Sunderland’s home colours are red and white stripes, and woe betide the bold designer that ever strays from that.
The stripes have to be just so, you can’t have pinstripes, there’s no messing about with a sash, the stripes could never be wavy, or diagonal.
We wouldn’t put up with it – though, we’ve been there when Le Coq Sportif came in with the bold design that was given short shrift by the Sunderland faithful. Hey, sometimes the French get it wrong. We know right now that they also get a lot right.
Why am I banging on about home kits when this is the away kits’ chance to shine, you’re asking. A fair point. When the design for the home kit leaves so little room for real innovation, the kit designers let their creativity roam free on the away kits, which has led to some absolute belters over the years.
Here, we take a look at some of our favourites and, as we did with the home kits, structure it around a rudimentary points system to come out with what should be our favourite away kit of all time. 1st place wins 20 points, 2nd bags 15 points, 3rd 10 points and a wildcard will get 5 points.
There’s a huge amount of away and third kits plus keeper tops to vote from here, so the race is wide open. However, we reckon we’ve come to the correct decision. This is democracy manifest!
We bang on about our decisions on our Patreon, if you’re interested.
RICHARD EASTERBROOK
1st 1988-91: I’m never really one for setting rules for Sunderland kits, but I’ve always thought the most attractive colour for an away kit is blue. It’s the perfect contrast to the red and white home colours and, for whatever reason, has led to some iconic away kits over the years. It just looks right. It seems funny now that kits would quite often be used across more than two seasons – this one, as part of a three-kit offering from Danish brand hummel, was trotted out over three seasons.
Its importance to me is simple. I had merely a passing interest in football until 1990 when Italia ‘90 changed everything for me. I couldn’t get enough of the game after that. Living in South Shields, I could have easily made the wrong decision – quite a few of my family were, and probably still are, Mags – but I remember seeing someone wearing this shirt at a summer fete or something, and I thought, yeah, this will do for me. A couple of months later and I took my seat for my first ever Sunderland match. Spurs, 1990/91, 0-0, utter shit. But this shirt literally pulled me into a grip I’ve not been able to extricate myself from.
And although the design has been faithfully replicated for the coming Premier League season, the original still shades it for me.
2nd 1996/97: As much as blue is the pick of the bunch in terms of away kit colours, we still look the part in white. A shout-out to the 2000 era Nike away kit, and of course, last season’s away kit that holds so many dear memories for us. But the best of the lot, for me, was the 1996/7 Farewell to Roker away shirt from Avec.
After shocking us all a season earlier with some radical home and away kits, Avec opted for a classic look for these kits that coincided with Peter Reid’s first season in the Premiership, and Sunderland’s final season at Roker Park. There’s something about the 1990s-era floodlights that gave these shirts something special. The long-sleeve, untucked version sported by Chris Waddle was a thing of beauty. I still see these dotted around the crowds on match days and I’m always jealous that I missed the boat first time around.
STEPHEN GOLDSMITH
1st 1988-91 (third kit): Allow me to ramble about my favourite of all time. I vividly remember my brother walking into my bedroom when I was 7 years old and telling me about the new Sunderland kit. He was describing it by saying it had “cool Hummel all the way down here” as his finger glided down his arm.
Honesty, I can watch it back like an old film in my mind. He then went on to repeat the phrase and motion twice more as he referenced it back to the away kit and third kit as he informed me of their respective colours. I didn’t have a clue what “cool Hummel” meant and frankly I didn’t care. I can remember most of the lads at school, the footy lads, wearing them; either the home one with the red and white stripes, the blue one, or the yellow one. I wasn’t a footy lad.
There was always excitement amongst the footy lads if Sunderland played in the yellow kit – genuine childhood joy being expressed and vocalised just because their heroes wore that lush kit in what felt like a rarity. And my god is it lush.
By 1990 I had become a footy lad myself and that kit trio entered its third and final season, meaning I got to experience it live with authenticity and love. When I was in Year 5, we were spanked in a football match by the Year 6’s (third and fourth year juniors in old money) about 8 or 9-1. They donned this magnificent kit and shouted “yelloooows” after every goal. Not even that trauma can stop me from stepping back and reflecting how absolutely beautiful it is. Those three kits were the greatest trio in the club’s history and the lesser used yellow one is objectively the best. Don’t judge it on an image search with it sitting there on a table or with a white background, take a look at what it actually looked like being worn by the players. And admire its unmatched beauty.
2nd 1996/97: If I had my own way, Sunderland would only ever wear blue, yellow or white away from home. They’ve had some decent looking random colours over the years, I remember that cream one looking quite nice and stylish. But I don’t like that teams can just drastically change the colour every season. I’ve shared my favourite yellow one, so now to my favourite white one. It was absolutely stunning watching it worn live, especially when contrasting against an opposition wearing all red. Like both Forest and Boro did when we went there nabbed memorable wins the season we wore it. It’s the kit I think of when I visualise Chris Waddle playing for Sunderland. Bright white with the red trim. An absolute stunner.
JON ELLENOR
1st 1999/00: Clean, sharp, and packed with nostalgia. This was the season – Kevin Phillips winning the European Golden Shoe. A proper world-class achievement that still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves beyond Wearside. The shirt takes me straight back to a team full of belief, goals flying in for fun, and the feeling that we could take on anyone.
2nd 2008/09
This marked the start of a new era – and for me, it’s got deep personal meaning. I still wear this one now. That season, I went to loads of games with my brother. We’ve got tonnes of photos from those days, pint in hand, grins on our faces. Not long after, he moved to Cyprus, and I don’t get to share matchdays with him anymore. Every time I pull this top on, it takes me back to those times – It’s still not the same going to a match without my brother! He probably doesn’t know this, but I’m always sad to be ordering a single pint in the Black Cats Bar!
ELEANOR MCCABE
1st 2018/2019 (a): As someone who rarely bought kits in their early days of supporting Sunderland, this was one that called to me the moment I saw it. I was desperate to get my hands on it. There is just something about Sunderland in a black away kit that feels right, I honestly think it’s something we should do more often. I know this kit did not bring us glory in the play-offs and I know that for some it will always carry the weight of what followed; the disappointment, the what ifs. But for me, it was fantastic. I felt proud wearing it at uni, I wore it sitting in beer gardens in the sun. I even refused to wear it to Wembley just incase my favourite kit became unwearable at any future Sunderland match. Good call. Maybe it is easier to feel this was after promotion back to the Premier League or maybe this is just another ‘Dion Sanderson’ moment but either way, I genuinely love this kit. Not because of trophies or results but because of how it made me feel to wear it.
2nd: 2021/2022 (a) : I agree with Stephen when it comes to a yellow away kit. It works for Sunderland. Bright, bold, a bit unexpected but somehow fits us perfectly. I would be lying if I said I loved this one from the start. At first I thought it was a bit much but as the season went on it grew on me. Sometimes a kit just needs a bit of context, a few performances, a few good memories. Before you know it, you’re watching match highlights and thinking, actually, this looks class. Weirdly, the player I most associate with this kit is Aiden O’brien, his hattrick at Blackpool wearing that piercing yellow just sticks with me. There is no big story with this one, no sentimental attachment, no first match, last minute winner or Wembley connection. I just really like it and sometimes that is enough.
JIMMY REAY
1st 2024/5: I mentioned for the home 24/25 kit that last season’s kits are the best retro-inspired kits any club has released, and the away is even better than the home for me. Not only that, but we had a collection of absolutely iconic moments wearing this iconic piece of Sunderland history. Wilson with the corner flag at Boro, Mayenda multiple times, Watson at Wembley, Enzo’s debut at Burnley (let’s not mention Wilson that time) and many more. The kit that will define the best season any Sunderland supporter under a certain age will have had, and the best two weeks arguably any fan of any club outside of a very select few could ever have. The fact the kit is absolutely gorgeous is the icing on the cake. The detail, the fit, the quality and the design are all first-rate and its one that I know I’ll be wearing for years to come.
2nd 2013/14: I love a yellow away kit, and the Borini celebration at St James’ alone cements this kit for me. That such luminaries as Valentin Roberge, Modibo Diakite, Emmanuele Giaccherini and Ondrej Celutska all donned it too only helps as well. We had some seriously bad but also some seriously good results in that kit that season, and a fair few iconic moments. I still have and wear mine to this day and will continue to do so. Lovely kit from a very funny part of our recent history.
JON LAMBERT
1st 1998/00: This shirt coincided with a golden era under Peter Reid’s tenure cruising to the Old Second Division title, and for me was most synonymous with some serious Super Kev goals. Of note were the strikes at Swindon, an injury time penalty away at Bristol City, and a beautiful individual goal away at Barnsley to clinch promotion prior to winning the league. The kit itself was manufactured by Asics who ended a 90s era for the club with Avec, and was of a time when kits were dramatically oversized. I loved the colour combination and was a welcome replacement for the wholegrain mustard filth that we lost at Wembley in just a couple of months prior.
2nd 1994-97: One of my first kits as a kid, and I still have both the top and shorts to this day.. albeit they do not fit anymore. But nostalgia is a powerful thing and this kit had a bit of style to boost up what was some pretty bland first choice home and away kits that accompanied it. I always think of the FA cup game at Old Trafford for this one in 1996, with goals from Steve Agnew and Craig Russell getting us a draw against a Manchester United team at the peak of their powers. Unlike Avec’s other offerings, this shirt was a much better fit, and I weirdly liked the red numbering on the back of the tops too.
And the winner is…
1998-2000 – 50pts
One of only two away kits to our knowledge to feature different sponsors – the other being the blue adidas shirt from 2017-19 that had dafabet and then BETDAQ on the front, we’d forgive you for not remembering it – it’s no surprise this belter from the Asics era topped the leaderboard as it’s the only kit on this list that was voted for by fans in the first place.
Bob Murray, perhaps stung by the backlash faced by his decision to call our new ground Stadium of Light and then change the club crest with zero input from supporters (a fanbase that would have probable outright rejected both notions, to be fair), decided to give fans the choice of home kit and away kit in 1999 and 1998 respectively. The blue kit with a horizontal red and white band was a clear winner and, a season later, fans selected the kit with a grandad-style collar as their preferred home shirt. We’ve never been given the choice again.
2nd 1996-97 30pts
3rd 2013-14 25pts
= 2024-25 away 25pts
