Liverpool’s new green third kit harks back to the 1990’s, when Adidas first introduced the colour for outfield player kits. Since then there have been numerous kits with green of varying different shades in the design.
Until the 1970’s the Football League rules stated that goalkeepers must wear green jerseys and, as such, Liverpool always opted for a white away kit, introducing a yellow kit from 1980, grey in 1987 and eventually green from 1991.
Adidas, who were the club’s kit manufacturer at the time, had just modernised their brand, dropping the famous trefoil logo in favour of a bold three-stripe one. As such, Liverpool’s kit from 1991 to 1993 was bottle green with three huge white stripes on the shoulder. It wasn’t the most popular design among fans, but we now look back on it as one of the classics, probably because of the quality of some of the players who wore it at the time, such as Ian Rush and John Barnes.
From 1993 to 1995 the away kit once again incorporated the Adidas brand styling at the time, with a striking white, green and black pattern. There was a lot going on with this design and it didn’t turn out to be a favourite with many fans.
The 1995/96 centenary away kit took inspiration from the club’s first ever kit, but switched out the blue quarters for green ones (for obvious reasons). Again, this didn’t really age well and reminds us of a time when the club were going through a barren spell, despite having some incredible players, like Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman.
We had to wait until 1999/2000 for green to return to the Liverpool away kit. This time with new kit manufacturer Reebok. The green was very similar to the brand colours for shirt sponsors Carlsberg at the time, coincidentally. This kit became the third kit in 2000/01 when a more traditional white away kit was introduced. It’s the shirt I always remember Steven Gerrard wearing when he broke into the first team.
Click here to buy a genuine, original 1990/2000 Liverpool green away shirt
Liverpool partnered up with Adidas again in 2006 and we all enjoyed a return to great kit designs. The 2006/07 white/green third kit will always be remembered as the one Craig Bellamy wore for his famous golf swing goal celebration in Barcelona. OK, it was more white than green, but it still counts.
Click here to buy a genuine original 2006/07 Liverpool white/green away shirt
Adidas then chose an unusual dark aqua third kit for the 2008/09 season. Worn by the likes of Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres at the time, it became quite a popular kit with fans.
Kit manufacturer Warrior came and went (the less said about them the better) and parent company New Balance took over in 2015. They were obviously inspired by Stabilo highlighter pens when they created the 2016/17 fluorescent green third kit.
With away kits changing every season, we went through quite a few away kit designs, but it wasn’t until the 125th year anniversary away kit in 2017/18 that we saw green back on the shirt, albeit in a subtle quarter pinstripe design.
Liverpool finally lifted the Premier League trophy in 2020 and a manufacturer switch to Nike saw green returned to the away kit in 2020/21, although it was more of a nauseating swimming pool colour and pattern. We didn’t care though, we were champions.
Click here to buy a genuine, original 2020/21 Liverpool aqua green away shirt
In 2022/23 we were treated to a very dark forest green third kit. It was smart, but the garish red trim was a no-no with the terrace fashion police and should be reserved for traffic cones only.
Nike created their version of the white/green quarter away shirt design in 2023/24, opting for a toxic shade that wasn’t very popular at the time and didn’t get much of an outing on the field.
That brings us right up to date, with Liverpool and Adidas celebrating their new kit manufacturer partnership with a return to the iconic trefoil logo, old club crest and a slightly ‘sea green’ colourway. It’s massively popular with fans and will hopefully be worn a few times over the course of what we hope will be another successful season.
Get the brand new 2025/26 Liverpool third kit now!
