2026/27's third kit does not look like anything Southampton have worn before. The design pulls from the Bargate, the medieval gate that has marked the entrance to the city centre for hundreds of years.
What the new kit actually looks like
The shirt is ivory, and red detailing runs through the design. A subtle pattern taken from the Bargate itself is printed across the body.
Southampton's civic shield replaces the usual club crest on the chest. It is the same emblem that decorates the Bargate. Shorts carry it too, in either ivory or red.
Saints reveal 2026/27 third kit with historic Southampton crest https://t.co/NwlKcBeWh7
— SaintsFC: Daily Echo (@dailyechosaints) July 23, 2026
The release forms part of the club's ongoing Southampton Made campaign, which has run through each kit launch this season. The home shirt arrived under that same campaign earlier this month. Reaction to that release settled on one comparison in particular: echoes of the shirt worn in the club's last season in the Premier League.
Finn Azaz and Jack Stephens both modelled the new strip for its release. Eckert's squad will wear it for the first time in pre season fixtures against Eintracht Braunschweig and SC Preussen Munster in Germany.
£65 buys the adult shirt. £25 covers the shorts. £12 covers the socks. £50 buys a junior shirt. £20 covers junior shorts. £12 covers junior socks too. £40 buys a full infant kit.
How this year's reaction compares
Southampton's third kits have not always landed this well. The 2024/25 version, a bright pink design, was mocked relentlessly on fan forums at the time. One supporter called it "horrendous." Another dismissed the shade as "monkey bum pink." A year later, the mood flipped entirely. One fan wrote that the club had gone from having "the worst set of kits I've ever seen" to "possibly the best in England."
This release has followed the second pattern rather than the first. One supporter called it simply "a really good looking shirt." Another called it a "nice looking kit" while noting the current tree crest replaced an older three roses badge that carried its own debate when it first arrived. A separate comment went further, suggesting the time might be right to reconsider the main club crest altogether, since the tree now sits alongside memories of last season's spying scandal.
Not every comment was glowing. One supporter's only gripe concerned sponsor logos on modern shirts peeling after repeated washes, a complaint about material rather than design.
Before this release, some had already flagged that the club's approach to shirt design this season looked more considered than in recent years. An early leak of the home kit pointed toward a return to a classic look, months before it was ever officially confirmed.
2026/27 already has two shirts confirmed. The away kit remains the only one still to come, expected within the next few weeks. Southampton's kit story for the new season is not quite finished yet.
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