Newcastle changed shirts in the first half of their pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen, after a colour clash forced an unexpected switch at the first hydration break. BBC Sport reported that Newcastle went from their black-and-white home kit with blue trim to the lilac third strip. The issue came against Leverkusen's mint away kit with a blue pattern, and the football briefly took a back seat to the wardrobe change.
The shirt change at St James' Park
The sequence was simple enough. Newcastle started in their home shirt, then came back out in lilac once the break arrived. BBC Sport's match report said they changed shirts in the first half of the friendly, and the clash was clear enough for the hosts to act quickly.
It was an unusual moment in a pre-season game, but not a complicated one. Leverkusen's away colours left the officials with a problem, and Newcastle solved it by moving into their third kit before the half had properly settled.
Newcastle's recent friendly form
The switch landed against a side that had the steadier recent record. Newcastle's last five matches brought two wins, one draw and two defeats, with eight scored and nine conceded. Harvey Barnes has been Newcastle's sharpest attacking outlet in that run, with a 7.5 rating and one goal, while Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimarães were among the other named players in the side's recent spell.
Newcastle have not exactly been rolling through pre-season, and that makes the shirt change feel like the most memorable part of the afternoon. Leverkusen arrived with three wins in their last five, which only sharpened the contrast around a match that was already odd before any result could become the focus.
The friendly itself was interrupted early by the kit clash, and the key detail now is the one BBC Sport reported on directly: Newcastle went from black and white to lilac at the first hydration break because of Leverkusen's away strip.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
