Image from footyheadlines.com

The away effort from Reading & Macron this year is something a bit different without getting giddy, and I like it.

It’s a half and half number, albeit halves in different shades of red (last worn in Reading’s last promotion season) rather than any major contrast. The lower half of the torso also contains a couple of thick stripes protruding from each red half onto the other, which makes the divider down the middle less sheer and looks easy on my eye. Both the half/half set-up and these design stripes are replicated seamlessly on the back, too, which bags a bonus point.

A V-neck collar is standard enough, but there’s a cheeky sliver of Reading blue and white which brings it life a bit, matching with a band on the cuffs, another insert inside the back of neck and of course the Reading crest.

If you’re also not sick of thinking about corona yet, you might enjoy the crown embossed on the top of the back as an extra soupcon of shirt spice.

Of course, unless you’re junior you’re faced with Casumo pushing gambling again, but at least their logo is relatively inoffensive and they’re happy to change its colour to fit the shirt aesthetics. This is a decent shirt on the sly.

8/10

Author: Greg Sykes @SykesGreg