THE SARTORIAL ELEGANCE OF SERIE A: A.S. ROMA, 1991-92 [ADIDAS]

 

On the face of it, A.S. Roma are one of Italy’s younger football clubs. In fact, they were the result of a merger between three pre-existing associations: Foot Ball Club di Roma, formed in 1901, Società Sportiva Alba-Audace, in 1907, and Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S., in 1908. The union came about in 1927 on the orders of the National Fascist Party, who were determined that the capital be suitably represented in a revamped Divisione Nazionale; both Società Sportiva Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S. had been relegated from the same division in 1927, while Foot Ball Club di Roma had been plying their trade in the Prima Divisione, the de facto second tier of Italian football. Foot Ball Club di Roma would provide the infrastructure, financial muscle and the new club’s colours, while Alba and Fortitudo-Pro Roma supplied most of the players.
 
Foot Ball Club di Roma had worn carmine red shirts with yellow trim, matching socks and white shorts. A.S. Roma’s strip was to be the same, except with black socks. Within a year of the club’s formation, red and yellow striped jerseys were introduced. Within another two they were gone, the original configuration having been reinstated in time for Serie A’s inaugural season.

In 1938 the socks were altered to match the shirts, and it was in these colours that Roma won their first scudetto four years later. A period of decline ensued culminating in relegation, which may or may not have prompted the move to black shorts and socks. Roma were promoted the following season as champions, but they persisted with the black shorts and socks for another couple of years before reverting to type.

The 1960s saw only minor alterations: various shades of red, plain collars, the addition of the coccarda to celebrate Roma’s victory in the Coppa Italia in 1964. Then in 1968-69 something peculiar happened. At the insistence of the coach, Helenio Herrera, Roma inverted their kit for the second half of the season. In other words, the away shirt became the home and the home became the away. This reversal remained in place until Herrera left the club in 1973.

The next significant change came about in 1978. Adidas, who had succeeded Lacoste as technical sponsor the previous year, produced a strip consisting of orange shirts paired with red shorts and socks. About midway through the season, Pouchain then took over from Adidas and brought in what's become known as the 'ice-lolly' jersey: bright red with white sleeves and yellow and orange stripes across the upper torso. Designed by Piero Gratton, it was all part of a re-branding exercise that included a contemporary club crest – the lupetto, or ‘wolf's head’. (Pouchain would do something similar for Lazio, Palermo, Udinese, Ascoli, Bari and Cesena.)

Stuff like this can rub traditionalists up the wrong way, which might explain the brevity of it. In 1980 Roma joined up with a company called Playground, who opted for a more traditional jersey, combining it with shorts of the same colour, setting a trend that would last throughout the 1980s and much of the '90s.
 

1966-67

Contrary to the impression the 1990 World Cup may have left, Adidas weren't at the time particularly innovative when it came to designing kit for Italian football clubs (Bari's being the exception). They also seemed to be losing business. In 1989-90, the German firm supplied gear for no less than five Serie A clubs; by 1995-96, just one. In 1991-92 they had contracts with two: AC Milan and AS Roma.

You'd have thought these shirts would have adhered to the same template, but they didn’t. Instead Adidas appeared to take inspiration from the companies that preceded them: Kappa at Milan and Ennerre at Roma. On closer inspection this looks to be less the case with Roma. The colour scheme remained the same, as did the sponsor, but there were a number of subtle diversions.

First off there was the coccarda, reward for the winning the previous season’s Coppa Italia, attached to left breast. This in turn necessitated a repositioning of the badge – Gratton’s lupetto. As was often the case, the solution was to move it to the left shoulder. Moreover, it was now printed, rather than being a sewn-on separate entity.

Next up was the fabric. After doing away with acrylic-based lanetta, Ennerre had issued Roma with two shirts, both made from polyester: a micropatterned version and a plain silky one (just as they also did for Napoli). Adidas used polyester too but with a matt finish and no pattern. The collar, meanwhile, was made of cotton – or a fabric masquerading as cotton. At Milan they’d fashioned the V-neck in this manner but not the actual collar, which was made from the same material as the body of the shirt.

Finally – and this may not have even been Adidas’s idea – the sponsor’s name, Barilla, was printed in yellow, as opposed to dye-sublimated in white as it had been. To top it all off, Adidas's iconic three stripes running along the shoulder.
 

Roma the finished the season in fifth place, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, but were knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the quarter finals. The coccarda now absent, the badge was shifted back to its regular position. Thereafter Adidas experimented with ‘Pompeian red’ and orange as a combination, before ASICS stepped into the fold in 1994.