It’s that time of the year again when supposedly ‘leaked’ kits begin to appear on social media and on some of the (magnificently maintained) football strip sites. I’ve always wondered if manufacturers deliberately leak jerseys to gauge the opinions of fans, but then how on earth did Celtic’s grey and pink abomination of a third shirt ever see the light of day back in 2019/20?
This week, we saw some more leaked photos, this time they apparently featured Celtic’s away jersey for next season, and they certainly piqued the interest of the Celtic support.
Black kits are certainly in vogue just now and, should the leaked photos ring true, it looks as though Adidas are going to tap into that market.
The new away kit is rumoured to be returning to the black & gold colour-way that Celtic have worn a couple of times in the past. The colour scheme was first adopted during the 2003/04 season when Umbro created the kit that was brilliantly marketed as ‘Black Magic’. With the Carling logo, the Umbro kit is regarded as one of the manufacturers’ finest Celtic away strips of the modern era.
Talking about the strip in his book, ‘The Celtic Jersey’, Paul John Dykes stated:
“The beauty of this kit is in its simplicity.”
It was also the first Celtic shirt to feature a star to commemorate the club’s historic European success in 1967. The added star, which was originally suggested by a creative fan, would go on to add a touch of class to the jersey.
Jump forward to the 2016/17 season and kit manufacturers New Balance revealed Celtic’s home and away strips. The marketing slogan this time round was ‘Like No Other’.
New Balance brought back the black & gold away kit with the jersey featuring the words ‘A club like no other’ on the internal hem. This jersey had a little more going on that the previous effort, with five thin stripes under the Dafabet sponsor.
Speaking to Paul John Dykes on the 2016/17 jersey, he said:
“I’m not a fan. It is a poor reimagining of the original. It just looks like a training top.”
It is fair to say that New Balance didn’t quite manage to hit the heights of Umbro’s original.
Fans will be eager to see if Adidas are going to go ahead with a black and gold jersey for next season. Should they decide to do so, they are going to need to pull out all the stops to top the much loved ‘Black Magic’ kit of the Larsson, Sutton and Hartson era.
BOBBY GORDON
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