The top flight of English football the Premier League is the most popular in the world; it replaced the Football League First Division in 1992. Due to the massive TV deals and the need for commentators and viewers to easily identify players from the 1993-94 season squad names and numbers were printed onto the back of player's shirts, in 1996 standard Premier League lettering was introduced for all teams in the top flight.When football kit printing was first made compulsory in 1993 the teams could choose whatever colour best suited the colour scheme and style of their kits. For many years supporters have liked to buy the shirts of their favourite teams, once squad names and numbers were introduced supporters wanted to show support for their favourite player by getting their shirt printed. The vast array of colours made it difficult for suppliers and shops to keep up with demand for every team, official Premier League lettering was therefore introduced.
To begin with the numbers and letters were available in either black with a white edge or white with a black edge over subsequent years there have been slight style variations. For the 2013/14 season a new design has been launched, designed using PS-Pro Ink instead of the traditional flock it is available in the traditional black or white as well as blue, red and gold. These five colours will be used for the Premier League Shirts lettering on the home, away and third kits of all English top flight football teams.
The first football kit printing was seen in 1928 when both Chelsea and Arsenal played wearing shirts with squad numbers printed on the back. The numbers attributed to each player were originally related to the players position on the pitch, still today the goalkeeper is traditionally given the number '1' shirt, however other positions are more variable with some teams having retired numbers or specific numbers reserved for their star player.
Since its introduction into English teams twenty years ago, the popularity of football kit printing has increased yearly. Younger fans often like to have their own name printed along with their favourite player's number, and many people choose to print the shirt of their favourite club to commemorate a special occasion such as a marriage or birth. The number of people having the name and number of their favourite footballer also increases each year.
For the last few seasons statistics have been released determining the most popular shirt and player combination that has been ordered for printing. Manchester United top the list for most popular shirt, Nike state that they sell 1.4 million each season, up until last season Rooney was the most requested player name.
Rooney was knocked from the top spot last season by his new team mate Robin Van Persie; some statistics reveal that a staggering 25.4% of all printed jerseys were requested with that name. Liverpool shirts with Gerrard were next popular, with Rooney in third; Kagawa and Suarez complete the top 5 of the most requested football kit printing.
With the standardised design for the top flight of English clubs it is easy for supporters and suppliers to keep up with demand and customise shirts to order, however for national and international clubs there is no such standardisation. For some teams suppliers are unable to add any official personalisation, for others the choice would be limited to one of two key players.
Some companies such as Soccerbox also stock full number and letter ranges for popular clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid allowing customers to customise these jerseys as well as Premier League teams. As the worldwide popularity of football increases so does the demand for football kit printing. As teams change their kits most season's fans can keep up to date with the new kit and their favourite player, or the new popular signing by adding names and numbers to their order.
What do you think of the new style of Premier League lettering?
Do you choose to have your shirt customised with a player's name and number, your own name, or leave it plain?
Soccer Box stock shirts from teams around the globe, order your shirt and add football kit printing to receive your personalised shirt.
