La Liga champions, FC Barcelona have for the time ever in last 44 years unveiled a white jersey. They are going to be draped in white as they walk to face Arsenal this Wednesday in Los Angeles after the unveiling of the new away jersey.
Barcelona to wear white jersey first time in 44 years
As per the official statement issued by FC Barcelona, the choice of the colour white, which is the mascot colour for their staunch rivals Real Madrid is only to pay tribute to Johan Cruyff, a Barca club legend.
The statement further elaborated that the design is based on the second kit worn by Barca during 1970s. The jersey features red and blue stripes on sleeves with a predominantly white base overall.
They also mentioned the name of Cruyff as the pioneering figure of inspiration for this particular kit. Other club legends like [Paulino] Alcantara, [Josep] Samitier, Cesar [Rodriguez], etc. were also mentioned by the club by saying that they had also worn the white shirt between 1920s and 1970s for the Catalan giants.
The last time when Barcelona has officially graced the colour white in their shirts in a competitive match was back during the 1979 European Cup Winners’ Cup tie, which was played against Ipswich Town.
Barcelona unveil white jersey as tribute to Johan Cruyff
In the past, Barcelona had always avoided kits which involved the colour white predominantly with stripes involved due to its obvious association with Real Madrid.
However, if reports are to be4 believed, club president, Joan Laporta had anyway given their official kit manufacturers, Nike the permission to ahead with the white jersey for the season of 2023-24.
Laporta made a public statement saying that the jersey was not all white and that it had striped details of blue and red on the sleeves and was only made in the memory of one of the first shirts worn by Cruyff in the club.
Laporta took it one step further to mention its dissociation with Madrid and stated that the commercial brands had studied the trends carefully and that “a colour should not be anyone’s patrimony”.
“In any case, it is Barca white”, stated Laporta.
