Leeds United have unveiled their 25/26 away kit with a tasteful homage made to the iconic blue and yellow strip of the early 2000s.
Adidas renewed their partnership with Leeds for the upcoming campaign and with that comes Premier League-quality strips for the manufacturer to produce.
The home strip came with very little fanfare, a smart white strip with a nod to the Lowfields Tunnel near the stadium, but the away kit reveal has been quite the opposite.
Leeds United unveil outstanding 25/26 away kit with early 2000s nostalgia
Leaks ruined the surprise of what the kit was going to look like, but it took nothing away from the brilliance of Leeds’ new 25/26 away kit.
A homage made to the 2001-03 ‘Strongbow’ away kit, Leeds’ unveiling brought a superbly nostalgic promotional video calling on stars of that era such as Mark Viduka, Nigel Martyn, Gary Kelly, Ian Harte and more:
It’s the second away kit in a row where Adidas have called upon historically popular Leeds kit design to create this year’s iteration, after last season’s record-breaking yellow strip.
Leeds United’s first away kit outing in the Premier League will be vs Arsenal, which is a good omen
The first instance we’re going to see of this away kit in a Premier League fixture is sure to be the first away outing, a trip to Arsenal on August 23.
A daunting trip awaits for Leeds to one of the title hopefuls, who are spending bid to revitalise their attack after falling short again. However, when it comes to travelling down to North London sporting blue and yellow, fortune has been on Leeds’ side.
Since the start of the 2001/02 season, Leeds have faced Arsenal 10 times away from home, and have only avoided defeat in three of those games.
A 2-1 win at Highbury in August 2001 came courtesy of Ian Harte’s quick thinking from a first-half free-kick that caught out David Seaman, before Mark Viduka’s fine strike sealed three points in the second half.
A 3-2 win at Highbury to secure survival in May 2003 came thanks to a Harry Kewell stunner, another Harte free-kick, and another spectacular solo goal from Viduka – the man most synonymous with the kit being replicated.
After that, Leeds’ fall from grace means they haven’t actually won a game against the Gunners since, but their attempts to spring an FA Cup shock back in January 2011 in another blue and yellow strip saw Robert Snodgrass convert from the penalty spot, only for an incredibly soft penalty the other way allowing Arsenal to take the match to a replay.
Of course, the colour of Leeds’ away kit won’t be a determiner in their ability to end their winless run against Arsenal, but a lot of nostalgia since the turn of the millennium regarding blue and yellow kits does stem from historic results and performances away to the North London club.
Hopefully another comes in August.
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