Before the 90s

Arsenal's pre-Premier League shirts are a separate world: the plain red-and-white of the 1970s, JVC arriving on the chest in 1981 for what became a near-two-decade sponsorship, and adidas taking over kit supply in 1986 with the three stripes running down the sleeve. George Graham's late-80s side — the 1989 title won at Anfield on the final night of the season, the 1991 title that followed — wore shirts that are still among the most-requested things we stock, and they deserve more than a paragraph here. A dedicated pre-1990 guide is coming. In the meantime, the 1980s shirts we hold live in the Arsenal collection.

Away and third kits: the standouts

Arsenal's change shirts are searched for more often than the homes, and for a straightforward reason. Home shirts are a constant — red, crest, sponsor. The aways are where the club took risks, and risk is what people remember.

The Bruised Banana, 1991-93

A bold, abstract yellow, black and blue print that collectors nicknamed for the way it read at a distance, worn through Ian Wright's first eighteen months at the club. Divisive on release, it is now the single most requested vintage Arsenal shirt we stock, and adidas has revived it twice since — as a direct tribute for 2019/20, worn to an FA Cup win, and reversed into navy for the 2026/27 away kit.

The lightning-bolt navy away, 1994-96

Nike's first Arsenal change kit: deep navy with a diagonal lightning-bolt graphic in red and white, worn through the Bergkamp signing and the transition from George Graham to Bruce Rioch to Arsène Wenger. adidas revived the design as the 2021/22 third, officially nicknamed Bolt from the Blue, and echoed it again in the pale-yellow 2026/27 third.

The Invincibles home, 2002-04

Plain red with white sleeves, and the shirt worn through the entire unbeaten 2003/04 season — 26 wins, 12 draws, no defeats, the first English top-flight title won without a loss since Preston North End in 1888-89. No design flourish here; the season did all the work.

The Highbury farewell, 2005/06

A specially commissioned deep redcurrant home, worn for one season only as Highbury closed. Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick against Wigan on 7 May 2006 to secure the ground's final competitive goals and Champions League qualification in the same afternoon. One-season production and a genuinely emotional occasion keep demand for this shirt permanently high.

The marble away, 2020/21

A pale, marbled print referencing the art deco architecture of Highbury's East Stand. Worn through a difficult league season that the design itself has comfortably outlasted — collectors rate it more highly now than the results of the year it was released in.

Bolt from the Blue, 2021/22

The official third kit that gave the 1994-96 lightning-bolt away its modern name: navy with a diagonal bolt graphic, worn by the young Saka-Smith Rowe-Martinelli side that announced itself that season. A design tribute that has become collected in its own right.

The pink away, 2022/23

Bright pink with navy trim, released as Arsenal led the table for long spells before finishing second to Manchester City. One of the best-selling Arsenal change shirts of the modern era, and proof that a kit can outlive the season's result.

Collector's guide: buying Arsenal shirts by era

Dating a shirt from the chest

Before you look at anything else, read the sponsor. It brackets the shirt immediately:

Then the manufacturer: adidas to 1994, Nike 1994 to 2014, Puma 2014 to 2019, adidas from 2019. A sleeve sponsor means 2018/19 or later — Visit Rwanda through 2025/26, Deel from 2026/27. Between those two facts you can place almost any Arsenal shirt within a couple of seasons before you have touched the labels.

Spotting authentic shirts, era by era

adidas, 1986-94. Look for correct period trefoil branding on the neck label and cuffs, and a woven or embroidered JVC rather than a flat screen print sitting on top of the fabric. The Bruised Banana's abstract print should show slight texture and tonal variation up close — a flat, uniformly bright print is the first sign of a reproduction.

Nike, 1994-2014. The interior wash tag carries a product code and a season. That code is the single most reliable authentication tool for shirts of this period — cross-reference it against the season the shirt claims to be. Check the swoosh embroidery density and the crest stitching, and on genuine period examples the fabric should have aged with the print, not sit newer than the shirt around it.

Puma, 2014-2019. Puma's cat logo and wordmark should be cleanly heat-pressed with no lifting at the edges; check the neck label for correct period sizing and care information.

adidas, 2019 onwards. Product codes again, plus holographic or printed authenticity detailing that varies by year. Heat-pressed crests on recent shirts should sit flat, and the Bruised Banana tribute prints should match the original's texture rather than a flatter, more uniform reproduction.

We keep full brand-by-brand walkthroughs in the how to spot a fake football shirt directory, and an Arsenal-specific one here.

Grading condition

The scale we use, and the one most reputable sellers use some version of:

• Brand new with tags — unworn, original tags attached.
• Excellent — little to no visible wear. Print intact, no marks, no bobbling.
• Very good — light wear consistent with age. Minor print cracking on a 90s shirt is normal and not a defect.
• Good — visible wear, possibly small marks or print loss, structurally sound.

On shirts thirty years old, perfect is the exception. What matters is that the wear is honest and described. Ask specifically about pinholes at the crest, sponsor print condition, and whether a nameset is original or later-applied.

Sizing vintage shirts

Do not buy by the letter on the label. A 1990s adidas or Nike large is cut far fuller than a modern large — the whole decade was worn loose — while Puma's mid-2010s shirts and the current adidas shirts run noticeably closer to the body. Always buy by pit-to-pit measurement, taken flat across the chest an inch below the armpit seams. Our football shirt size guide sets out the measurements by era.

What actually drives value

• The moment. The Invincibles, the Highbury farewell, the 2025/26 title. A shirt attached to a story outperforms a better-looking shirt that isn't.
• The player. Wright #8, Bergkamp #10, Henry #14, Fàbregas #4, Saka #7. The right nameset can more than double a shirt's value, and the wrong one can reduce it.
• The variant. Match-issue, player-spec, European versions with competition patches, and cup-final editions all sit above standard retail.
• Scarcity, not age. Thirds and one-season shirts were produced in far smaller numbers than homes. The 2005/06 Highbury redcurrant is often harder to find than shirts a decade older.
• Cultural afterlife. The Bruised Banana and the lightning-bolt navy have both gained value from tribute reissues released long after they were first worn.

If you want to see which names people actually put on these shirts, our most popular Arsenal namesets piece is built from real ordering data.