Colours that work

Three shirts on a washing line: red with white number, white with pale yellow number, navy with yellow number — The pale number in the middle is almost invisible from a distance.

Good club colours do two jobs: they look great and they make the team easy to recognise. For shirt numbers, there is a third job – they must be readable from the top row of the stand.

Contrast is everything

Designers measure readability with a contrast ratio, the same idea used to make websites easy to read. A ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 is good; 7 to 1 or more is excellent. Test your own combination:

Shirt number contrast check

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Combinations that rarely fail

A strong main colour with white – red and white, blue and white, green and white.
Dark and bright – navy and yellow, black and gold, claret and sky blue.
For the away kit, swap the main and second colours, or choose white or a dark colour.

Players in green-and-white hoops and a goalkeeper in green — Hoops are bold – keep the number on a calm panel.

Patterns and numbers

Stripes and hoops can make numbers hard to read. Many clubs print numbers on a plain panel or use a colour that stands out from both parts of the pattern.