Napoli’s recent Coppa Italia exit to Cremonese caused a shock in Italy, but not only for what happened in a football sense as they lost to a side without a Serie A win all season. The Partenopei were again committing crimes against the game’s tradition, wearing a special-edition Valentine’s Day shirt at home, close to one month before February 14.
The game’s 120 minutes had the shirt on show for longer than some other recent Napoli kit designs since joining forces with Emporio Armani ahead of the 2021/22 campaign and letting the designers in their EA7 sportswear department – with that name originating from Giorgio Armani’s appreciation for ex-AC Milan striker and friend Andriy Shevchenko – loose on the famous sky blue jersey.
With so many shirt releases since the collaboration – there have been 22 outfield kits in all – we have kindly listed each version below to bring back both good and bad memories of the various designs. The below list doesn’t take goalkeeper kits into account.
Every Napoli shirt with Emporio Armani EA7
Season 2021/22
Serie A Home
The first year of EA7 got off to a traditional and winning start in Naples, with the team in sky blue and defeating newly promoted Venezia at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona 2-0 on the opening day.
Serie A Away
When Napoli faced Salernitana at Halloween, they gave their white away strip a run out for the first time that season, which was the only design of the domestic strips that season to use the gold trim, otherwise reserved for Europe.
Serie A Third – The Flame Shirt
Napoli were on fire when hitting four goals past Salernitana in late January 2022, in their navy blue and gas flame-inspired third shirt.
Serie A Fourth
Early in the season, Napoli headed to Sampdoria and opted for their all-red fourth kit, but the domestic version had a slight, and somewhat pointless, alteration to the European equivalent, with the decorative sky blue trim.
European Home
The gold trim was back again when Spartak Moscow visited Naples on September 30, 2021, this time replacing navy blue on an exact copy of the design the hosts wore in domestic action.
European Away
An exact replica of the domestic white away shirt, even including the gold trim, but missing the MSC front-of-shirt sponsor. It was scandalous that they put this version on sale, after wearing for the first and only time in February 2022 against Barcelona.
European Third – The European Flame Shirt
Another shirt worn just once as Napoli lost 4-2 to Barcelona at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and exited the Europa League 5-4 on aggregate. Just as disappointing as the on-pitch performance, considering it was another copy of the domestic flame-inspired version, but with gold trim.
European Fourth
The Partenopei headed to Premier League side Leicester City for the first match of Group C in the UEFA Europa League, which required a change into alternative colours and choosing the all-red fourth strip for the encounter. It varies from the domestic fourth shirt by having gold in place of light blue.
Halloween 2021 Edition – The Spider’s Web Shirt
Despite wearing white while playing Salernitana away on October 31, 2021, the Partenopei wore their special edition Halloween kit two weeks earlier when Torino travelled south. Although they would use it a few more times during the campaign, that decision was more offensive than the black design with spiderweb decorative design.
Maradona Special Editions (X4)
A year after the death of Diego Maradona, producing a statue of the Argentinean and renaming the Stadio San Paolo was the perfect tribute to the two-time Scudetto winner. However, a shameless attempt to cash in on the legacy of one of the greatest players in history saw Napoli spend several weeks taking the field in for different colour versions of the same design with Maradona’s face splashed across the front.
Season 2022/23
Serie A Home
This is their classic sky blue number that may well be seen alongside the Serie A trophy when the campaign ends in June.
Serie A Away
Starting the 2022/23 season away at Hellas Verona saw Napoli defeat the Gialloblu 5-2 in a tasteful white kit with subtle navy blue shoulders.
Serie A Third
Debuted against Lazio in Rome, the all-black number only has a flash of grey as decoration.
European Home
The previous season the only difference between domestic and continental editions was gold trim, whereas for 2022/23, Napoli did little more than remove the MSC logo from the front of the shirts. The shoulders are also a slightly darker shade, nearing black.
European Away 2022/23
Much like the home shirt, the only difference between Napoli’s domestic and continental editions was gold trim, whereas for 2022/23, they did little more than remove the MSC logo from the front of the shirts. They also changed the sleeves to a grey/silver shade, as opposed to the light-blue sleeves used in Serie A.
European Third 2022/23
Ajax were the victims as the Partenopei put in a six-goal performance in Amsterdam. However, the shirt let them down, as a copy of the domestic third kit but with decorative shoulders.
Halloween 2022 Edition – The Bat Shirt
Torino were once again the opponents for the first outing of the Halloween special, but it was a significant improvement on the previous year. Keeping the classic sky blue, a swarm of bats making their way up the shirt gives it a unique feel.
Christmas 2022 Edition – The Rudolph Shirt
Unlikely ever to be seen in competitive action, with Rudolph’s cartoon face emblazoned design intended for use during a mid-season break in the Middle East.
Valentine’s Day 2022 Edition – The Lipstick Shirt
The shirt with a large lipstick imprinted image on the front, saw Napoli kiss goodbye to their hopes of a domestic double.
