Football Shirt Culture.com

Kaizer Chiefs and their technical partner Nike launched the new home and away kit to be worn by the Amakhosi during the 2011-2012 season, at a function held at the Nike Football Centre in Soweto on Tuesday.

The home jersey which is a break from the traditionally gold dominated shirt of the past has been modelled around the club’s crest, something which clearly impressed Chiefs striker Kaizer Motaung Jr.

“The jersey has been designed using our emblem as inspiration, the jersey’s design is inspired by the tradition and history of the club, the way it is designed will serve to motivate us,” he said.

The away kit, which retains its white character, has an imprint of the club’s chief head symbol on the sleeves. According to Chiefs Marketing director Jessica Motaung the design of the jersey represents a fresh start for the club.

“We wanted something that was unique, as leaders in industry we looked at our Chief Crown logo and drew from that when finalizing the design,” explained Jessica Motaung.

“We wanted something to give us a new beginning and Nike have done that with this new design, it represents a new dawn and a fresh start for us and hopefully with the new jersey will come success.”

Jessica also complemented the designers on producing an aesthetically pleasing jersey, “overall Nike has done a good job on the jersey. When we saw the design we were really happy as it is stylish and keeps up with the Chiefs image, the slim sleek look helps show a sportsman at his best.”

Davide Cardarelli Nike South Africa GM believes that in addition to its stylish design the kit has a number of new innovations. “The jerseys are made out of polyester and are 100% recyclable; in addition they are locally produced. We have also included all the latest Nike Dri FIT Technology to ensure that the players are comfortable while they out on the field,” he said.

Both the home and away jersey will be available around South Africa from the 7th of July and will come in two versions, the Replica and the Stadium version.

Nike have been official kit suppliers to the Amakhosi since June 2001 and have extended their contract with the club for a further five years.

The first game that Chiefs played in a Nike Kit was on June 9th 2001 when Thabo Mooki’s goal secured a 1-0 victory for Chiefs over Orlando Pirates on the final day of the 2000-2001 season.

The 2011-2012 campaign will be the 11th one in which Chiefs will be kitted out by Nike. In the previous ten seasons with Nike as their kit supplier, Chiefs have won eleven cup titles and two league championships. With Nike as their sponsor Chiefs only failed to win any silverware during the 2002-2003 season.

Thanks to Jason