For more than two decades Bayer Leverkusen is one of Germany’s most consistent clubs thanks to the financial muscle that pharma giant Bayer provides. This is much to the dismay of rivals 1.FC Köln who do have a much larger fan-base in the area and Germany in general (given that Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany). But the club also has the dubious honors of being a strong team that cannot clinch the title. And despite one German Cup and one UEFA Cup win, the team has been invariably called Vizekusen or Neverkusen. The highlight in that regard was surely the 2001/02 season when the team finished as runner-up in the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the Champions League (in addition many players from that squad also came in second at the 2002 World Cup).
While the Werkself has traditionally played in red jerseys with black accents, this has been reversed lately and this season the team plays in all-black. Although there is a red round collar and red piping around the arms (looks strange to say the least) it seems that white is at least as prominent since the three Adidas stripes as well as the Adidas logo are all applied in white. Also, while logo and sponsors are well placed, the pink color of the main sponsor provides maybe too much additional color.
On the back the shirt remains plain with names and numbers applied in white. The font used is a typical bold sans-serif Adidas font – very legible and no frills.
To me this shirt displays too little red to be an appropriate Leverkusen jersey. While the all-black jersey is not a bad idea in itself, I wish that the three stripes were also red to give the team more identity instead of fiddling with the club’s colors. Frankly, the red piping on the front is weird and otherwise the jersey feels like the Werkself does to many fans – ambivalent. For that reason, no high score here.
My rating: 5/10 stars.
How do you rate this shirt?
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