Arsenal have released their new home kit for the 2026/27 season, but when will the Gunners first wear it on the pitch?
Arsenal officially released their new 2026/27 home kit on Friday morning, with the new shirt already on sale to the public. But it seems the fans will need to wait a bit longer to see the players in the kit for a match.
In a number of recent seasons, Arsenal’s men’s team have debuted their new kit in the final home match of the previous campaign.
But reports ahead of the kit release suggested that wouldn’t be the case on this occasion, and Arsenal have indeed made no mention of the new shirt being worn in the final three men’s games of 2025/26.
As a result, the expectation is that the men’s team will debut the new shirt in pre-season, and that they’ll wear the current 2025/26 home shirt for the upcoming game against Burnley, as well as for the Champions League final later this month.
Pre-season plans are already taking shape, including a confirmed match against Real Betis at the Aviva Stadium in Ireland on August 5th, a reported Emirates Cup match, and a possible Community Shield game (which will be confirmed if Manchester City beat Chelsea this weekend).
Perhaps Arsenal’s pursuit of trophies has played a part in the decision to delay the shirt debut, as the Gunners are still in contention to win the Premier League and/or the Champions League in these final three matches.
It would be strange to spend 99% of a season wearing one shirt, only to lift a trophy in another.
There could also have been a complication with Arsenal’s change in sleeve sponsor. The new shirts have Deel on the sleeves, whereas the old ones have Visit Rwanda.
As Visit Rwanda’s agreement lasts until the end of the season, they probably wouldn’t be too happy with Arsenal wearing shirts displaying ‘Deel’ in these pivotal final games of the season.
The simplest solution is simply to keep wearing the old shirt for now, and to debut the new one later this summer.
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