New Balance was founded in Boston in 1906 with a single conviction: that every athlete deserves footwear engineered to their individual needs. More than a century later, that conviction has evolved into one of sport's most distinctive brand identities — one that lives at the intersection of performance innovation and cultural authenticity. When New Balance formally entered football in 2015, it brought that same philosophy with it: not to chase the giants, but to outthink them.
New Balance Football Shirts: A Decade of Purposeful Ambition
New Balance's football journey began in earnest with a landmark moment: a record-breaking kit partnership with Liverpool FC in 2015 — at the time the largest apparel sponsorship deal in the club's history. Alongside Liverpool, New Balance debuted its football identity with FC Porto, Sevilla FC, and Stoke City, establishing a presence across the Premier League, La Liga, and the UEFA Europa League simultaneously. That same year, the UEFA Europa League Final was contested by two New Balance clubs — Liverpool and Sevilla — a statement of arrival that few challenger brands have ever matched. Since then, New Balance has built a carefully curated global roster that prioritises cultural fit and creative ambition over volume: FC Porto, Athletic Club, Lille, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Dynamo Kyiv, and more.
The New Balance Design Philosophy: Culture First, Always
New Balance doesn't make football shirts — it makes statements about identity. Every kit partnership begins with a deep creative dialogue: a genuine immersion into the club's history, its city, and the culture of its supporters. The result is football shirts that carry meaning beyond the ninety minutes — shirts that fans wear with pride on the terraces, in the city, and far beyond the stadium. This commitment to cultural authenticity has produced some of the most acclaimed kit designs in European football, earning New Balance a reputation as one of the game's most creatively ambitious manufacturers. When Bayer Leverkusen chose New Balance from the 2025/26 season, it was this philosophy — and a shared drive for innovation — that made the partnership inevitable.
New Balance Kit Technology: Performance Without Compromise
Behind every New Balance football shirt is a performance platform engineered with the same rigour that the brand applies to elite running and athletics. Advanced moisture-wicking fabrications move sweat rapidly from skin to surface, keeping players dry, focused, and performing at their peak across ninety minutes of elite competition. Body-mapped constructions are designed around the specific movement demands of professional football — delivering unrestricted mobility in every position without sacrificing fit or feel. New Balance's commitment to sustainable performance means that football shirts are crafted from recycled materials as a core design principle, not an afterthought.
FC Porto and the Long Game: New Balance's Flagship Football Partnership
No partnership better defines New Balance's football identity than FC Porto. The relationship — one of the longest-running in the brand's football portfolio — has produced some of the most celebrated kit designs in Portuguese football, blending the club's iconic blue and white with New Balance's instinct for cultural storytelling. Supporter-led collaborations, limited-edition sneaker releases bearing the club's colours and crest, and campaign imagery rooted in Porto's passionate fan culture have created a bond between brand and club that runs far deeper than a kit deal. It is the blueprint for everything New Balance believes football partnerships should be.
Browse the full range of official New Balance football shirts at Footballshirts.com — home, away and third kits from one of football's most culturally distinctive and creatively ambitious kit brands.
