Think of the biggest footballing teams in Germany. Dortmund and Bayern come automatically to mind. While those two teams are thought of as the titans of the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 is also at the top of their German footballing game. The club finished their 2018/19 season in second place. Granted it was heads and shoulders behind Bayern Munich, but even so, that’s second place in the top tier of German football.
With the transfer window still open and news of arrivals still as rumours, Schalke 04 have teamed up with Umbro to create a new home and away kit. Each simple and uncluttered in their design.
The home kit is deep blue. With Blackburn Rovers ditching their dark blue for lighter colours, Schalke’s new home kit stands out as an uncompromising recognition of their heritage.
“Heritage?” We hear you ask. “What heritage?” Well, anonymous reader, in mining of course. Gelsenkirchen, the city that Schalke 04 is located, is a coal mining town.
The way that Umbro have chosen to represent this coal mining history is to place a pick and hammer within the crazy pattern on the front of the jersey. There are several of these shapes and once you see it, it is quite hard to un-see.
The kit top features Umbro’s trademark tapering around the bottom of the sleeves, however it does not go all the way around. Instead it stops under the arms.
On the nape of the kit top are the words, “wir leben dich,” or, “we live you.”
The away kit is a light grey. It ditches the hammer and pick pattern on the front, however still retains the club’s motto on the nape and Umbro’s tapering on the sleeves. Furthermore, the neckline is a hybrid of classic collar and simple neckline.
We at UK Soccer Shop can’t wait to see how Schalke 04 perform next season. Will they be able to knock Bayern off the top spot?
