Product Guides · Sportswear Encyclopedia
The Match Kit Guide
A match kit is the most visible thing a football club owns. It has to survive 90 minutes of contact, ninety washes a season, and a broadcast camera that reveals every stitch. This guide walks through how a home / away / third programme is built from tech pack to shipped set.
Anatomy of a modern match kit
A kit set is three garments engineered as one system. Each has its own construction logic:
- Jersey — sublimated on polyester interlock. Raglan or set-in sleeve, V-neck or crew, self-fabric or rib collar, hemmed sleeve and bottom. Numbering on the back and short front.
- Short — matching fabric or a slightly heavier micro-poly. Elastic waistband with internal drawcord, side inserts for badging and a leg-band print for the number.
- Sock — knitted separately in colour-matched yarn with a cushioned foot bed, arch support and a jacquard-knit brand mark on the calf.
- Goalkeeper kit — a fourth colourway that must contrast both teams. Padded elbows and hip panels optional.
Home, away, third — the commercial logic
The three kits solve three problems: identity, contrast and revenue. Get the logic wrong and the club either clashes on the pitch or leaves replica sales on the table.
| Kit | Job | Design direction | Typical volume mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | Club identity | Heritage colours, restrained graphic | 55–65% |
| Away | Contrast for clash fixtures | High-lightness alternative — white, off-white, sky | 25–30% |
| Third | Commercial + European/cup ties | Bolder, more experimental — often the best-seller in replica | 10–20% |
Sublimation panelling — why cutting order matters
Sublimation prints the full graphic before cutting, so the artwork has to be planned around every seam. Get it wrong and the sponsor logo lands across a raglan seam with a 3 mm misalignment. Standard rules:
- Bleed of at least 10 mm past every cutting line — sublimation panels shrink 1–2% after heat press.
- Sponsor and crest are placed inside a solid-fill safe zone so a 1 mm cutting drift never shows.
- Panel numbers are printed inside the seam allowance to speed up the assembly line.
- Colour bars are printed on every panel edge to catch heat-press temperature drift lot-to-lot.
Programme timeline — art to shipped kits
| Week | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tech pack review, digital mock-up, colour lab-dips |
| 2 | PP sample — home kit, full graphic, correct numbering |
| 3 | Size-set (S/M/L/XL) and buyer approval |
| 4–6 | Bulk sublimation, cutting, sewing, numbering |
| 7 | QC, needle detection, retail polybag, export cartons |
Build your match kit programme
Findup Sports produces home / away / third kit programmes for clubs, academies and teamwear brands worldwide — from tech pack to shipped export cartons.