Tag Archives: AC Milan

Midweek Mashup – AC Milan, 2007

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Change kits, Clashes, Kit history, Midweek Mashup

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We’ve written recently about AC Milan’s preference for all-white kits in European Cup and Champions League finals, so much so that they created bespoke outfits in 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1995.

The last time that the rossoneri were continental kingpins was a decade ago, when the all-white worked its magic against Liverpool in the final, unlike two years previously. Earlier in that campaign though, they appeared in a look that was quite unusual for them.

While shorts and socks clashes continued to be allowed in Serie A until the early 90s, in Europe Milan had begun to wear black shorts and socks with their home shirts when the need arose, with white socks having replaced black as the first choice in the late 80s – some attribute this to Ruud Gullit but we haven’t yet found proof.

The change kit remained sacrosanct, and a series of third and fourth kits were worn rather than sullying it with dark shorts, while a meeting with Paris St-Germain in 2001 provided the only example of socks being swapped.

When Milan were drawn with Manchester United in the Champions League in 2005, they wore all-white in the away leg as their hosts switched to black shorts and socks, despite the fact that they had a gold third kit available.

Two years later, however, they were paired with United again and, though they were in third of what would prove to be eight straight seasons with a black third kit, this time they modified the away, mixing it with the third kit shorts and home socks.

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After Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead with an early goal, a brace from Kaká gave the visitors the lead. Even though Wayne Rooney equalised and then got an injury-time winner, a 3-2 defeat was far from a bad result for Milan and they triumphed 3-0 at home.

As luck would have it, the following season they would don a similar look in England, away to Arsenal in the last 16, drawing 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium before losing 2-0 at home.

In more recent times, games at Bologna have seen changes at Bologna, initially red shorts and white socks but more recently black shorts.

How clubs sponsored by Opel dealt with UEFA’s ‘sponsor clash’ rule

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Clashes, Football kits, Kit history

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Until the end of the 2009-10 season, UEFA had a rule that clubs opposing each other in European competition couldn’t feature the same sponsor’s logo on their shirts.

The regulations for that season were the last to feature the following stipulation:

Clash of shirt sponsor

19.10 If two clubs meeting in the competition have the same shirt sponsor, the home team may wear their regular sponsor advertising whereas the visiting team may only wear advertising for a product of the said sponsor. No identical advertising elements may appear on the shirts of the two teams in question. The visiting club must send a sample of such new shirts to the UEFA administration for approval.

For the following season, that requirement was removed and, as luck would have it, Real Madrid and AC Milan – both sponsored by Bwin – were paired together in the group stages.

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A year later, Milan – by now sponsored by Fly Emirates – would come up against Arsenal, who have been partners with the Dubai airline since 2006.

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Emirates are ubiquitous among Europe’s elite, with Arsenal, Hamburg, Milan, Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain currently carrying their name. Incidentally, in Arsenal’s first season with Emirates, they encountered Hamburg in the Champions League, and for the two clubs’ group games, the away side had the word ‘Dubai‘ on their shirts instead.

German car manufacturer Opel once held a similar status as a multi-team sponsor. Having been associated with Feyenoord, Fiorentina and Standard Liege – they are back with the Dutch side again – by the mid-90s, three of what would become the Emirates five – Milan, Real and PSG – were in their portfolio, along with Czech side Sparta Prague (and the Republic of Ireland).

In 1995, Milan met Sparta in the UEFA Cup and in each game, the away side went sponsorless – though it could have been the case that advertising a product of the sponsoring firm wasn’t allowed at the time.

To mark the fact that PSG had come into their stable, Opel sponsored a triangular competition between its three marquee clubs in 1996. Naturally, the pushing of the brand was welcomed, rather than prohibited, here.

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The competition would be repeated in 1997 (when Milan wore a one-off change strip) and 1999 with the same three teams, before the entry requirements were relaxed in 2000.

In the 97-98 Champions League, Bayern and PSG were drawn in the same group. For their meeting at the Olympiastadion, PSG wore blank shirts…

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…but in the return game at the Parc des Princes, Bayern carried the message, ‘Sportler für Organspende’ (‘Athletes for organ donation’).

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In the 2000-01 competition, it would be the turn of Milan and PSG to meet. On this occasion, both clubs took the opportunity to promote the Opel Corsa. Incidentally, Milan would from time to time use other Opel model names.

Two years later, Bayern met Milan, but by this stage the German giants had ended their 13-year deal with Opel, joining forces with Deutsche Telekom instead, and so no change was needed.

Fantasy Kit Friday 2016 – a look back

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in Fantasy Kit Friday, Football kits, News

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Hopefully, you’re aware of Fantasy Kit Friday, our weekly attempt to dress a team up in a historical style different to that which they actually wore. Tomorrow, December 30, will be the final instalment of the year, so we felt it an apposite time to collate all of the offerings together.

While the concept of a weekly edition only manifested itself this year, the idea itself is actually just over two years old, as we road-tested it with four Irish Gaelic games teams in classic adidas:

 

They got a fairly good response, albeit to a limited audience, but other things got in the way of it becoming a regular feature. Even when we gave it a name in April, it was still ad hoc – though, unoriginally, the template was becoming fixed:

It would be nearly a month before another attempt:

We were getting some ‘engagement’, as the digital marketing bods call it, but there was an inherent fear that our adidas bias was unhealthy. We threw it out to the floor, though, and the first request for the now-hashtagged #fantasykitfriday was still from Herzogenrauch, though of a later vintage.

Another break of more than a month ensued – we were learning how to draw on Adobe Illustrator – but this one kick-started a regular weekly flow of higher-quality renderings.

Where possible, we liked to be topical:

And then, occasionally, surreality prevailed (there was a break of a week due to holidays).

At the end of July, work took us to Leeds for a few days, so inspiration was taken from that.

Some of our favourite kits have been the ones that you know could never have happened but still look great.

There’s always time to return to the classic look.

Other times, we feel generous enough to give a two-for-one.

Request are accommodated as much as possible, as it saves us having to think.

For September 9, we conferred with our old sparring partner Andrew Rockall, a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan, to come with a whole suite of Spurs kits and we published them all here. If you can’t be bothered to check, this was the home:

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Some kits can meet opposition from traditionalists…

…and others that you might be unsure about turn out to be well-received.

It’s often fun to use a team’s current (or, in this case, soon-to-be-former) maker and go back to before they had them.

And there are others that are very out there.

This one worked a lot better in our heads than on the screen, sadly.

If we had time, every week would feature a home, away and third as well as goalkeeper kits. Unfortunately, we don’t, but it does make these ones more enjoyable.

As far as we can see, this is the only instance of a team’s own home kit being recoloured.

Looking at these again, one almost has to do a double-take and remember that City didn’t actually have Hummel.

Their rivals switched to Umbro in 1992, but might have looked like this if they did it sooner.

Just after drawing this, we were very pleased with it. Until it was pointed out that Germany’s leisurewear in 1996 was just like this, so that’s probably where the idea subliminally came from.

Another request, more on which you can read about at the wonderful Hull City Kits.

The bias is very much towards the past, so it’s no harm to mix it up every once in a while.

And it’s not all top teams we do either. Any suggestion will be considered.

Collaborate with a friend for an idea, if you want.

But be warned, we can be selfish when we want.

Edit: For completeness, here is the final one:

Serie A 1990-91, Part 1

14 Monday Mar 2016

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Real-life work has prevented us from doing this as quickly as we’d like, but better late than never, here is the first tranche of our ode to the kits of the 1990-91 Serie A season, featuring AC Milan, Atalanta and Bologna.

Milan went into the season as back-to-back European champions and would win five of six from 1991-92 to 1995-96 inclusive, but here they finished second, five points behind maiden champions Sampdoria. Kappa had been replaced as suppliers by adidas, but the kit was pretty much unchanged, with the three stripes nowhere to be seen. In addition, the trefoil logo was more squat than its usual dimensions.

White away kits were common in Italy and for Milan they hold a special cachet, being worn in so many European Cup final wins. The European Cup featured on the left breast, below the star awarded to sides when they reach ten league wins.

Atalanta were one of three teams in Serie A that season with black and blue stripes. They had Ennerre kits, the home plain and uncomplicated while the away might have been of interest to adidas’s lawyers, taking its design cues from the best shirt of all-time (albeit flipped).

Bari were also in adidas, in a style used by the French and Polish national teams but not seen on any British teams’ kits. The home has been dubbed the ‘McLaren-Honda kit’ by an Italian site, while the away was a straight reversal.