Famous football clubs that play in stripes

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Stripes have been the shirt pattern of choice for football clubs all over the world for generations.

From the standard vertical to the lesser-seen horizontal – and sometimes even diagonal (woah) – these famous outfits are all known for rocking stripey strips.

Give any of the arrows on the right a click to kick off the countdown!

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32. Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock have played in blue and white stripes for most of their history, be they vertical or horizontal.

Founded way back in 1869, Killie won the 1964/65 Scottish top-flight title and are among a handful of clubs from the country to have played in three major continental competitions: the European Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup.

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31. Sassuolo

Italian club Sassuolo traditionally play in black and green stripes, so things got a little awkward for them in 2021, when Serie A announced that it intended to ban green kits (to make it easier for people watching games on TV, apparently).

Fortunately for the Neroverdi, as their home strip was not predominantly green, they were let off the hook!

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30. Bradford City

Bradford always stand out in their claret and amber home colours, which they’ve rocked in both vertical, horizontal and diagonal stripes over the years.

The Yorkshire outfit – who won the 1910/11 FA Cup and spent two years in the Premier League – inherited the colour scheme from Manningham FC, the rugby league club which converted to football in 1903, becoming Bradford City.

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29. Gremio

Former club of Brazil greats Ronaldinho and Everaldo, among others, Gremio are synonymous with a distinctive tricolour of blue, black and white stripes.

Based in the southern city of Porto Alegre, they won their first Copa Libertadores in 1983 and subsequently defeated European champions Hamburg to lift the Intercontinental Cup.

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28. Lens

Champions of France in the 1997/98 campaign, Lens’s home colours have tended to be a striking combination of red and yellow.

Ok, officially it’s red and gold, with the gold said to symbolise the value of the historic coal industry in the area – and the red the blood drawn by the miners in getting the stuff out of the ground. Fair enough, we guess.  

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27. Olympiacos

Serial champions of Greece, Olympiacos have rocked red and white stripes throughout their trophy-laden history.

And they were in their home colours for arguably their greatest achievement: victory over Fiorentina in the 2024 Europa Conference League final, which saw them become the first Greek club to win a major continental competition.

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26. Shakhtar Donetsk

One of the most successful clubs in Eastern Europe, Shakhtar Donetsk are instantly recognisable for the orange and black striped home shirts.

The Ukrainian giants have remained Champions League regulars in recent years, despite having to lead a nomadic existence since 2014 due to war in their home region of Donbas.

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25. Brighton

Brighton haven’t always played in blue and white stripes – at times deviating to almost all-blue home shirts, for example – but that is the combination that the Sussex outfit are synonymous with.

And the Seagulls donned that look during their finest hour: the 1983 FA Cup final, when they took Manchester United to a replay.

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24. Crystal Palace

Fierce rivals of Brighton, Crystal Palace wore their famous red and blue stripes for the first time during the 1937/38 season – but they didn’t actually stick as the Eagles’ home colours until the late 1980s, after a spell of white shirts with a red and blue sash (which the South Londoners regularly pay homage to with their away kit).

In recent years, Palace have shown off several variations on that theme, including a gradient design and one which looked like it had been drawn with felt-tip pens (it worked, to be fair).

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23. Real Sociedad

Back-to-back LaLiga champions in the early 1980s, Real Sociedad’s blue and white home colours are drawn from those appearing on the flag of San Sebastian, the Basque city where they have been based since their formation in 1909.

As such, the club – who have also won the Copa del Rey multiple times – are nicknamed Txuri-Urdin (the White and Blues) in Basque.

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22. Southampton

Another historic red and white English club, Southampton, then of the Second Division, famously stunned top-flight Manchester United to win the 1976 FA Cup final (although they had to play in yellow and blue that day).

The Saints haven’t always been a stripey side, however, sporting an all-red home shirt on occasion – and even white with a red sash, a nod to the very first kit worn by the club in its original guise as St. Mary’s Y.M.A. (Young Men’s Association).

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21. Sheffield United

Four-time FA Cup winners and champions of England way back in 1898, Sheffield United have played in red and white stripes for all but the first two years of their long existence – when they wore all-white shirts.

Black shorts have also been a mainstay of the Blades’ home kit, with the odd deviation into white or red.

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20. Penarol

Among the most successful clubs in South America, having lifted the Copa Libertadores numerous times, iconic Uruguayan outfit Penarol have also won their national league title more than most teams on the planet – claiming an incredible 50th crown in 2018.

Formed from the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club – which was set up by British workers in the country – Penarol’s yellow and black home colours were inspired by George Stephenson’s Rocket steam locomotive.

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19. Parma

Switching between yellow and blue stripes and a black cross on a white background, Parma have reflected both halves of the club crest with their home shirts over the years.

But the Italian cult favourites enjoyed their most glorious period while rocking yellow and blue, with stars such as Hernan Crespo, Juan Sebastian Veron and Lilian Thuram helping them to a 1998/99 UEFA Cup-Coppa Italia double.

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18. West Brom

Football League founder members, top-flight champions in 1919/20 and five-time FA Cup winners, West Brom have a proud history within the English game.

And, having played in yellow and white quarters, brown and sky blue halves, and various other less tasteful colour combinations during their formative years, the Baggies have long been synonymous with navy and white stripes.

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17. Sporting Lisbon

One of Portugal’s ‘Big Three’ clubs alongside Porto and arch-rivals Benfica, Sporting Lisbon’s green and white shirts have more than a touch of Celtic about them.

However, while the Scottish giants play in green and white hoops (hence you won’t see them on this list), Sporting play in green and white horizontal stripes – sometimes with a dash of black added.

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16. Fenerbahce

Founded in 1907, Fenerbahce are the youngest of Istanbul’s three fierce rivals – and, along with Besiktas (black and white), one of two who play in stripes (Galatasaray’s home shirts have tended to be halved rather than striped).

Yellow and blue are the order of the day for Fener, who claimed their first of many Turkish titles in 1959.

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15. PSV

PSV are one of three Dutch clubs to have won the European Cup / Champions League, along with Ajax and Feyenoord – and, along with Ajax, they’re one of two Dutch clubs to have done the treble, achieving the feat under Guus Hiddink in 1987/88.

That season, the Eindhoven outfit sported all-red home shirts, but they’re most closely associated with red and white stripes.

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14. Fluminense

Fluminense are one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, and they boast one of the most unique home colour schemes in world football: burgundy, white and green stripes.

Those threads are regularly on show at the world-famous Maracana, the Rio de Janeiro outfit’s stadium since the middle of the 20th century.

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13. Flamengo

Another member of the horizontal stripes crew, Flamengo can lay claim to being the best-supported club in Brazil, boasting around 50 million fans.

Champions of South America on multiple occasions, Fluminense’s bitter Rio rivals – who share the Maracana – are synonymous with red and black (well, strictly speaking, scarlet and black).

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12. Porto

The only Portuguese club to be crowned champions of Europe in the Champions League era, Porto have been continental kings on two occasions – the first in 1987 under Artur Jorge, the second in 2004 under Jose Mourinho.

Both times, Porto have taken to the pitch in blue and white stripes, their unmistakable home colours which they just don’t mess with.

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11. Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield are assured of legendary status in English football as the first club to win three successive top-flight titles, achieving the feat between 1924 and 1926 under Herbert Chapman then Cecil Potter.

For the vast majority of their history, the Terriers’ home colours have been blue and white stripes – ranging from royal blue to the much lighter end of the scale.

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10. Sunderland

Another of the biggest clubs in the north of England, Sunderland won three titles either side of 1900, the last of them coming in 1935/36.

FA Cup winners in 1937 and 1973, the Black Cats have played pretty much exclusively in red and white stripes at home since 1887, usually with black shorts.

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9. Sheffield Wednesday

Another famous old English club, Sheffield Wednesday came into existence in 1867, starting out as The Wednesday, emerging from the cricket club of the same name – whose founders had a half-day off work on a Wednesday.

The four-time top-flight champions and three-time FA Cup winners have played almost exclusively in blue and white stripes at home since 1890.

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8. Notts County

Formed way back in 1861, Football League founder members Notts County hold the title of the oldest professional football club in the world.

While they wore orange and black and chocolate and sky blue early on, County had adopted black and white stripes (hence their nickname, the Magpies) by the time of their 1893/94 FA Cup triumph.

Despite lifting that famous trophy, the club are perhaps most notable for inspiring the kit colours of a true giant of world football: Juventus (more on them shortly…).

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7. Athletic Bilbao

Among the most successful clubs in Spain with eight LaLiga titles to their name, Athletic Bilbao have had red and white striped home shirts for almost their entire history (they wore blue and white halves in the early days).

Immensely proud of their Basque heritage, the club continue to thrive despite the ostensible limitations of their cantera policy – which dictates that they only sign players native to or developed in the Basque Country.

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6. Atletico Madrid

With the exception of bitter local rivals Real Madrid, and Barcelona, no club has been crowned champions of Spain more times than Atletico Madrid – who moved into double figures when they secured their first title under Diego Simeone in 2013/14.

Europa League and Cup Winners’ Cup winners, Atleti have traditionally donned red and white striped shirts – said to originate from a 1909 trip to England by former player and board member Juanito Elorduy, who sailed back home from the port of Southampton.

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5. Newcastle United

Just like Notts County, Newcastle are nicknamed the Magpies – and it doesn’t take a genius to work out why.

One of the most fervently supported clubs anywhere in the world, Newcastle won four English titles between 1905 and 1927, as well as lifting the FA Cup six times between 1910 and 1955.

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4. Inter

Instantly recognisable for their black and blue striped home shirts, multiple European champions Inter are fondly known as the Nerazzurri.

For years, the Italian giants – who got their hands on Serie A title number 20 in 2023/24 – were also impossible to miss thanks to their sponsor, the locally based Pirelli tyre company, whose logo adorned the club’s jerseys from 1995 to 2021.

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3. Juventus

They do like stripes in Italy, and Juventus – the country’s most decorated club by some distance – might just be the most famous example of all.

As we alluded to a little earlier, the Turin giants – nicknamed the Bianconeri (again, self-explanatory stuff) – took inspiration for their black and white stripes from Notts County.

Until 1903, Juve played in pink; then, as the club sought a colour scheme less susceptible to fading in the wash, player John Savage got in touch with a friend in Nottingham who was a County fan – and the rest is history.

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2. Milan

While Inter are the Nerazzurri, their arch-rivals are the Rossoneri (you’re probably getting pretty good at Italian by now, aren’t you?).

Among the most successful clubs in the history of European football, Milan’s utterly iconic red and black stripes have formed the basis of some of the finest shirts the game has ever seen.

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1. Barcelona

Barcelona play in blue and red, right? Wrong! They play in blue and garnet – hence their nickname of Blaugrana (now you’re getting a little Catalan lesson).

And that unique colour combination, along with their serial trophy-winning habit and the enviably long list of legendary players (and managers) associated with them, makes Barca the ultimate stripey club in our book.