The newest addition to the Red Bulls’ roster that has many fans talking isn’t a homegrown star or a suave international striker looking to take Major League Soccer by storm. Instead, its the team’s newest jersey for the 2019 season that’s causing a bit of a stir: The Glitch kit.
The new jersey was announced last week on Jan. 31, while the team continues to prepare for the upcoming season and Champions League.
The new design is silver with red borders along the collar and edge of the sleeves. The standard RBNY logo and badge appear on the front, but that is where the familiarity stops. What looks like seemingly random patterns of darker silver towards the bottom of the waist actually spell out “Love,” “Fight,” “Passion,” and “Glory.” Following the blue and yellow kits sun-setting in 2018, the club has mostly stayed in the realm of red and white when it comes to its uniforms.
Typically, I’m not the biggest fan of departures from the norm. Red Bulls uniforms usually follow a pattern: All the colors can be traced back to the company’s logo or the colors that are found on the energy drink can. While silver does fit that, it isn’t something I’d see as a defining image for the New York Red Bulls soccer team. To be fair, I also thought the same thing of the blue and yellow kit as well. I really loved the design, but when a team is called the New York RED Bulls I think red should be the main focus of design. With the Glitch, red does make a return though.
Online, the reception has also been mixed but with a fair number of fans praising the change in direction. The comments on Reddit ranged from praising the originality despite having reservations, to joy the color wasn’t just another white uniform, and some even saying its a great example of a club specific kit. In recent weeks as MLS teams release their new uniforms for 2019 some fans have started to criticize the league’s sole kit manufacturer, Adidas, for making generic looking products for each side.
This type of jersey might be around for a year or two and could serve as a third uniform option for the season. It’s different and I do applaud the club for trying something even if it isn’t totally my cup of tea. I’d rather be disappointed with experimentation rather than be happy with mediocrity.
Featured Image:
