Real Madrid have unveiled their new, predictably white, home football shirt for the 2009-10 season. The Real Madrid kit sports Adidas’ trademark three shoulder stripes which, like on last season’s shirt, are black. New for this year are two gold lines which run from the neck, cut off the black stripes halfway down the sleeves and continue to the end of the sleeve on the reverse side of the shirt. These have been included to make the players feel better about their trophy-less 08/09 season and remind them that they are still special, allegedly.

Possibly the most significant, albeit almost invisible as it is also white, addition to Los Merengues home shirt is the embroidered logo designed by Adidas to pay tribute to the club’s magnificent stadium. The clever and rather pretty logo uses the letters E, S and B (standing for Estadio Santiago Bernabéu – named after Real Madrid’s most loved and longest serving president) to form the shape of the stadium. This is incorporated on the left-hand side of the chest. On the right sits the club’s well-known emblem and below is the sponsor, Bwin.com, now in its third year on the shirt. On the right sleeve, below the black stripes, is the logo of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, which is the official title of La Primera División, or La Liga.

On the back of the Real Madrid shirt, just below the collar, is the club’s name written in black letters which are spidery, yet stylish. Player names and numbers are also written in black in a fairly plain font. The club logo also appears at the base of the numbers.

The Real Madrid home shirt boasts brand new Flow MotionTM technology, which is the new generation of Adidas’ popular ClimaCoolTM.

Although the new jersey may not be vastly different from that of last season it will be the first Real Madrid worn by Kaká or Cristiano Ronaldo, and for that reason alone it is bound to be extremely popular.

Review by Lucien Green