Newcastle United are planning a significant departure from their traditional black and white stripes for their home kit next season.
The Times can reveal that the white stripes will be considerably different for the 2026-27 campaign.
Instead of the famous clear, black and white stripes that Newcastle play in, the white stripes will instead have a series of thinner black lines running through them.
Sandro Tonali in this season’s more traditional black and white stripes
NEWS IMAGES LTD/ALAMY
It is a marked and deliberate move away from the bold black and white stripes of this season, and is part of a three-year kit plan, the Times has learned, implemented by suppliers adidas.
However, it is one that will be seen as controversial, given the historical significance of the black and white stripes to the club.
Newcastle are thought to be keen to be seen as innovative in all areas as they look to push the club’s annual turnover past the £500million mark. It currently sit at around £400million, a huge improvement since the club was taken over by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, but still way short of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool.
Images of a strip that have already been circulated online. These, The Times has learned, are very close to the kit Newcastle will launch in a couple of months and wear next season.
The new design will have only one main, thick black stripe on the front of the kit. It will then have two wide white stripes with black stripes of varying levels of thinness running through them. There will be black stripes at the side of the kit. The black stripes on the sleeve will be pinstripes.
Newcastle have worn kits with stripes of varying widths before, as this shirt from the 1990s proves
DAVID DAVIES/OFFSIDE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Newcastle have worn their famous black and white stripes since 1894. The club was formed in 1892, when Newcastle East End took over from Newcastle West End, which had gone bankrupt, at St James’ Park. East End initially played in red shirts with white shorts. Within six months, at a public meeting the club’s name was changed to United, and 18 months later the club adopted the famous black and white stripes, which it has worn since as its home strip.
In 1990, they altered the traditional kit in a move that has parallels to what they will do next season.
Then the front of the home shirt was thick black and white stripes with the other half thin black and white stripes. The kit saw Newcastle earn a new nickname in certain parts as the barcodes.
Newcastle signed a deal with kit suppliers adidas in the summer of 2024. It was seen as a bridge back to the past, and the period in the 1990s when, under manager Kevin Keegan, they became known as the entertainers for the freeflowing style of football, particularly the 1995-96 season in which they narrowly missed out on becoming champions for the first time since 1927.
The deal with adidas is believed to be worth £30million a year, and was a huge increase in the contract that had been signed with previous supplier Castore under the club’s former owner Mike Ashley.
Newcastle will return to a club badge with a magpie on the front for their away kit next season — one that was last used in the 1980s. It will feature on a navy blue kit.
The front of shirt sponsorship deal with SELA ends at the end of this season.
Gordon relishing life as a centre forward
It is a statement from Anthony Gordon that is likely to catch the attention of the England head coach Thomas Tuchel as much as Eddie Howe but the Newcastle winger now loves playing as a centre forward (Martin Hardy writes).
Gordon scored four times in the first half of Newcastle’s 6-1 win away to Qarabag in the first leg of their Champions League knock-out tie on Wednesday evening. It means the 24-year-old is the second top scorer in the competition with ten goals, ahead of Harry Kane by two and behind Kylian Mbappé by three.
Gordon scored four times in one half in Wednesday night’s Champions League play-off away to Qarabag
FIRUDIN SALIMOV/SPORTS PRESS PHOTO/ALAMY
His admission about how much he now enjoys playing through the middle could be thought-provoking for Tuchel, whose quest for a recognised understudy to Kane continues.
Gordon left the Tafiq Behramov Republican Stadium bemoaning the fact he had not scored two hat-tricks and had an on-pitch argument with his captain, Kieran Trippier, over who would take the second penalty.
“I love playing number nine,” Gordon said. “I want more goals. I should have scored six.”
It would have seemed unlikely in the summer when Newcastle spent £125million on Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa that come February Gordon would be the first-choice centre forward. Eddie Howe used him there at Anfield and he scored, and has even pushed the £69million Woltemade back into midfield.
“It doesn’t feel simple, trust me,” Gordon said about playing centre forward under Howe. “There’s a lot of running involved. I was breathing very heavy from the start.”
Gordon became only the second player, along with Luiz Adriano, to have scored four goals in a half in the Champions League thanks to that second penalty. But was there any chance of Trippier or Woltemade taking it?
“No one was taking that ball from me,” Gordon said. “I worked very hard for it.”