‘Worst I’ve seen’ - Newcastle United fury as controversial 2025-26 home shirt leaked
Newcastle United supporters are furious after Adidas’ possible design for the 2025-26 home shirt was leaked online.
Toon fans were ecstatic when the German sports giant returned as official kit supplier earlier this year. The Magpies partnered with Adidas between 1995 and 2010 and ended their Castore agreement early to reignite the relationship.
When the current home shirt was released, hundreds of supporters queued outside of St James’ Park in anticipation. The away and third kits have also proven a hit for their fresh take on nostalgic designs from yesteryear.
However, Footy Headlines, who leaked the 2024-25 shirts before their official release, have done the same again - but the reception has been lukewarm. The leaked image shows a detour from the traditional black-and-white stripes that have become legendary since adopted in 1894.
Instead, the famous pattern will have a “shepherd’s check” twist, a move that will prove controversial with traditionalists. One social media user went as far as to suggest the Footy Headlines mock-up is “the worst” concept design in history.
Another refused to believe that Newcastle would detour from their traditional stripes. The comment read: “Not a chance is this next season's kit. Adidas want to make money, not upset the fans of the teams that they're making kits for.”
Newcastle are already set to become one of Adidas’ “elite” clubs for the 2024-25 campaign alongside Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Arsenal, AS Roma, Liverpool and Manchester United. This special commemoration will see the Magpies don an altered “trefoil” badge on next season’s third kit.
Newcastle's kit deal with the sports retail behemoth is worth an estimated £40million per year. For context, this dwarfs the £5million previously paid out by British firm Castore.