Unveiled to the world yesterday, we take a look at the bold new kits from Admiral and the Jamaica Premier League, and pick our five favorites.
What do you know about the Jamaica Premier League? Currently ranked as the top domestic league in the Caribbean, the JPL also holds the distinction of being the most stylish as well.
The league officially revealed the new kits for six of its 14 clubs in a fashion show last night as part of Sumfest 2024 in Montego Bay, one of the top reggae festivals in the world. It’s a vibrant collection fit for a nation and league with a rich history and love for the beautiful game.
Unlike most leagues across the globe, the JPL has a league-wide kit supplier in Admiral, who has cooked up a fantastic set of kits for the 2024-25 season. The few domestic leagues that do have a single uniform manufacturer often suffer from an array of repetitive, template-heavy designs, but for the first six sets of home, away, and goalkeeper kits Admiral has designed at least, that hardly is the case.
Every shirt has a unique pattern, color scheme, and details that represent each club and its surrounding community in ways you rarely see from a league-wide supplier. Let’s get a closer look at them all, before picking our five favorites.
Arnett Gardens
Arnett Gardens is one of the more successful JPL clubs, with five league titles to their name. Their set of Admiral kits are fitting of this pedigree, with a slick striped home kit and clean away design. The home shirt in particular is the standout here, with a refreshing play on stripes and a gradient red-to-black color pattern that fits extremely well with the gold sponsor logos.
Not to be outdone are the goalkeeper shirts, which come in a futuristic purple digital pattern and more traditional yellow variation. One thing we can really appreciate from the entire line of kits is how Admiral went out of its way to create unique looks for each goalkeeper shirt, which is far from the norm. It’s about time keepers get some love.
Cavalier
With a trio of league titles to their name, including recent ones in 2021 and 2023-24, Cavalier FC are the oldest side amongst the clubs that received new kits last night. Founded in 1962, Cavalier have produced some top talents in their youth programs, such as Jamaica national team players Alex Marshall and Kaheem Parris.
Looking at the kits, both the home and away feature similar color schemes, which stay true to the Cavalier FC crest. The home kit takes things a step further by incorporating the crest into the design itself, overlaying an abstract lined pattern over a superimposed image of the club’s logo. Stripes continue to be a theme on the away shirt, which has a clean design and is more traditional compared to the ambitious home pattern.
For the keepers, the star of the show is the neon yellow design, which is essentially the same look as the home kit but draped in a bright yellow color scheme. It’s reminiscent of the iconic Borussia Dortmund jerseys from the ‘90s, and is a real standout amongst the entire Admiral x JPL collection. Joining this absolute belter of a shirt is an orange design with neon yellow hints. While not as stunning as its counterpart, it still certainly works as a goalkeeper shirt, and we appreciate the original pattern used here.
Harbour View
Tied with Arnett Gardens with five titles, Harbour View is also a vastly successful JPL side, having last hoisted the trophy in 2022. The club also has the distinction of having the first Jamaican Premier League player to transfer to a major European league in Ricardo Gardner, who spent 14 seasons with Bolton Wanderers from 1998-2012, 11 of them in the English Premier League. Harbour View Stadium, the club’s home grounds, is also one of the top venues in the league, and its opening in 1991 was a massive step forward that raised standards for both the club and league itself.
Out of the bunch, Harbour View have the most traditional set of kits, fitting for a club with such a history. The home shirt is draped in the club’s colors of gold and royal blue, with a starry stripe going down the middle, a nod to the five stars above the club’s crest. The away features a royal blue sash and gold accents that tie in nicely. Our favorite part of this kit is the crest, which is in a monochrome gold to fit in with the accents on the kit and sponsor logos.
While the outfield player kits are traditional, Admiral went aggressive on the goalkeeper shirts. Both utilize a purple base, with one getting lime green sleeves and the other hot pink. They continue the stellar theme, with star accents throughout the body of each design.
Montego Bay
Among one of the most popular destinations in Jamaica, Montego Bay is known for its picturesque beaches, dazzling views, and luxurious resorts. Turns out, MoBay’s football team is pretty good too.
Montego Bay FC has four JPL titles to their name, including a three-year run from 2014-16 that included two titles and a runner-up finish.
As you could imagine, the Admiral kits for the club tie into the tropical location and beautiful nature throughout the city. Utilizing a palm frond-inspired design on both the home and away kits, Montego arguably has the best set of overall designs among the six clubs. The red and green color scheme on each plays extremely well together, providing a ton of pop in addition to the design itself.
The goalkeeper shirts don’t slow down either, and in particular, the green design that continues the palm tree motif is spectacular. It’s almost unfair to the black and yellow more traditional design, which works on its own but is a bit overshadowed by its counterpart.
Mt. Pleasant
The newest club in the bunch, Mount Pleasant was founded in 2016, and made its way from the grassroots level all the way to the JPL in a short amount of time. Gaining promotion to the top flight in 2018, it only took “Stush” five years to win the league, hoisting the trophy in the 2022-23 season. It wasn’t a fluke either, as the club is the reigning JPL runner-up as well.
Like Cavalier FC, Mount Pleasant utilizes a similar color scheme in their home and away kits, staying true to the club’s royal blue signature. The home kit goes with a centered crest and chevron pattern that’s a simple yet striking look. Simplicity carries over to the away shirt, which features a more prominent white base with royal blue accents and a pattern that pays tribute to Mount Pleasant’s crest.
More wild designs come through for the goalkeeper shirts, which feature both a teal and electric blue design. Both are striking in their own right, but for us, the teal shirt with its wavy design is the standout.
Portmore United
The JPL’s most successful ever club, Portmore United boast seven league titles throughout their history. A championship legacy demands fantastic kits, and Admiral delivered.
Starting with the outfield player kits, the home chevron design does well to amplify a clean white base and stay true to the club’s traditional colors. A tiger stripe-like design on the away kit is visually dazzling, and unlike other tiger-inspired designs we’ve seen in the past (looking at you, Hull City), it’s not overly distracting and actually quite tidy.
The star of the show, and the entire collection for that matter however, is Portmore’s purple goalkeeper shirt. This is a thing of beauty. A three-dimensional wave pattern emits various hues of royal purple, and it’s by far the best individual shirt in this collection. Which is a tough break for the lime green goalkeeper shirt with digi-camo sleeves, because that’s also a pretty solid design as well.
The Top Five
5. Montego Bay Goalkeeper Away
4. Cavalier Goalkeeper Away
3. Arnett Gardens Home
2. Montego Bay Home
1. Portmore United Goalkeeper Away
You can shop the entire Admiral x Jamaica Premier League collection online via Admiral, or in-store at Locker Room Sports in Kingston, Jamaica.