The Pre-Match Jersey Evolution: Inside The FC Barcelona Case
Do you like football jerseys and have an eye for details?
If you do, you must have noticed an evolution that has been developing around the football world in recent years. We’re not talking about match jerseys, that was just a hook. We’re talking about changes in a less flashy item that not many have talked about: pre-match jerseys.
Some call them this way, others stick to the utility version (warm up shirts). However they’re labelled, they’ve always been a piece of apparel that’s gone pretty unnoticed due to their unglamorous job of keeping official match shirt spotless for kick-off and the low visibility they received. Let’s be honest, brands didn’t put much effort in their design. Creating what seemed to be pretty cheap replicas of the match version but with different colours. On the rare occasion they went the extra mile they’d apply a different pattern.
But something has been cooking over the last few years and football fanatics like you and us have noticed it.
Influenced mainly by a closer connection to the lifestyle world, brands and clubs have evolved the role of pre-match jerseys. Coming up with designs that have put them in the spotlight in recent years. The fact that they cost almost half of the official match jerseys did the rest in increasing their popularity.
An evolution that we decided to uncover together with you, selecting different clubs around the world, and having a closer look at how their pre-match jerseys changed over the years.
2012/13 Season
We’re in the 2012/12 season, so 10 years ago (are you feeling old yet?).
As you can see, there’s not much to see here. The jersey features a pattern made of light-blue and navy rows, with yellow-to-orange stripe on the sides and navy sleeves.
In the front, the classic logos of the club, the brand, and the main sponsor, while the back shows a giant yellow-coloured ‘BARÇA’.
We’re far from the innovative design we mentioned earlier, and indeed this edition lays within the more classical approach of cheap match jerseys replica.
2013/14 Season
The following season deserves a mention, whether positive or negative it’s up to you.
In 2013/14 Barça tried to innovate the jersey connecting it to the city. The final result is a picture of Barcelona from the sky printed in the front of the shirt, with fading colours of the Catalan flag, also known as the Senyera.
While playing on this connection is cool as Barça’s supporters can feel proud of showcasing the city they’re from, there are much better and more beautiful ways to do it. For example, instead of a picture, they could have recalled the city’s urban planning through a geometric play of lines intersecting each other. Attempt failed if you ask us.
2015/16 Season
The 15/16 pre-match jersey didn’t seem to go far from the classic looks at a first glance.
The front is as basic as can be with a monochromatic yellow and the three logos. However, the back features a wonderful graphic pattern that seems to recall dozens of broken glass pieces. The more expert eyes will recognize the Nike design used for the Hypervenom 2 Cleats.
Here we can start seeing the application of more creative designs to the pre-match jerseys, which make them special pieces, more noticeable and appealable to fans.
2019/20 Season
Fast forward a couple of seasons, and the changes we started noticing in the design have definitely made a great jump forward.
The first Barça 2019/20 pre-match jersey features the standard Nike pre-match template of that season, with one blue and one red coloured splash pattern on both the front and the back.
While this version doesn’t really warm anybody’s heart (despite the splash graphic), it is the second version, launched in 2020, that stole the show.
Predominantly dark blue, the jersey has yellow, red and blue splashes of different shapes and sizes all over it. It sold out in a matter of hours, and it’s easy to understand why.
This is what we want to see, let that creativity come out and make something that stands out!
2020/21 Season
Remember what we said a few lines above, when we talked about the 2013/14 pre-match jersey and recalling the city of Barcelona through a geometric play of lines?
Well, the FC Barça 20/21 pre-match jersey doesn’t go too far from that. Continuing on the great path started in the previous season, this jersey is inspired by the mosaic art of the Barcelona artis Antoni Gaudí, and features dozens of squares all of different sizes in an abstract 3D pattern.
We know not everyone will agree, but for us this is definitely a one-of-a-kind piece that needs to be in every football jersey collection.
2021/22 Season
And we finally get to the present days, with the latest Nike FC Barcelona 2022/23 pre-match jersey.
As we have seen, the club usually launched either one single version, or one initial version at the beginning of the season and later a second (similar) one with the new year. This time, two different pre-match jerseys were announced from the very beginning (for home and away matches), a sign of how the trend has changed and how this item has become an important part of the clubs’ collection, both from a brand and a monetisation perspective.
The home jersey introduces what, at least initially, seems to be an abstract design in blue and red, combined with a golden logo of the new main sponsor Spotify.
Now please take a closer look. Notice anything in particular from the design? See how the alternation of blue and red are instead letters forming the word "CULERS", the most popular nickname for Barça’s supporters.
This is a cool way of connecting to the fans and making a piece of wear unique!
Moving on to the away version, this one might look pretty standard after a first look: total dark blue, gold logos and a colorful sash going from the right shoulder to the left hip. Nothing special we could say.
But we have hidden details here as well. Indeed, the red, turquoise, navy, yellow and blue lines are actually pretty similar to the ribbon used in the medals of the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, a reference to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the event.
Quite cool in our opinion.
