VVV-Venlo Leads New Wave of Statement Away Kits

The new season is still a distant murmur, but across Europe the kit launches are already sketching out the mood. This week, a handful of clubs at very different levels of the game all chose the same route: shirts that say something about where they come from.

VVV-Venlo: Night-time Venlo in Black and Mint

VVV-Venlo have completed their 2026-27 collection with a striking away shirt that looks built for floodlights and late kick-offs.

Craft have gone for a black base, dressed with subtle tonal striping that only really reveals itself on a second glance. Over that, mint green does the talking. The accents, logos and sponsor marks all pop in mint, cutting sharply across the darkness of the shirt.

The club’s traditional yellow-and-black crest sits against it like a badge of origin, a deliberate contrast rather than a compromise. It keeps Venlo’s identity intact while the rest of the design steps into modern, urban territory. The club framed this collection as a tribute to the city, and this away shirt fits that brief: clean, contemporary, and unmistakably theirs.

Rochdale: Soft Pink and a Retro Nod on EFL Return

Rochdale AFC’s new away kit arrives with a different kind of statement. After climbing back into the English Football League, the club turn up in soft pink.

O'Neills have produced a shirt that leans into retro cues without feeling trapped by them. The base is a gentle pink, cut through by white side panels that slim the silhouette. A white V-neck collar and matching sleeve cuffs carry black and pink trim, a small detail that gives the shirt a tailored edge rather than a training-top feel.

The crest appears in monochrome black, as do the O'Neills logo and sponsor branding. Stripping the badge back to black-and-pink lines up with the rest of the design: simple, clean, and confident. For a club re-entering the EFL, it’s a look that suggests they’re not just back; they’re ready to be noticed.

FC Copenhagen Women: Tradition in White, Edge in Black and Blue

In Denmark, FC Copenhagen Women step into 26-27 with a pair of Adidas kits that mirror the men’s launch and underline the club’s unified visual identity.

The home shirt stays loyal to tradition. A white base, as expected, but sharpened by a streamlined Adidas graphic in blue and purple. It’s a pattern already seen on other Adidas clubs such as Köln and Yokohama F Marinos, yet here it works as a cool, almost digital layer on top of Copenhagen’s classic look.

The away shirt flips the mood. Black takes over, cut by a bold blue sash running across the front. It’s a simple device with big impact, the kind of graphic that reads instantly from the stands or on a broadcast replay. One kit says continuity, the other says edge. Together, they give the women’s side a clear, modern profile going into the new campaign.

Troyes: Puma Paints a Sunset Over “Cat Alley”

ESTAC Troyes and Puma have gone deeply local with their new away kit, reaching into the city’s streets for inspiration.

The 26-27 away jersey draws directly from the Ruelle des Chats, or Cat Alley, one of Troyes’ most distinctive historic landmarks. Rather than reproducing the alley literally, the shirt channels it through colour: tones chosen to echo the facades of Troyes’ old buildings as they catch the light at sunset.

It’s an architectural homage, not a gimmick. The design positions the club as part of the city’s fabric, not just its weekend entertainment. On the pitch, it will read as a refined, heritage-infused palette; off it, it’s a wearable postcard of Troyes at golden hour.

Shrewsbury Town: River Severn on the Sleeves

Shrewsbury Town have added a third shirt to their 26-27 wardrobe, and it might be the most concept-driven of the lot.

Oxen’s design turns to geography. The River Severn, which famously loops around the town, becomes the visual anchor. Its winding path is interpreted as a graphic pattern running along the sleeves, tying directly into the launch tagline: “In the Loop”.

The idea is clear: this isn’t just a third kit thrown in for commercial reasons. It’s the final piece in a set that already includes a 140th Anniversary home shirt and a new away strip released earlier in the summer. Together, they give Shrewsbury a full kit collection that tells a story about place, history and identity.

From Venlo’s mint-on-black minimalism to Troyes’ sunset facades and Shrewsbury’s looping river, this wave of launches underlines a simple truth about modern football shirts: the best ones don’t just dress a team, they map a club’s connection to home.