Leaked photos of Newcastle's home & away kit for 2026/27 - A bad move from Adidas?

What is there to say about our black and white stripes that hasn’t already been said before?

Instantly recognisable, and widely regarded as one of the best kit designs in club football, when you see black and white stripes you think of Newcastle first before you think of the likes of Juventus and Santos.

But in the ever-evolving landscape of modern football, there’s always a push for change and to shake things up for the sake of being trendy or unique.

And it looks like we’re unfortunately going to become the next casualty of football’s bid to modernise every design and institution from the past.

Controversial home kit coming soon?

According to The Times, and a leaked photo of Newcastle's 2026/27 home kit, Adidas are preparing a controversial new design for next season's black and white shirt.

Whilst the stripes themselves are still there, the width of the stripes differs greatly: one black stripe will dominate the front of the home shirt, with thinner black and stripes

It’s similar to the kit worn by the lads back in 1990 that was sponsored by Greenalls and produced by Umbro: a clear indication that we’re still sticking with our retro-inspired approach to kit design like we have with the away and third shirts in recent years. However, we aren't fans of it at all, and neither are most responding to the leak online.

Martin Hardy notes that we can expect to see similar abstract approaches in the future too, writing that this is part of a new three year plan by Adidas. It’s hoped that presenting a new approach to the kit design will continue to boost our revenue as we aim for over £500m annual turnover.

The leaked images of the home kit also seem to show a blue trim on the shirt, similar to what we saw on the very popular Terrace Icons release from late last year.

What else to expect from next season’s kits

And it isn’t just the home kit that looks to have been leaked, as we have a good idea of what the away strip will also look like.

This will be navy blue, with the most notable feature being an alternate crest: similar if not identical to the badge used between 1976 and 1983, depicting a Magpie in front of Castle Keep and the River Tyne flowing in the foreground.

You would imagine we’ve intentionally gone with a circular design to gauge the reaction from fans to changing the club’s crest in the near future: it’s no secret that consultations were held about a new badge last year, and circular badges are unfortunately seen as the ‘modern’ approach.

A new front of shirt sponsor is also expected, as our deal with events company Sela comes to an end this season.