Sports jerseys were invented to not only distinguish teams and players, but to show someone’s affiliation to a particular team through the sporting of team colours and logos.
As soccer (also known as ‘football’) is one of the most played and watched sports in the world, it is not surprising that there have been a few memorable soccer jersey designs over the many years of the sport’s popularity.
In this article will be looking at a brief history of the soccer jersey, as well as be discussing the ten best soccer jerseys of all time. We will also be looking at the best places to purchase your soccer merch, so stay tuned!
A Brief History of the Soccer Jersey
The history of the soccer jersey drastically evolved over time. At first glance, soccer uniforms are all fundamentally rudimentary as they are made up of jerseys, shorts, shin guards, socks and togs, cleats, or soccer boots. But these uniforms were not always popular or widely used in the sport. There was not even a mention of a uniform in the 11 points of the Cambridge rules drawn up in 1848. But a lot has changed since.
During the period between 1837 and 1901, known more popularly as the Victorian era, players did not wear distinctive uniforms, but usually distinguished teams from each other by wearing different coloured caps.
It was only in about 1870 when the English FA cup became so popular as to raise a demand that team members be distinguished more prominently to make games easier to follow. Accordingly, team colours were chosen to represent a particular school or club.
As this was the time before soccer was played professionally, teams had to pay for their own uniform which often meant poorer teams sometimes wore mere white jerseys.
Soccer jerseys only really became statement pieces in the twentieth century as players begun to sport tailored shirts with a variety of collar designs – most popularly laced crew necks and wide, vertical stripes. These were replaced by rugby shirts in the 1930s. Soon after, numbered shirts were introduced in Britain and soon spread globally. This style remained stagnant until after World War II.
In the 1950s, synthetic fabrics were used to create the “continental style” jersey, which featured much more lightweight, V-neck designs. In the following 20 years, soccer jerseys became much more commercialised.
Now featuring bold colours and team logos, signature jerseys were replicated and sold to fans. The soccer jersey became even more widely commercialised in the 1990s. The soccer jerseys of professional teams were marketed to a global audience.
These days, soccer jerseys are more breathable and lightweight than ever. Moreso, technology allows for unique and constantly updated designs and styles to be available to most anyone, anywhere in the world!
The 10 Best Soccer Jerseys of All Time (And Where to Buy Them!)
Below you’ll find the list of arguably the 10 best soccer jerseys of all time, plus links straight to the Amazon landing pages where you can get your hands on them!
#10. Chelsea – English Premier League
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The famous blue circle with the gold border, caging in a rampant lion can only represent the Chelsea Club. They are one of the highest grossing sellers of soccer jerseys worldwide and sell approximately 1.5 million shirts globally! With multiple sponsorship deals with big companies such as Samsung, Fly Emirates, Nike and more, Chelsea jerseys are worth millions!
Accordingly, the Chelsea jerseys are ranked 10th.
#9. Borussia Dortmund – German Bundesliga
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This German soccer club is known for having some of the best jerseys and sell over 1.2million jerseys annually (1,205,000 jerseys between 2019 and 2020!). Borussia makes millions through sponsorships with companies like Puma, and through selling their soccer jerseys to their global fan base.
The “home” jersey for Borussia was slightly updated in 2020 and now sports a more modern design with the Puma logo sitting on the right side of the chest. The half sleeves sport black stripes and overall, the new jersey is very attractive.
The “away” jersey, is however, much different than the older version with a new black background and a grey steel look, which we think is a cool touch!
With their global popularity, Borussia jerseys are ranked 9th on the list.
#8. Manchester City- English Premier League
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Manchester City has some of the most popular soccer shirts ever. With huge sponsors like Nissan and Etihad airways, Man City has reportedly earned $336 million in 2020 on sponsorships alone and have sold over 1,085,000 jerseys!
The famous premier league winners “home” jerseys are sky blue and feature white logos, while the “away” jerseys feature off-white designs and eye-catching details on team badges as well as the logos of their sponsors. A notable soccer jersey for sure as the water-design pattern draws attention to the current water crisis.
For their cool designs and extreme popularity and legendary sponsorships, the Man City jerseys are ranked 8th on the list of best soccer jerseys of all time!
#7. Bayern Munich – German Bundesliga
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According to reports, the Bayern Munich jersey is so popular that it sold almost 2.6 million jerseys in 2020! That is a lot of soccer jerseys!
Further investigation shows that Bayern currently has some of the biggest sponsorship deals in football from companies such as Adidas, Allianz and Deutsche.
The Bayern Much team recently changed their “home” jersey. Their new jerseys feature the same deep red colour, but now with a lighter tone. Of course, the classic Adidas logo can be seen on the right side of the chest, and the Qatar Airways logo is proudly featured on the sleeves. Alternatively, the “away” jersey features a gold logo on a black background.
The Bayern Munich soccer jerseys are ranked 7th as the best soccer jerseys in history.
#6. Juventus FC – Italian Serie A
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The Juventus club saw a huge boost in sales when legendary footballer, CR7 became a member of the club. Thus, the “Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus jersey” was soon known as the most popular soccer jersey EVER!
According to reports, Juventus has sold 1,615,000 jerseys worldwide and is famously one of the biggest jersey sellers globally.
Their “home” jerseys feature the classic black and white vertical stripes, with the Jeep logo in the centre of the chest. The “away” kit features an additional blend of three orange and purple stripes on the shoulders.
Juventus places 6th!
#5. Paris Saint- Germain – French Ligue 1
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Since 1986, the Paris Saint-Germain team has earned billions in sponsorships, earning about $701 million per year according to Forbes! Sales have reported increased since Lionel Messi moved to the team, skyrocketing the value and price of these soccer jerseys.
The new “home” jerseys are reported a solid navy colour sporting red/white piping on the collar and sleeves, with the “Fly Emirates” logo on the chest. Alternatively, the “away” jersey is featured in pink and black.
Due to their huge earnings, PSG is 5th on the list!
#4. Liverpool – English Premier League
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As one of the most successful English teams, Liverpool was the very first sponsored soccer team in the world! This club makes tons of money through sponsorships and jersey sales, reportedly averaging 1,670,000 jerseys last year!
In the beginning of 2021, Liverpool updated their “home” jerseys into an orange and red pallet, while the away kit features in off-white and ebony with teal accents.
Liverpool places 4th!
#3. Fc Barcelona– Spanish La Liga
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Of all the Spanish football clubs, FC Barcelona was the only to refuse to put sponsorship logos on their soccer jerseys until 2006. This changed when they signed a $1.5 million deal with UNICEF and haven’t looked back since. Now, FC Barcelona has major sponsorships with big brands like Nike, Qatar Airways and Rakuten.
The club sold 1,925,000 jerseys in 2020 and uses their light purple as well as blues and reds to fight gender inequality in soccer with their “away” kits.
RC Barcelona places 3rd on our list!
#2. Real Madrid – Spanish La Liga
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This club is famous for having the highest paid jersey sponsorships, as well as for their best El-Clasico incidents with arch-rivals, Barcelona. Real Madrid has had multiple sponsorship deals since they first started accepting them in 1985. Companies such as Adidas, Mahou and Emirates sponsor this team – Emirates paying $84.1million annually!
Moreso, the club sold 3,120,000 soccer jerseys in 2021, placing it 2nd on our list!
The memorable jersey features the Fountains in Cibeles Plaza and an Adidas logo on the right of the chest. The “away” shirt is blue and yellow with the Emirates logo on the front.
#1. Manchester United – English Premier League
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And finally, #1 is Manchester United with huge paying sponsors like Vodafone, AIG and Aon, the club receives $290 million for sponsorships on their jerseys! Plus, the club makes huge amounts of money from the sale of their jerseys, having sold over 3.2 million of the famous red jersey with the Adidas logo in 2020 alone. The jerseys are extremely pricey and even so, are highly sought after by fans.
Therefore, Manchester United ranks number 1 on our list of the best soccer jerseys in history!
To Conclude…
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with an estimated 4 billion fans! It is not surprising that the soccer jersey industry makes the big bucks when it comes to sales.
However, we have seen that this was not always the case in our brief history of the soccer jersey above because at a time, there weren’t any special designs, colours or even logos! Luckily, we have seen much development since in this field since.
We hope you enjoyed our top 10 list of the best soccer jerseys of all time and hope that you’ll have no trouble getting your hands your favourites!