the Premier League era, ensuring that this kit will always be associated with the famous Invincibles team.

3 1969-1978

Bukta

Bukta produced kits for some of the most famous clubs in the world, including Ajax, Manchester United and Arsenal. The club's kit from the late 1960s through to Umbro's first kit in 1978 followed the traditional red and white colour scheme, which remains synonymous with the Gunners to this day.

The addition of the famous canon graphic from previously blank jerseys and the longevity of the design makes this shirt considered the most traditional style of Arsenal kit. The Gunners clinched the double for the first time in 1971, when they won the league title at White Hart Lane, home of their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur - while wearing this shirt.

2 1994-96

Nike

Arsenal signed with American sportswear manufacturer Nike in 1994, and their first home kit design was striking, to say the least. With a lightning bolt pattern a key highlight of the design, it was hard to miss Arsenal in this daringly bold kit. The embroided badge gives this shirt a classy feel and the smart collar rounds off a visually appealing Arsenal kit.

This kit is perhaps best remembered as the shirt that club legend Dennis Bergkamp was unveiled with by manager Bruce Rioch. Arsenal's performance on the pitch was not as successful as the shirt deserved - the Gunners famously lost in the 1995 European Cup Winners' Cup final to Real Zaragoza wearing it, with Nayim catching David Seaman off-guard from the halfway line to gift Zaragoza the trophy.

1 2005-06

Nike

Arsenal marked their final season at Highbury in 2005-06 with a return to the colours they wore when they first moved to the stadium in 1913. The club swapped red and white for a 'redcurrant' strip to say goodbye to their old stadium in style - Nike didn't disappoint and delivered a kit that will be remembered for many years to come.

The Gunners had previously worn the darker red colour up until the late 1910s and switched to red and white under legendary manager Herbert Chapman. Arsene Wenger's side had been title challengers for the best part of a decade under the Frenchman's guidance, but 2005-06 marked the beginning of Arsenal switching from title contenders to a team that consistently finished in the top four under Wenger.

Arsenal secured a fourth-place finish on the final day of the season, with a win in the last game played at Highbury, against Wigan. The club also reached the Champions League final that year, with wins over Juventus and Villarreal in this kit leading up to the clash with Barcelona in Paris. They wore yellow for the grand occasion due to a kit clash and lost 2-1 against Frank Rijkaard's team.