Barcelona unveil new ‘Croatian style’ kit for 2019/20 season

by croatiaweek
June 4, 2019
in Sport

(Photo: HNS/Twitter)

4 June 2019 – Barcelona unveiled their new kit for the 2019/20 season on Monday and they will be wearing a checkerboard print for the first time.

The club said upon unveiling the new kit that the checkerboard print was inspired by “the city of Barcelona by incorporating the characteristic blocks of its Eixample district, home to some of the most emblematic buildings designed by the great architect Antoni Gaudí”.

Some preferred to think the inspiration came from Croatia’s World Cup kit. Both teams share the same sponsor, Nike.

The Croatian football federation reacted to the news of the new kit on Twitter.

“Nice try Barcelona, but you can’t beat red-and-white checkers,” HNS wrote, tagging the Spanish giants in the tweet and posting a photo of both kits side by side.

🤔🧐😉 Nice try @FCBarcelona, but you can’t beat red-and-white checkers 🔴⚪️#Croatia pic.twitter.com/LTYKYpEZ8x
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 3, 2019

Some went a bit further.

“Coincidence or not, it is not correct. Our kit and the concept should be protected and nobody should he able to do something like this,” Croatian designer Boris Ljubičić told 24sata.

Croatia’s checkered kit is one of the most recognisable in the world. The traditional red and white and the alternative blue and black was rated one of the best kits at this year’s World Cup in Russia.

Since 1899, when Barcelona was formed, they have turned out in stripes and this will be the first time in the club’s history they have swapped stripes for checkers.