You cannot please everyone every single time, and that certainly appears to be the case when it comes to West Ham United’s new home kit.
Thursday was kit launch day at the London Stadium. That Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos and Tomas Soucek were picked to model the 2026/27 home shirt – all three have been linked with a move away from West Ham United – certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
Unfortunately for first-time designers New Balance, neither did the collar.
Give us your immediate thoughts on the NEW West Ham kit! 👕
It's certainly bold…
Back in the 1990s, Don Hutchison and Julian Dicks hated the Harry Hill-esque collar which flapped along like a parachute in the breeze. Like an oversized ruff around the neck of Queen Elizabeth. Dicks, Hutchison recalled, used to tear open the collar before each match as if it was wrapping paper.
“We hated that shirt,” Hutchison said on X recently. “It was five sizes too big and the biggest/stupid collar in the world.
“Dicksy hated it so much he cut it off before a game!”
Those of you willing to shell out a frankly obscene sum for a new replica in time for the Championship campaign may be tempted to take a pair of scissors to the neckline of the current edition.
At the time of writing, 73 per cent of Hammers News’ TalkingPoint users are in favour of the new kit.
A less restrictive, v-neck collar, however, and New Balance really would have been onto a winner.
As for the dark splodges on the claret section, is anyone else reminded of the days when Patrick Vieira used to smear his Arsenal shirt with VapoRub before he stepped onto the pitch?
If you were wondering why the kit contains the current badge – the one that has been in use since 2016 – there is a pretty simple explanation.
West Ham plan to work with the fans to design a new crest. However, the Hammers will not unveil their replacement badge until 2028.
For those of you hoping to see the Boleyn Castle make a reappearance, well, you’ll just have to wait.
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