Fantasy Kit Friday – Barcelona adidas 1997

Obviously, most FKFs are nothing but whimsy, based on curiosity, but occasionally there are what-if scenarios that might have materialised in the real world.

This excerpt from the July 1997 of World Soccer offered the tantalising prospect of Barcelona teaming up with adidas, as they sought to raise finance to hold on to Ronaldo.

After we posted that on Twitter, we really should have FKFed it post haste, but thankfully Jack Henderson was on the case to request it.

Obviously, the mission involved avoiding looking too much like Bayern Munich or Crystal Palace, so for the home we’ve stuck with the broader stripes favoured by Kappa for Barça, based on the real-life design used by Trabzonspor of Turkey.

Then, the change kit practically designs itself. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Barcelona favoured a style which had a dual-stripe down the right-hand side, with yellow, red and light blue all used in European games (the club didn’t have to wear an alternative strip in the domestic league between 1982 and 1998).

In that same summer of 1997, Newcastle United launched an away kit using a similar motif, albeit in an unusual navy, green and orange colour-scheme. We have applied it to Barça, albeit in a more golden shade as used for the trim on the home.

And, just in case they had to play Parma, Lens, Southend United or Melchester Rovers, meaning both kits clashed, we have done a version in the aqua colour utilised by Kappa for their first two change kits for the blaugrana.

What makes FKF so enjoyable to do is the interactive nature – the readers of the site decide it, so feedback is always welcome, along with requests for future editions. Comment below or tweet us @museumofjerseys.