Bookable Offense's Exclusive 2006/07 EPL Fashion Review

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Bookable Offense's 2006/07 English Premier League Fashion Review! As we all know by now, this is one of the most anticipated columns of the year. You can go anywhere to read an EPL season preview. But fans come here, to Bookable Offense, to see this year's new trends in football kit fashion! There are 19 teams that will finish behind Chelsea this year, but who will look good doing it? We'll tell you.

Well go team by team and look at the latest in kit fashion. We'll rate each team on a scale of one to five, with five being superb. We could use a simple number or stars to display our ratings, but instead, we'll use fashion icon and washed-up former England captain, David Beckham! Here we go...

Arsenal




















Fitting we should start with a classy bunch like the Gunners! Arsenal returns this year to its traditional red shirt with white sleeves. The Nike shirt is similar to the design Brazil sported at this summer's World Cup with a raised collar. Gold accents down the sides make for a nice touch. New sponsor Emirates Airlines takes center stage on the new shirt as well headline billing at Arsenal's new stadium. The away kit remains the same (except for the sponsor change), with yellow and grey being the primary colors. There are rumors of a blue and black third shirt coming soon, but we've yet to see it.

Rating: 5 Beckhams, of course.

Aston Villa
















Much like their performance on the pitch, Villa have always come up a bit short in terms of kit design. We like their support of non-mainstream kit designer Hummel. But for whatever reason, West Ham always seem to do a lot more with the exact same colors. The stripes down the sides are interesting, but distracting. The away kit is dull. We prefer the yellow bumble bee away kits from last year. One thing we are in favor of is the sponsor, 32Red, an online casino.

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Blackburn Rovers















There's always been a lot to like with the Blackburn kit. The blue and white halves to the shirt are unique and distinctive. The red lettering on the backs can be a bit difficult to read. But we're willing to with that. Besides, it's easy to point out Robbie Savage even from the upper tier. We don't like the red away kits. It seems like half of the teams in the EPL wear red. We don't need more red. Again, we like the Bet24 sponsorship, but their logo makes it appear that every player is number 24.

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Bolton





















Simplicity has always taken precedence at Bolton. The Wanderers return with the same white home kit from last year. This term, Bolton takes a page out of Arsenal's book from last year and comes out with a classy maroon away kit. We like it! Reebok returns as the title sponsor. With adidas' recent acquisition, it will be interesting to see if Bolton follows suit with Liverpool and makes the switch to the three stripes (and new name for their stadium) next term.

Rating: 4 Beckhams

Charlton





















The Addicks quietly are entering their seventh consecutive season of Premiership football. To mark the occasion, Charlton has unvieled perhaps its sharpest kit yet. Their home kit has gone from just another red and white kit to a sharp, distinguishable uniform with the addition of white panels across the shoulders. It's a nice touch. The white and black away kit is also a real winner. The results may be mixed on the pitch this year at The Valley, but the Addicks will look good whatever the outcome.

Rating: 5 Beckhams

Chelsea





















The defending champs make the switch from Umbro to adidas this year. While the Umbro kit basically became a blue and gold version of the England kit, we are even more disappointed with the lack of creativity that adidas displays with this effort. Sure, you can only do so much with solid blue. But couldn't they have kept the lovely gold accents from last year? The away kit, which Chelsea could have made up some serious creativity points with, is a rather drab solid white. Are they Chelsea or Greece? It's hard to tell.

Rating: 2 Beckhams

Everton
















After a shocking 4th place finish two seasons ago, Everton looks to bounce back from a subpar year on the pitch and in the dressing room. The Toffees unvielded a respectable Umbro kit. Unfortunately, once again Umbro has proven to be either too cheap or too lazy to come up with anything that's drastically different from the template they use for the England kit. We like the white ring around the collar, but that's the only feature worth noting. The white and grey away kit is unremarkable as well. Bonus points for keeping Chang Beer as a sponsor, even though none of us in the office have tried it.

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Fulham




















We have always been big fans of the Fulham kit. Sure, it's white. But we've always liked how they've been able to incorporate their secondary colors - red and black - to make a really nice kit. This year, we aren't so sure. Fulham switch from Puma to a company called Airness. Airness' logo features a panther or cougar of sorts - nothing at all like Puma's logo, right? On the home kit, the black framing in the front reminds us too much of Nike's 2002 World Cup uniforms. Fulham has yet to release their away shirt, but we're guessing it'll be red or black. The sponsor remains Pipex, which we think is a British ISP. We miss the Pizza Hut days of old.

Rating: 2 Beckhams

Liverpool





















Like Chelsea in blue, there's only so much you can do with solid red. But call me a traditionalist, but Liverpool has always done red right. That is until this year. Liverpool made the switch from Reebok to adidas with mixed results. The three stripes take away from the solid red look just a bit. And the shirts are just another cookie-cutter version of adidas' World Cup kits, complete with the three stripe numbers on the Champions League shirt. We are coming around on the all-yellow away kits. The red is subtle and complements the yellow nicely. Remember kids, subtlety is key.

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Manchester City





















Call me biased, but I've always loved a solid-colored shirt with a different colored sleeves. City's new Reebok home kit is a real winner. The normal sky blue shirt is accented with white sleeves. We like it! The away shirts a little too much like Arsenal's, but we're OK with that. You might be the second team in Manchester, but you are first when it comes to looking good. Well done, City.

Rating: 4 Beckhams

Manchester United

























New owners, a new sponsor, and new home and away kits this year for the Red Devils. There are a few subtle changes to the Man Utd home kit. There's little, if any, black on the red home shirt. The club crest is now on a badge, similar to what Nike did with Holland's home shirts. The away kits go from awkward blue back to simple white and black. Classy and simple. The one complaint is the logo of new sponsor AIG. If anyone has a more plain and boring logo, I haven't found it.

Rating: 4 Beckhams

Middlesbrough





















'Boro's kit has always been a bit unspectacular. With so many red-kitted teams in the EPL, it's easy for the Middlesbroughs and Charltons of the world to get lost in the shuffle. 'Boro has tried to distinguish itself in recent years with a white stripe across the chest and black numbering. It is a nice touch to stand out a bit in the sea of red. The away kit changes from solid blue to solid white this year. It's not a very creative change.

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Newcastle




















At the risk of seriously stroking Bryce's ego, Newcastle United has always had one of the best kits in the whole world. After all, they pioneered the vertical stripes look at so many teams around the world have copied. The Magpies haven't changed much over the years, and that's a good thing. This year's kit features wider striping and white panels on the side. While it might be change for the sake of change, it still works. We also love the away kit, which is maroon (always a sharp color on the pitch) with blue sleeves. Well done, Newcastle.

Rating: 5 Beckhams

Portsmouth

















Portsmouth's kit has always been pretty sharp. Sure, it screams a little too much "French national team" (oddly, many English would prefer that Portsmouth left England and became part of France). But no one else in England does blue, white, and red as well as Pompey. Then again, no one else in the EPL is wearing blue, white and red. This year's home kit isn't much different from those in the past, save white stripes around the shoulders. Sadly, Pompey loses points with a rather drab white kit. You can do better than that, lads.

Rating: 4 Beckhams

Reading

















Loyal readers will know that I've been talking up the Royals here for the last few weeks. So do you expect me to critcize their kits? Of course not. Reading is the only team in the EPL to feature horizontal stipes. We like anything unique, so count us among the fans of the Royals inaugural EPL kits. Plus, we've always been big Puma supporters around these parts. And if you've learned anything from this articile, it's that we like maroon on the pitch. So the away kit is also a real winner. Let's hope we see Reading in the EPL for years to come.

Rating: 5 Beckhams

Sheffield United





















The Blades are back in the EPL and taking over Sunderland's role of "red and white striped shirt team that will be relegated after one season." And with their away kit, Sheffield United has also taken West Brom's role of "white and black striped shirt team that will be relegated as well." Hmmm, things aren't looking good for the Blades, are they?

Rating: 3 Beckhams

Tottenham Hotspur



















Spurs had one of the best kits in England last year. White shirts with navy blue sleeves and blue shorts? With a kit that sharp, Spurs belong in Europe. When we heard Tottenham was switching to Puma this year, we had high hopes for an even better kit. So what did they do? They switched to a plain...white...shirt. Yawn. And what's with the new blue rooster on the badge? That'll teach us to expect too much coming from those clowns at White Hart Lane. OK, so we like the away shirt. But the damage has already been done.

Rating: 2 Beckhams

Watford






















Well, we might as well not mince words. We aren't expecting much out of the Hornets this year. Quite frankly, it's still a shock that they even won a spot in the Premiership. While their stay in the top flight might not be long, it'll certainly be memorable. That's because you can't help but notice the shockingly bad yellow and red kits. If Watford is going for the cartoon superhero look, mission accomplished. The only saving grace is the respectable all-navy blue away kit. Unfortunately, since Watford's primary color is yellow, we won't be seeing it really much at all this year.

Rating: 1 Beckham

West Ham





















The Hammers returned to the EPL in style last term with an impressive ninth place finish and a UEFA Cup spot to boot. That accomplishment alone will earn you some style points. West Ham returns with its standard maroon shirt with sky blue sleeves. It's traditional, it works, and it's better than Aston Villa's version of the same shirt. We also like the solid navy blue away kit, which is a big improvement from the white away kit. Bonus points are awarded for an appropriate sponsor, JobServe. I'm all for encouraging those lazy East Londoners to get off their butts and find their next dishwashing job.

Rating: 4 Beckhams

Wigan


















We end our survey with a look at the Latics. What is a Latic, by the way? It's short for athletic, as in Wigan Athletic. Ingenious. The blue home kit is pretty simple. We're not so sure about the shoulder pad effect created by the white shoulders and sleeves. We like the navy blue away kit. But we've been seeing a lot of navy blue away kits here recently. Apparently navy blue is in this season.

Rating: 2 Beckhams

Photos courtesy nndb.com, yahoo.com, shop.avfc.co.uk, rovers-store.com, cafc.co.uk, chelseamegastore.com, evertonfc.com, mcfc.co.uk, kitbag.com, shop.mfc.co.uk, shop.nufc.co.uk, football.co.uk, readingfc.co.uk, sufc.co.uk, tottenhamhotspur.com, watfordfc.co.uk, and jjbsports.com. Send us your fashion dos and don'ts at bookableoffense@gmail.com.