The color black may be more associated with referees and other officials, but there are actually a handful of teams that use the color within their jersey designs and today we will e counting down through the 7 best soccer teams with black jerseys.
For this list, we have had to include teams that wear black and white striped jerseys alongside ones that use a block black template in order to give you a full list.
7. Orlando Pirates
The first team to feature in this list is the South African-based club Orlando Pirates. The Pirates are famous for their all-black logo (which was ranked as the coolest club logo ever) and jerseys that heavily display the infamous skull and cross bones that are so closely tied to their pirate identity.
The club was founded in 1937 as the Orlando Boys Club, later changing its name and branding to the Orlando Pirates we know so well. Their home is the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg which can seat over 37,000 fans during a match day.
As for success, the Pirates are one of the greatest teams in the history of South African Soccer and have won the league title 9 times alongside a plethora of domestic cup competitions over the years. The club has also won the African Champions League on one occasion, taking the title in 1995.
Success has been harder to come by in the past decade for the Pirates as other South African clubs have grown in stature, they did reach the CAF Confederation Cup final last season but were beaten by RS Berkane of Morocco on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
The current season is proving a good one for the Pirates, with them sitting in 2nd place in the South African Premier League after 8 games.
6. Grimsby Town
American fans may know the English seaside town of Grimsby for the popular comedy movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen that was released a few years ago, but the club is one of the foremost black and white striped teams in England.
Despite being named after Grimsby, the team actually play their home matches in the nearby town of Cleethorpes at their Blundell Park Stadium. The Stadium holds up to 9,000 people and is often one of the most atmospheric in the EFL League Two.
Grimsby was until this season languishing in the Vanarama National League (the 5th tier of English Soccer) but gained promotion back to the English Football League following a 6th place finish that resulted in them reaching the promotion play-offs. Grimsby overcame Solihull Moors in the final at the London Stadium to retake their place in the EFL.
It has been a good start to life back in the EFL for the black and white clad side, with them currently sitting in 9th place in League Two after playing just 7 matches.
The club also reached the second round of the League Cup, where they were beaten 3-0 by Premier League team Nottingham Forest.
5. New Zealand National Team
Easily the most recognizable country has ever worn the black jersey, the famous New Zealand squads use the color across their male sporting teams.
The country is most famous for its rugby rather than its soccer though, and as such, much of the nation’s support is directed towards that sport.
The New Zealand National Team is not one of the best in the world, in fact, they even struggle to compete within their own continent of Oceania.
In the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers, New Zealand finished top of their qualifying group ahead of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Caledonian Islands.
Following this success, the team moved on to the next round of the competition and managed to beat Tahiti and the Solomon Islands to setup a play-off match against Costa Rica of the CONCACAF region. Unfortunately, New Zealand was beaten and will not appear at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
It must be noted that New Zealand uses black as the traditional color of their away jerseys, due to FIFA rules that prohibit the use of the color for home strips due to the fact it clashes with referee jerseys.
4. Notts County
The original black and white striped team take 4th place on our list, with Notts County allegedly being the oldest English Football League team still in existence today. The team proudly displayed this fact on one of the stands at their famous Meadow Lane Stadium for many years.
This vintage arena has been home to the club for decades and is still one of the most prestigious lower-league grounds to visit and win at for many other clubs.
Despite holding the record mentioned above, Notts County currently finds itself outside of the Football League for the first time in its existence.
It has been a bitterly difficult few seasons for the club, who remain stranded in the Vanarama National League after an unsuccessful play-off campaign last season.
Despite all this, the club has a relatively full trophy cabinet that includes the 1894 FA Cup alongside a number of Second, Third, and Fourth Division titles. The team has also won minor honors such as the Anglo-Italian Cup and Notts Senior Cup.
It is also widely believed that Juventus took the inspiration for their home colors from the black and white stripes of Notts County.
3. St. Mirren
Yet another British team that wears the black and white stripes, Scottish club St. Mirren is one of the smaller teams in the top tier of Scottish Soccer but has an important place in the country’s Soccer history.
St. Mirren was founded in 1877 and is one of the oldest teams in the country, they play their home matches at St. Mirren Park in Paisley and have a 7,937-seat capacity. The club is known as the Buddies or the Saints and currently plays in the Scottish Premiership.
The team earned its place in the top tier after gaining promotion from the Scottish Championship in 2018 and has remained a firm fixture of the league ever since. They may not have ever won the league title in Scotland, but the Saints have won both domestic cup competitions on multiple occasions.
St. Mirren has won the Scottish Cup three times (most recently in 1987) and the Scottish League Cup once in 2013. Alongside these triumphs, St. Mirren has also won five Second Division titles and an impressive 55 Renfrewshire Cups, this was an annual competition held between clubs based in the County of Renfrewshire of which St. Mirren is the largest.
2. Newcastle United
In second place are the most famous black and white striped team in England, Newcastle United. Despite their local rivals Sunderland having the nickname ‘The Black Cats’ it is Newcastle that actually use the colour in their home jerseys.
The club are based in the Northeast of England and is one of the most well-supported teams in the Premier League, though they are not one of the most successful. The team has experienced a turbulent decade that has seen them relegated to the Championship and later regain their Premier League status.
Alongside this on-field drama, the off-field drama has been more dramatic. The club has recently been bought out by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (essentially the Saudi Crown Prince) and is now one of the richest teams on the planet because of this.
This takeover is something fans of the club are very happy about due to their previous owner Mike Ashley being loathed by the Newcastle faithful.
Time will tell whether the Saudi Arabian owners will be any better, but for now, the fortunes of the club seem to be improving due to important signings such as Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, and Alexander Isak.
1. Juventus FC
There could only ever be one team at the top of this list, the famous Bianconeri of Juventus are the best team with Black (and white striped) jerseys.
As we mentioned earlier, the Turin-based giants actually took the inspiration for their strip from English club Notts County when they were founded in 1897 as the Sport-Club Juventus.
The club currently plays its home matches at the Allianz Stadium, which has a capacity of 41,507 and is amongst the most modern arenas in the world.
In terms of success, Juventus are unrivaled in the history of Italian Soccer with the club holding the record for the most Serie A titles ever with 36 to their name at the time of writing. They have enjoyed a dominant spell in the late 1990s as well as in the most recent seasons.
This domination came to an end last season though, as a resurgent AC Milan bested the team that formerly had Cristiano Ronaldo at their disposal for the title. In cup competitions, Juventus have also been incredibly successful, with them having 14 Coppa Italia trophies to their name alongside 9 Italian Super Cups.
European glory has also been a feature of the teams history as Juventus currently have two UEFA Champions League (European Cups) in their cabinet as well as three UEFA Cups and a European Cup Winners Cup.
What do you make of our list and would you have mixed it up or kept it the same?
