Last Updated on: 29th September 2026, 11:10 am
How to Design a Custom Football Kits
Tips For Ordering Your New Kit
One of the most exciting parts of preparing for a new season is picking your new football kit. However, when you’re ordering for the whole club, you need to do more than just choose your favourite design. There are plenty of other decisions to make before finalising your club’s new kit. You need to think about your club colours and what works best for your club. Then you’ve got to decide on matching shorts and socks. Finally, there’s the question of your badge, sponsor logos, and additional customisation. It’s a lot to deal with.
Pendle has been supplying football kit to clubs since 1977. This includes designing new shirts, quality testing, and doing all customisation in-house. So, we know a thing or two. That’s why we’ve created this handy guide that covers the key things to remember when designing and ordering your new custom kit.
1. How to Choose Football Kit Colours
Your club’s colours are one of the biggest parts of its identity, so they’ll obviously be at the forefront when picking a new kit. Unless you’re using the new season as a chance to switch things up, you’ll probably be looking for a kit in your traditional colours, so you want to find a design that showcases them well. Think about how your club colours will work together across the complete kit. You’ll want shorts and socks to complement the shirt and create a consistent look.
Then there’s the question of home kits, away kits, and third kits. If you need multiple kit options, make sure they contrast enough. Otherwise, you could be caught out on matchday.
2. Choosing the Right Design
After colours, the kit design is the biggest decision you’ll have to make. With so many options to choose from, you want to choose a shirt design that best suits your club.
Think about whether you want a traditional design or would prefer a more modern one. The right choice will depend on your club and your identity.
It’s tempting to focus on what’s currently fashionable, but your football kit will normally last more than one season. Pick a design you’ll still like in two or three years rather than something that is currently on trend.
A Useful Test
Ask yourself: “Would we still be happy for our teams to wear this kit in a few seasons’ time?”
If the answer is yes, you’re probably onto a good design.
3. Where to Put Sponsor Logos
For many football clubs, sponsors are an important part of the kit buying process. Clubs often have a very tight budget, so getting additional help from sponsors is always useful. However, that does mean including more artwork on your final kits. It’s useful to consider which sponsor logos will appear on your football shirts and whether they work well with your chosen design. Text-only sponsor logos will stand out better on simpler designs without much detail on the front. Bolder sponsor logos with a background will be more versatile on more graphic designs.
A sponsor logo should be clear and easy to recognise without overwhelming the overall design of the shirt. You might need to alter the colour of some text, add a border, or adjust the placement to help it stand out more. However, some companies will have strict rules about how their logo is shown. So, make sure you are aware of any restrictions before ordering your kit. Double-check that you have the correct version of each sponsor’s artwork and that it is suitable for use on the kit.
If you’re working with several sponsors across different parts of the kit, agree where each one will appear before you finalise the design. You might also find that your league has specific restrictions about sponsor placement and how many you can include on one kit. So, make sure you’re aware of any guidelines before starting your order.
4. Adding Your Club Badge
Your club badge is one of the most recognisable parts of your kit, so make sure you are happy with how it looks on the finished design. Decide whether you want a printed badge or an embroidered one. Be aware that badges with a lot of small details won’t always work in smaller sizes and may have to be edited for use. On the whole, printed badges are able to offer a higher level of detail and match the colours exactly. Embroidered badges might have to be simplified and the colours adjusted according to the thread colour. If you aren’t sure if you need a printed or an embroidered badge, check out our handy guide.
You’ll also want to consider the colour of your badge when picking your kit. Does you club badge work with your desired kit colours and design elements? You want it to be as clear as possible and not get lost in a busy pattern. You might want to consider having different versions of your badge for your home kit, away kit and training wear.
5. Names and Numbers on Football Kits
Once you’ve got the basics sorted, you’ll want to decide if you need any further personalisation. Do you need numbers on the back? Do you want players to have their names? This will depend on several factors, including your kit budget. Our team kits deal prices include a printed badge, front sponsor, and numbers, which makes it easier and cheaper to add customisation to your kits. You can also add more printing at an additional cost.
Adding a number is about more than just getting a more professional-looking kit. You need it to be clear from the sidelines. Make sure you pick a contrasting colour that really stands out on your design. When ordering via Pendle, it’s easy to find the perfect number colour on the kit builder. Choose from 11 options and use the preview image to decide what stands out the most.
Adding player names can be a great addition to the back of your kit, but it won’t be appropriate for all teams. Your league might not allow youth teams to have names on the back of their kits, so double-check before placing your order. Also, make sure you check the spelling when inputting the names. Also, make sure you put the right name with the right number. You don’t want to open your new kit and find that it’s full of mistakes.
6. How to Choose Matching Shorts and Socks
When buying a new kit, it’s easy to concentrate on the shirt because it’s the most noticeable part of the kit. But your players aren’t going to wear the shirt on its own. You need to think about how your kit works together as a whole. You don’t want players to turn up in any old shorts and socks, so you’ll want to maintain consistency. When picking the right shorts and socks, think about the kit as a whole. Do the colours work together? Does the overall design feel balanced? You want to make sure that your team looks good when lined up together in their team photo.
Do you want shorts that have a trim or would you prefer them to be one colour? Do you want them to match the shirt, or should they contrast? They don’t have to match, but it will create a cohesive look if you shorts match the colours in your shirt. Maybe use the trim colour from your shirt as the main colour in your shorts? Just pick whatever makes sense on the pitch.
7. Don’t Forget the Goalkeeper Kit
Don’t forget about your goalkeeper when ordering new kits. When you’re picking your outfield kit, think about what you want your goalkeeper to wear. They’ll need to stand out from the rest of the team in terms of colour, but that doesn’t mean their kit needs to feel completely disconnected. You can pick a goalkeeper kit that includes design elements from your outfield kits to create a more cohesive team look. Our Atlas goalkeeper kits have the same sleeve details as our Benfica shirt, and the Apollo includes the same pattern as the Genoa shirt. So, you can make sure that the whole team feels connected.
8. Think about the whole club, not just one team
Obviously, the more teams that you have, the more complicated your kit requirements become. You may need to consider different:
- Age groups
- Team sizes
- Player numbers
- Men’s and women’s or boys’ and girls’ teams
- Coaches and staff
- Away kits and third kits
- Replacement kits and additional players
Before ordering, make sure you know exactly what each team needs. For example, your women’s teams might prefer to play in kit that’s been specifically designed for female players. We offer the Vigo shirt in unisex and women’s fits, which make it a great choice for bigger clubs. Thinking about the desired fit makes it easier to create a cohesive look. Similarly, you’ll want to make sure that you pick a kit option that fits your youth teams. All of our kits come in youth and adult sizes, with the Sportivo available from XS to XXL.
You’ll also want to think ahead. You might get players joining partway through the season, which means you’ll need to order new kit. Similarly, kit might get damaged or need to be replaced. As tempting as it is to buy a sale kit, you need to be sure that enough stock will be available for future orders.
9. Check everything before you order
Once you’ve picked your kit and settled on the customisation, take one final moment to make sure the details are correct. Double-check:
Design
- Kit colours
- Shirt design
- Shorts and socks
- Club badge
- Sponsor logos
Personalisation
- Player names
- Player numbers
- Number of items
- Correct sizes
Order
- Number of kits required
- Different requirements for each team
- Any additional items needed
It might only take a few minutes, but a final check can help prevent mistakes and make the ordering process much smoother. When you place an order with Pendle, we don’t take payment until you have confirmed the order is correct. That means you have one more chance to spot any pesky mistakes before the order is processed. If you need to change anything, you can easily let our team know, and they will update your order.
How does our football kit builder work?
We know how stressful ordering kits can be, so we want to make it as easy as possible. Our football kit builder makes it easy to customise your kit as you need. Once you’ve selected your chosen kit, you work through each step to add any customisation you need. When you add badges or sponsors, the preview image will update to give you an idea of how your kit will look.
You will also be given the option to share the customisation with the rest of your club or your sponsor. Send out the link, and they will be able to see the preview. Something that comes in handy when you need to get feedback from other coaches, committee members, sponsors or players before making a final decision.
Why choose Pendle for your football kit?
Designing your kit is only part of the process. You also need a supplier that can deliver the quality, value and service your club needs. Pendle offers:
- 48-hour despatch on printed kit
- Kit prices typically 40% less than comparable RRP
- ISO certification for quality management systems
- Top-quality products tested by experts
So, you can find exactly what you’re looking for within your budget, and you don’t have to wait weeks for it to arrive. On top of that, we’ll give you the chance to open your own club shop. This means ordering additional kit is even easier. You can even set it up to enable players to buy their own. Head to our website to find out more about our club shops.
Ready to design your next football kit?
Select your kit and use the Kit Builder to start creating your club’s new look.
Tags: Customised, football kit, football kit customisation, football kit design, Football Kits, tips for buying football kits