Newcastle Change Shirts Mid-Match After Kit Clash With Bayer Leverkusen

Newcastle United swapped their famous black and white stripes for a lilac third kit midway through the first half of their pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen — because of a colour clash nobody spotted until the game had started.

The entire starting XI trotted back out in different shirts after a hydration break around the 25-minute mark at St James' Park. The problem? Newcastle's home kit carries a blue trim this season, and Leverkusen turned up in their mint-and-blue away strip. Too close for comfort, too similar for the officials, and apparently too confusing for anyone trying to tell the two teams apart on the pitch. The club's official match report described the replacement as the new "powder plum" third shirt (Newcastle United).

It was the opening match of the VisitMalta Weekender, a pre-season event at St James' Park announced back in July (NUFC). The fixture also carried a subplot: Newcastle will travel to face Leverkusen again in the Champions League league phase this season (NUFC). A dress rehearsal with a wardrobe malfunction.

For Newcastle, the match marked a fresh chapter under new head coach Matthias Jaissle, who conducted his first press conference as boss on 11 August (NUFC). Lewis Miley also returned to the starting lineup, playing alongside his brother (NUFC).

The result went Leverkusen's way. The German side won 2-1 (BBC Sport), leaving Jaissle still looking for his first win on home soil. Pre-season results rarely tell you much about what is coming next — but a mid-match kit change is the kind of thing that sticks in the memory long after the scoreline fades.

What makes this stand out is how rare it is at the top level. Clubs and kit manufacturers work through colour clashes well before kickoff, comparing strips and clearing alternatives with the league or competition body. That process somehow broke down here, and an entire team had to file back into the dressing room, pull fresh shirts over their heads, and restart. For anyone who has played Sunday league — where changing shirts at halftime because nobody could tell who was on whose side is a cherished tradition — Newcastle's afternoon felt oddly familiar.