Leeds United fans are split as club releases first images of third kit for Premier League return

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Leeds United fans have shared a mixed reaction after the club released the first images of their third shirt for their return to the Premier League season.

With all focus on building a squad that is capable of keeping Leeds United in the top flight, fans have received a first look at their third shirt for the upcoming Premier League season.

Leeds’ shirts for the 2024/25 season were almost universally popular, particularly the away shirt, with a sea of yellow shirts flooding into Elland Road each week as Leeds secured promotion.

Having stuck with their traditional white for the home shirt and released an away shirt which harks back to the glory days of the early 2000s, fans were eagerly awaiting the more experimental third kit, which new signings Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff and Jaka Bijol will all wear.

However, following the release of Leeds’ new third shirt, fans have shared a mixed reaction online, with several negative responses.

Fans split over new Leeds United third shirt

Posting on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of the kit, fans shared a mixed response.

Several fans criticised the shirt, with one fan comparing it to a bus seat in a post which stated: “£85 to look like a bus seat. We really are back.”

Another fan urged the club and manufacturers to consult the fans on new kit designs, pleading: “Not sure there’ll be many of these sold! It might make a difference if kit manufacturers listened to the fan base; they might well then sell out all three designs!”

However, the shirt was not universally unpopular, as one fan argued: “Looks better on the players to be honest, the more I look, the more I like it. Definitely growing on me.”

Another fan supported this view, claiming that it was the best shirt since the maroon shirt Leeds wore during the Marcelo Bielsa era. They wrote: “Best third kit since the Raphina Maroon. If you don’t yet understand that the third kit tradition is now about concept, then that’s why you don’t like it. Leeds have knocked this one out of the park”

Other fans took the opportunity to urge Leeds to re-enter the transfer market, as one fan stated: “Love it really, it’s so different and that’s the best part. Now go sign some players.”

Success on the field will determine how the new Leeds shirt is remembered

Whilst the Leeds fanbase has shared an initially mixed response to their new shirt, this is not a surprise as the club has pushed the boat out with its design in recent years.

This is not the first Leeds shirt to be compared to a bus seat, as the club’s third shirt from the 2018/19 season was similarly criticised before becoming a cult hit after Leeds came close to promotion that season.

Similarly, the green and black striped shirt that Leeds wore in the 2020/21 season, which threw back to the 1994 shirt, became a classic on the back of the club’s success that season.

Shirts are generally remembered for the memories that fans associate with them. As a result, if Leeds avoid relegation under Daniel Farke and claim some big scalps in their third kit, it will go down as a favourite in years to come.