Kit leak: Nike 2018-19 Chelsea home shirt set to have more red-colored accents

It’s not even technically wintertime just yet and we’re already getting the first kit leaks of the season, as Nike enter the second year of their massive Chelsea kit contract. As before, these come via Footy Headlines, who are almost always spot on with their rumors.

Nike’s first effort, which the team are wearing this season, was quite solid, with a minimalistic throwback home kit, a plain white away kit, and a bit of urban camo for the third kit. Some, like yours truly, dig the simple and classic design — and the base color that Nike are calling “Rush Blue”, indeed a fantastic shade of Chelsea Blue, is set to stay — but some have criticized the design just for that, for being too basic and boring and bland.

Those critics might be happy to learn that next year’s home shirt will be a bit more jazzed up, a bit more ... “unique” ... though I doubt that the choice of color (red!?) and the design pattern (“tapered stripes that run from the edges towards the center, both on the front and back”) will be without controversy. It looks like these stripes will alternate between white and red and could thus be drawing inspiration from home shirts of the early- to mid-’80s. This year’s kits were inspired by the ‘70s, so it makes sense for Nike to move on to the next decade for next season.

The leak does confirm that the base color will remain what Nike are calling “Rush Blue”, which is indeed a fantastic shade of Chelsea Blue.