J.J. Watt Launches Burnley's New Cream Away Kit

The milkman has delivered.

J.J. Watt, three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and now minority investor at Burnley, has taken his “Milk Man” persona from social media skits to the streets of Lancashire, fronting the launch of the club’s new cream away kit for the 2026-27 season.

Watt’s Milk Run to Turf Moor

Burnley unveiled the strip on Friday, July 31 with a playful short film titled “The Cream Rises.” Watt stars as a local milkman, starting his day in the fields among cows and sheep before climbing into a traditional milk float and setting off through the countryside.

His deliveries are not bottles of cream but neatly packaged versions of Burnley’s new Castore away shirt. The route doubles as a nod to the town’s identity: Watt hands out kits to local figures including cricket great Sir Jimmy Anderson and entrepreneur Dave Fishwick, treating them as the “local legends” on his round.

The journey ends, inevitably, at Turf Moor. There, Watt steps out in the full kit: a cream base, cut by horizontal red and green stripes, a design that feels both modern and steeped in the club’s history.

“The cream always rises to the top” is the message running through the campaign – a slogan that fits Watt’s own career as much as Burnley’s ambitions in the EFL Championship.

A Love Letter to Burnley’s Past

This is not a celebrity vanity project dropped in at the last minute. Watt has spent two years working with the club on the design, combing through Burnley’s visual history to find the right balance between nostalgia and something new.

“From day one, I didn't want this to be just another football shirt. I wanted to create something quintessentially Burnley,” Watt said in a statement on the club’s website. “Every decision we made started with one question: are we doing the supporters of this club proud?

“As I’ve said many times before, this club existed long before I arrived and it will exist long after I’m gone. But during this time, my goal is to help honor its great past while also shepherding it to a brighter future.”

The most striking historical touch is the return of one of Burnley’s old crests, an intricate shield featuring symmetrical lions, roses, a bee and a knight’s helmet. The badge, used from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1987 to 2009, is back on the chest, instantly anchoring the kit in a specific era of the club’s story.

Watt also pushed for subtle detail work. A geometric pattern runs across the shirt, inspired by the stonework at Gawthorpe Hall, Burnley’s historic training base. It’s the kind of reference only locals and long-time supporters might catch at first glance – and that is exactly the point.

“I am merely a steward for this club,” Watt said in the club’s behind-the-scenes video on the making of the kit. “But the opportunity to create a kit with this badge and this crest and hopefully with the proper respect for what it means is an incredible honor for me and I hope everybody likes it.”

“Future-Retro” and Fan Frenzy

Inside the club, Watt’s enthusiasm has clearly landed.

“It's been great fun working with JJ on this project,” said Ed Stewart-Lockhart, Burnley’s Chief Marketing Officer, who described the jersey as “future-retro.” “He's brought incredible energy all the way through. You can see how much he's enjoyed it, but also how much it matters to him that we've got it right.”

Burnley have moved quickly to turn that energy into something tangible for supporters. The club announced that the first 100 fans to buy the jersey at the official store will receive a collector’s box containing an exclusive cap and a signed photo of Watt. The first 100 online customers will also receive an autographed photo.

For a fanbase coming off the sting of relegation after a single season back in the Premier League, the launch offers a different kind of focal point: pride in the badge, in the town, in the idea that the club’s story is still being written with care.

A New Look for a New Fight

Burnley will line up in the EFL Championship this season, tasked with the familiar, unforgiving challenge of trying to climb straight back to the top flight. The new cream away kit will not win tackles or score goals, but it will carry a message every time the players walk out: this is a club that leans into its heritage rather than running from it.

Supporters will get their first live look on Sunday, August 2, when the cream strip makes its debut in a home friendly against Torino at Turf Moor.

On that afternoon, as the players step out in cream, red and green, the question will hang in the air: after the fall, can Burnley rise again to match the promise stitched into their new shirt?