New Gillingham kit: The future's so bright, they gotta wear shades...
After a rather radical design last season, Gillingham have gone back to a clean, classic look for their 2026/27 home strip. As for the second and third shirts... expect the unexpected!
[NOTE: Updated May 27 and 28 to include the launch of the second and third kits]
One of the highlights of every summer since the Galinsons arrived at Gillingham has been the official kit reveals, and the club has unveiled its first new strip for 2026/27.
The photoshoot, which looks like it was taken on St. Mary’s Island, or around the Chatham Dockside area, features “models” Nelson Khumbeni, Armani Little, and Bradley Dack, fully decked out in the new kit, and all wearing sunglasses (presumably the models’ own).
The brand new home strip is once again manufactured by Macron, with the Milky Way-esque home jersey of last season replaced by a traditional solid royal blue number. There’s some nice detailing in there, too, with wavy lines offering some texture to the shirts.
The shirt features round, crew-neck collars, with the shirt sponsor, MEMS Power Generation sitting perfectly on the lower chest area, in white. It shouldn’t matter about the sponsors’ logos, but they really can make or break the look of a shirt, and MEMS strong square-bracketed logo is perfect for the front of a football shirt. The jersey also features new shirt sleeve sponsors, with Pro Parts replacing Magnus Search. Their logo is displayed prominently on the left shoulder, in white.
The back-of-shirt sponsor, C&A Building Products, has its logo displayed across the top of the shoulders, but unlike the other sponsors, it is displayed in its own colours of light blue and yellow, with a black keyline.
In other news, the white shorts are back! After a season in blue and white patterned shorts that matched the jerseys, Gillingham have returned to a classic blue-white-blue approach, with blue shirts, white shorts, and blue socks. The socks feature white tops and a small stripe, which sets them off smartly against the shorts and brings the whole kit together very nicely indeed.
The new kit goes on sale at the Gillingham FC club shop at Priestfield on Saturday, May 30, with online orders also being taken on that day.
New away kit revealed
Hot on the heels of the home strip’s release, the club followed up the following day with the unveiling of the away shirt, and a very different style to previous away colours.
Mister Maker helps launch ‘purple swirl’ third kit
Gills fans who became parents over the last 15 years or so will know Mister Maker well. The Kent-based, Gillingham-supporting CBeebies star is the post-Millennium answer to Neal Buchanan, but for younger kids. So, when we saw Mister Maker – real name Phil Gallagher – on the Priestfield pitch, we knew the Gills’ third kit wasn’t going to be a simple single-colour number.
What we got was a kit unlike anything I’ve ever laid eyes on before. Dark grey, with a light purple swirl pattern, plus accents of aqua green. It’s quite something. And, on first glance, it’s pretty jarring, because it doesn’t look like what you’d expect from a football shirt.
But, and I realise I might get some pushback on this, it does kind of grow on you. At least, I think it does. There are plenty of fans who have already decided that it’s definitely not for them. In truth, it probably isn’t. It’s for those who fancy something a bit different. Kids will love it, and a few fans of a more established vintage might not mind seeing a break from the norm, too.
Also, it’s OK not to like them. In my eyes, the only jersey that really matters when it comes to looks is the home shirt. I didn’t like last year’s home kit at all. But this time around, I think they’ve nailed it.
Since the Galinsons have arrived, they’ve used the third kit to do something different that might appeal to different subsets of the fanbase. This year, it feels like they’ve done that with both the second and third strips. Personally, I actually prefer the third to the second. But for me, the classic blue home jersey is the clear winner. I’ll be stumping up for that, for sure. And if I’m feeling bold – and it still looks OK in person – I might, just might, nab a third kit jersey, too.
Comment below and let me know which of the kits you’ll be buying this season.