24. Puma 'Prague' * (2004-06)
Chris Oakley | 2 May 2026
I've probably written thousands of words in this series about one simple idea: sometimes 'less is more.' Where football shirt design is concerned, it's often better not to bamboozle people with excessive detail and unnecessary decoration. By adopting a strong and uncomplicated approach, wonderful things can be achieved — even classic designs that are revered for years to come.
From left: Austria (2004-05 home), Bahrain (2005 away), Czech Republic (2004-05 home), VfB Stuttgart (2004-05 away).
The Puma shirt template that featured so prominently during Euro 2004 — our subject today — might not be universally regarded as a classic, but it shows how to make a lot out of seemingly not very much. The design centred around an angular bar that connected the neckline with a run of decorative stitching that came up from the bottom of the shirt. A second line of stitching nearby created a notional area on the sides of the shirt that could be filled with colour or left unadorned.
This tapered side section could also be coupled with an underarm area that could be given its own colouring, just like the stitching. Add these basic elements to the angular bar and you had everything needed to create individual shirts that had a dignified look with a perfect colour balance.
From left: Fulham (2004 away), Lazio (2004-05 home), Malmö FF (2005-06 home), Faroe Islands (2006 away).
Puma released this delightful template at a time when weird shapes and shards of colour were becoming more and more common. It was also a time when Puma were recognising the use of decorative stitching as a valid component of shirt design, just as much as any coloured block or pattern. Though Kappa is often cited as the brand that mastered the use of stitching as a feature of its Kombat 2000 creations, Puma arguably found more use for it in their own designs.
If there was one team that I associated with their 2004-06 template, it was the Czech Republic (hence my unofficial name, 'Prague'). During Euro 2004, players like Jan Koller, Vladimír Šmicer and the tournament's top scorer, Milan Baroš, looked like potential champions all the way from the group stage to the semi-finals. Sadly (and somewhat surprisingly), they were knocked out by eventual champions, Greece, but there was no competition when it came to who had the better kit. The Czechs wore both their home and away outfits to great effect during the tournament, while Bulgaria and Switzerland gave us a chance to see only their home kits.
From left: Malmö FF (2006 away), AS Monaco (2005-06 Euro), Olympiacos (2005 home), Paraguay (2004-05 home).
Many other teams were to follow suit in their own place and time, particularly — somewhat curiously — those wearing red and white. Yet whoever favoured the template, they were always able to adjust the prominence of their colours thanks to the in-built inclusion of the areas at the side of the shirt and the angular bars. This was what made Puma's creation so great, a design that felt both expressive and restrained — a difficult balance to strike.
From left: Besiktas (2004 away), Lazio (2005 third), AS Monaco (2005-06 away), VfB Stuttgart (2004-05 third).
My very grateful thanks go to Adam's Shirt Quest and Football Shirt World UK for their help in researching this template.
To see the full set of Puma 'Prague' kits, visit the Puma 'Prague' template gallery page.
See also:
* Unofficial template name