FEATURE | Every 2023-24 Ligue 1 home kit rated | OneFootball

The 2023-24 Ligue 1 is coming thick and fast, starting this Friday with Nice hosting Lille. Every French top-tier club has now revealed what threads they will be wearing from Brest to Monaco and from Toulouse to Metz. We at Get French Football News love Ligue 1 as much as we’re into football shirts. So it’s only right we’d run the rule on all 18 Ligue 1 home kits and rate them out of ten. Does fewer clubs mean more haute couture ? Let’s find out!

Brest

Well, that’s a no from the get-go. For a start, it’s a rehash of last season’s mediocre effort. Even if those sponsors are locally-based, there are still so many of them that I’m not sure where to look first to find the club’s crest. The uneven horizontal dark pinstripes does not help either. The shade of red is as bright as ever though. And, by the way, this is an Adidas template from 2020, so why bother ?Grade : All too basic, do better. 3/10

Clermont

The Pascal Gastien-led side looked very good indeed last season, finishing a mightily impressive 8th. What about their new kit? According to the club, once you gloss over the many sponsors on show, the traditional Clermont magenta is “enhanced by a flow of lava on the side of the jersey, recalling the volcanic past of the territory”. The nod to the Puy de Dôme is cool, not sure about the flow though. Still, the blue round neck is quite neat. Grade : An average effort from Uhlsport. 5/10

Le Havre

Ligue 2 champions Le Havre returns to the French top flight for the first time since 2009. Kit supplier JOMA could have marked the occasion with something special. Instead, it’s a plain but expected half-and-half template jazzed up with geometrical background patterns that pays tribute to the Normandy town’s port activity – yes, those are shipping containers on top of each other. It’s really nice to involve Le Havre’s identity and its core of hard-working dockers into this. Too bad the really out-of-place red sponsoring gambling company ruins it.Grade : A different sponsor could have made this a great kit, but for now it’s only a good one. 6/10

Lens

RC Lens and Puma could not mess this up, considering potential millions of football fans worldwide will lay eyes for the first time on the Artois side during the Champions League group stage. It’s a bit… disappointing, isnt’ it ? Yes, I kind of like the bold black pattern on the neck and sleeves and the fact the club’s Sang et Or (Blood and Gold) are on show. But those fine red stripes are totally unnecessary and ruin the kit a bit. A Lens jersey should be equally stripped with red and yellow.Grade : A wasted opportunity, what a shame. 4/10

Lille

New Balance and Lille have provided us with great kits over the years, and again the pair does not disappoint. The classic Lille scapular returns with a modern take whilst a deconstructed white stripe go from the collar to the left sleeve. It’s bold, not ugly and it actually looks like a football shirt. As per, the American sportswear brand strikes the right tone between tradition and innovation.Grade : New Balance, you got them Dogues in you. 7/10

Lorient

For their second season in charge of Lorient’s threads, Umbro have gone with a block design for Les Merlus. And I’m no fan of this. It looks like two kits crammed into one, it does not work. Credit where it’s due, the colors are quite bright so it may look good on the telly. Lorient, you’re the only Ligue 1 team playing in orange, so make the most of it! Grade : That white block looks like an oversized bib. Hard pass. 3/10

Lyon

Now this is exactly what I was waiting for. Adidas have knocked it out of the Parc OL with this. Honestly, it’s superb. The immaculate whiteness, the classic red and blue stripes on the side, the golden detailing, the tricolore-inspired collar: it just works wonders. This is something famed Lyon chef Paul Bocuse could have worn in one of his five-stars cuisines to prepare the best meal of your life. Let him cook.

Grade : Just the best kit Lyon have had in a long time. 9/10

Marseille

White and sky blue go together like peanut butter and jelly, as demonstrated by Puma’s latest threads for the only French club to have lifted the Champions League. It’s a real improvement from last year’s forgettable and plain Marseille jersey. I’m not entirely sure why the Puma logo is gold when everything else is either white or blue, but it’s really a clean effort from the German sportswear brand.Grade : A classic Marseille kit. Honestly, what’s not to like ? 7/10

Metz

The northeastern side is back in the top-tier courtesy of their Ligue 2 second-place finish. Of course, the traditional Metz marroon shade takes centre stage. The scales pattern on the front is a tribute to the town’s mythical guardian – a dragon called Graoully. It would probably take more than that to strike fear in Metz’s opponents, but it’s still an OK kit, with a nice collar. A bit too filled with sponsors for my liking though.

Grade : A decent although forgettable jersey. 5/10

Monaco

No crazy surprises there from Kappa and Monaco. Obviously, the Grace Kelly-inspired diagonal remains at the heart of the kit’s design. Kappa have gone a bit overboard with the geometrical brick-like shapes in the red half, but it’s still an elegant attempt from the Italian brand with the sleeves and the dual-coloured neck as its best features. The front sponsor is better than the last one and the kit is reportedly made out of 100% recycled polyester, I’m in.

Grade : A sleek effort from Kappa. 7/10

Montpellier

Oh dear, what even is this ? There are so many things wrong with that Montpellier home kit. The Nike template is lazy. A big navy blue cross appears in the middle of the shirt. The front sponsor looks out of place. The collar and sleeves are plain boring… Just make it full blue with orange shorts!Grade : Last season’s Montpellier jersey was dull. This is just not working at all. 2/10

Nantes

Come every summer, Nantes fans are furious over the fact their club’s main sponsor adorns the new yellow kit in red lettering, and they are absolutely right. It just doesn’t fit, and red is the main color of Nantes’ bitter Brittany rivals Rennes. Besides, like Toni Kroos, I really don’t like polo-style collars on a football jersey. Football players are supposed to look like one on a football pitch, simple as that. And those sleeves make it look like everyone is the skipper.Grade : Even Pedro Chirivella can’t make this look good. 4/10

Nice

The INEOS-owned club have traded Macron for Le Coq Sportif to take charge of their kits. The French brand have kept it simple: vintage white V-neck with medium-sized black and red stripes. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a bit… unadventurous. It’s like Nice in the INEOS era: it works, it’s just mid and not that good-looking. And I would have preferred black shorts to go with it.

Grade : An underwhelming start for Le Coq Sportif. 5/10

Paris Saint-Germain

Nike is getting closer to what a real PSG shirt has to look like. The sportswear giants have opted for a modern take of the club’s famed Hechter design – navy blue with a large red band with thinner white stripes down the middle of the shirt. The kit’s red and white stripes are supposed to “gradually merge into a dynamic blue like the light in the Parisian skyline.” Sure, let’s take their word for it. Putting Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and the wantaway Neymar JR front and centre of the 2023-24 jersey’s announcement is even funnier though.

Grade : Come on Nike, give the PSG people what they really want. No more half measures. 6/10

Reims

It’s another classic Umbro-inspired look for Stade de Reims. The plucky Will Still-led side will still sport the club’s traditional red torso with white sleeves. The kit’s front is adorned with a tone-on-tone pattern that shows the intertwined club’s crest. I’m sold on the sporty-looking collar and the classy “Reims” detailing on the sleeves.Grade : A slight improvement from last season’s effort. 6/10

Rennes

Puma have added a dreaded polo-style collar to the Rennes’ home shirt, although this one doesn’t offend that much. However, the ever-larger sponsor hides too much of the creative jazzy-looking detailing paying tribute to the legendary Brocéliande forest. The stylish thin red and black stripes on the sleeves look good though.Grade : Puma needs to up their game to match Rennes’ European ambitions. 5/10

Strasbourg

The Alsatians have entered a new era with the takeover of American consortium BlueCo. And for the first time ever, kit supplier Adidas have provided Strasbourg a custom-made jersey. The German sportswear brand have gone vintage with tone-on-tone geometrical shapes on the front. It should have been enough, because I’m no fan of this big bold white collar and the illusion of relief provided by the black border on the sleeves. Besides, the dash of the sponsor’s light green clashes awfully with the royal blue.Grade : Too many different colours for a single kit. 4/10

Toulouse

What a beauty of a footy kit from Craft! The Swedish brand has done a madness with Toulouse’s latest threads: a pretty shade of light purple for the vintage-looking stripes to embellish a refined and simple design. This is just a football jersey that is begging to be worn. It will look so good with those UEFA Europa League badges on the sleeves on Thursday nights.Grade : Craft have outdone themselves. Better-known kit suppliers, take note. 8/10

GFFN | Bastien Cheval