Arsenal to make radical change to 2024/25 kits

Arsenal kits in 2024/25 are set to look a little different as the club changes the way the badge usually appears on its jerseys.

The Gunners have used their current crest since 2002, when a new modern design was brought in – partly due to trouble copyrighting the previous more classic version. But while it will remain the club's primary badge, it won't appear on shirts or attire by adidas next season.

The Athletic reports that, instead, a more stripped back cannon will be the logo of choice.

It stands to provide a more vintage look, which Arsenal have already experimented with on a handful of change kits in recent seasons – 2023/24 third, 2022/23 away and 2021/22 away.

But it will be the first time that the cannon logo has featured on a home shirt and across all jerseys in a single season since 1989/90, before the Premier League era.

The standalone cannon is particularly synonymous with Arsenal shirts of the 1970s, with the Gunners starting the decade by completing a league and FA Cup double in 1971.

A logo of any kind first started appearing on Arsenal shirts from the late 1960s onwards. When one did, it was a cannon. However, as will be the case in 2024/25, that wasn't actually the club's main badge at the time. A version of the instantly recognisable crest used on kits in the first decade of the Premier League era was and had first been adopted by the club in 1949.

The cannon ties Arsenal to the club's roots, founded by munitions workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in 1886. Initially known as Dial Square, Royal Arsenal became Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. A move from south east London to north London in 1913 saw Woolwich dropped from the name, but the Arsenal identity was retained and has remained central to the club's very fabric ever since.

Stripping down a crest to its more basic elements has become more common in recent seasons. Liverpool have used just a Liver bird with the letters L.F.C. on their kits since 2012, a design choice started by supplier Warrior and continued by New Balance and later Nike.

Manchester United have also gone down that route in 2023/24, having just a standalone red devil on their white adidas third shirt instead of the club's usual full badge.

Fans are very protective about their club's crest. And while some tweaking can make for an attractive vintage look, Puma made the controversial decision to ditch crests altogether on a range of jerseys in 2021/22, opting instead for team names – like 'Man City' - written on the front instead.

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