Barcelona in the 1980s. Wow. Where would you like to start?
Well, like any game – for the players, it starts in the dressing room and with this featured away strip that was used between 1984 and ‘89, it’s no wonder that such exciting talents were inspired just by pulling on the very garment that stares back at them. You could be inspired to drown out the noise of whatever iconic Spanish stadia’s bowels you were in.
If you were, for example, the dynamic Bernd Schuster, you’d no doubt be inspired to lead from midfield. As hypnotising Maradona or deadly poacher Lineker? This’d be your showman’s uniform, your sniper rifle case. For seasoned coach Johan Cruyff, or his young disciple Pep Guardiola – it’d be an image of identity and a badge of honour.
At Barcelona, you play for that badge and the people, and with the classic kit’s manufacturer Meyba – they were a beautiful, merging lovechild of those two qualities. Meyba themselves, a brand formed by two Barcelona natives in the 1940s, José Mestre and Joaquín Ballbé (or ‘Me-y-Ba’), set out to create stylish swimwear and casual clothing for their fellow Catalonians. In 40 years, they’d become a popular stalwart in Spain and hit the mainstream sportswear conscious when they penned a deal with FC Barcelona. During the ten years that FC Barcelona was dressed in Meyba gear they won just about any prize and honour you can think of. This shirt alone saw five honours in its five years of service. Bask in the sky blue and the two stripes of synergy to Blaugrana success. Wear it with the unmistakable pride of its forebearers.
