Liverpool FC Away Kit Colours & How They’ve Changed | OneFootball

There is little question that England’s most successful football club is known for playing its home games in red. They have Bill Shankly to thank for that, as with so many other things, given the fact that it was the famous Scot who made the decision to get his players to play all in red when previously they would play in the likes of white shorts with a red shirt.

You can read more about the home kit colours elsewhere on the site, with this page dedicated to the away kit’s colours. Whereas the home kit is always red, there is a lot more flexibility when it comes to the away kits.

Starting Off in White

LFC History, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Nowadays, supporters have grown used to the players for their time lining up in all sorts of different colours. When football was in its infancy, however, the idea was a lot simpler and only two kits were used. The most obvious one was the home kit, which the club’s players got to wear for all home games regardless of the opposition. The problem was, games played away from home might see them come up against another team that played in the same colour, which is where trouble began.

As a result, the away kit came into being. For Liverpool, this began with a white shirt and blue shorts and socks. That remained the case until the 1904-1905 season, when the socks turned red, the shorts turned white and the top was white with red accents on the neckline and at the end of the sleeves. In 1906, an all-white top returned alongside black shorts and socks, then in 1909 the black socks were kept but the shorts went white and the white top with a red collar and sleeve cuff was brought back. In the 1920s, the white shorts and white top were matched with red socks.

In 1929, the black shorts made a comeback, which remained the case until the 1980s. The socks became red and white hoops on and off, whilst the white top with red accents became the go-to outfit for Liverpool. The club crest was introduced in 1953 and has remained in place ever since, albeit in different guises. Sometimes the collar was round, others it was a V-neck, with the socks occasionally being all-red, others all-white. Irrespective, the away kit was white in nature until the 1980s, matched predominantly with black shorts and the red highlights alongside the sponsor’s name.

Different Colours Come In

The biggest alteration to the Liverpool away kit came in 1982. That was the year that the club decided to move away from the all-white top for the first time, introducing a yellow kit with red stripes. It kept the red V-neck collar, as well as the red cuffs on the sleeves, but the top, shorts and socks had yellow as their main colour. This kit stayed for two years, undergoing a slight change in 1984 when the red lines were removed from the top, but a yellow line was introduced to the red cuffs on the sleeves. In 1985, things changed again when a grey kit came into use.

Initially, this was a light grey with red Adidas lines on the shoulder and the side of the shorts, alongside the V-neck collar and the hoops at the top of white-grey socks. In 1986, the kit remained pretty much the same but black shorts returned. In 1987, the grey used was much darker, being in place for the shirt, the shorts and the socks. In 1989, the top changed to become slightly lighter grey with a checked pattern, whilst the shorts and socks were the same apart from a deeper red colour. It all changed again in 1991, which was when green was used for the first time.

The 1990s into the Noughties

The kit in 1991 was made by Adidas, who turned the top green but had three white stripes coming in over the left shoulder. The shorts, meanwhile, were white, but had green lines come up from the bottom right. The socks were green with a white top. Although the sponsor changed in 1992, the kit otherwise remained pretty much the same. In 1993, the top went mostly white but with green shoulders and arms, whilst the three Adidas stripes moved to the bottom of the top and became black. The shorts were black, with white lines coming from the other side, with green socks and a black top.

The idea of using green continued in 1995, but the top switched to become quarters of green and white, whilst the arms were blocks of white and then green on the left and green and then white on the right. The shorts were green, with the socks being mostly white with green at the top. This was the start of the club putting forward a new away kit each season, which resulted in Reebok taking over as the manufacturers in 1996 and putting out a cream top with black shorts and cream socks. In 1997, the club returned to yellow and red as its main colour for the top, shorts and socks.

In 1998, a return of the black shorts, albeit with a red stripe, came in, which was matched to a white top and socks that had red accents. In 1999, it was back to the green but with a blue and white sash line on it, blue shorts and green socks with a white top. Reebok remained in place at the start of the 2000s, bringing in a gold top with blue accents and blue shorts and socks with yellow accents. A year later and the blue remained, but the top went predominantly white with some gold accents, white the shorts went blue and the socks were blue and white.

The kit for the 2002-2003 season was black with some grey on the sleeves, matching with grey shorts and black socks. A year later and the shorts were black, but the socks were mainly white to match a predominantly white top, alongside some grey lines vertically and red accents. For the 2004-2005 season, at the end of which Liverpool would win the Champions League, the away kit was mainly gold, with black shorts and gold socks with a black top. Black shorts remained a year on, but the top went white with grey lines and red trim, whilst the socks were white.

It was back to the yellow for the 2006-2007 season, largely thanks to the fact that Adidas were back doing the design. That meant the three lines in red on the shoulder and down the arms, with a red accent on the top, whilst the shorts were yellow with red lines and the socks were yellow with a red band around the top. In 2007, the top went white with some red lines and the shorts went black with red lines, whilst the socks were white. Meanwhile, 2009 brought in a grey top with red lines, with the shorts and socks doing the same thing, then in 2009 it was all black with some gold throughout.

The 2010s to Modern Day

Adidas remained in place as the kit manufacturer until 2012, with the first kit of the decade offering black shorts with red trim and white socks with red and black at the top, whilst the top itself was white with thin red lines running vertically. In 2011, the socks and shorts were black with grey lines, whilst the top was black with grey lines running vertically as well as the Adidas lines on the shoulders also being grey. When Warrior came in in 2012, they kept the balcony and grey theme initially, then made the kit white with some black and red, along with black shorts and mainly white socks.

The 2014-2015 season saw Mario Balotelli and co running around in a yellow kit with red lines, which turned to a white kit with red accents when New Balance became the manufacturer in 2015. The white was in place for the shirt, shorts and socks, which all turned black a year later. There was a nod to the quartered kit of 1995 in 2017, this time with much lighter green, whilst the shorts were black and the socks were white with a black band at the top and a green band halfway down. In 2018, the kit turned purple, which was in place for the top, the shorts and the socks, with some orange.

In 2019, the shorts went blue, as did the feet of the socks whilst the rest of them were white. The top, meanwhile, was white with some grey lines and red accents on the cuffs. In 2020, Nike became the club’s kit supplier and the away top was a kind of aquamarine with black collar and cuffs, then in 2021 it went cream with dark green on the collar and shirt neck. Things went a bit disco in the 2022-2023 campaign, with blues, whites and reds swirling around. In 2023-2024, the away kit was once again in quarters of white and green, then the last Nike kit was dark blue and aqua marine cuffs.

The 2025-2026 season saw a return of Adidas, offering an away kit that was cream with black and red on the cuffs of the shirt, whilst the Adidas stripes on the shoulder were red leading up to a red and black colour. The shorts, meanwhile, were black with red stripes down the side and