Review: FC Bayern away jersey 11/12
By MM Sports FC Bayern ambassador Ben Roden
Thanks to modern technology, football is accessible to a wider and more diverse audience than ever before. As the popularity of football continues to grow, so too does the need for football clubs to distinguish themselves from one another. In addition to on-pitch competitions, top-flight clubs must also fight for the interest and support of an increasingly global fanbase. More than bragging rights are at stake; only by building their brand can clubs insure that they’ll have the financial resources they need to remain competitive.
By embracing a unique and striking design, *11/12 Bayern Munich Away Kit seems to represent this effort for distinction in an increasingly challenging market.
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The kit is a brilliant white with horizontal stripes in metallic silver. Adidas’ iconic three stripes are navy, along with the name printing and embroidered FCB below the back collar. There are additional red details on the collar and sleeves.
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Unusually, Bayern has different sponsor printing for its home and away kits. While the home kit features the main Deutsche Telekom logo, the away kit showcases LIGA total!, Deutsche Telekom’s Bundesliga TV service. It’s a little on the large side, but the design is subdued enough not to cause much of a distraction. For me though, the color is a bit of an issue. In pictures, the LIGA portion of the text appears red – a color which would tie-in beautifully with the club crest and the collar and sleeve details. In reality, it’s fluorescent pink. There’s nothing wrong with the color per se, but it’s close enough to the red that the colors seem to clash – the same can be said of the navy conflicting with the royal blue of the FCB crest. These details don’t ruin the look of the kit by any means, but they do exemplify a niggling lack of cohesion that prevents a good shirt from being truly excellent.
Along with the aforementioned coloring issues, there are some design touches that feel out of place. For example, the red sleeve accents, which only extend from the outside portion of the sleeve, protrude from the hem at a sharp angle. While this is an interesting design, it seems at odds with the collar, which is more conservatively tapered.
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Whereas this season’s Bayern’s Home kit exhibits a careful, subtle and unified design, the away kit seems a somewhat haphazard collection of individually impressive ideas.
In terms of construction, the shirt is excellent. The badge is brightly embroidered, and the printing is flawless. The shirt I received did not have name and number printing, but as is common with Bayern shirts, did have the club name emblazoned across the shoulders. While this is a nice detail, the back of the kit looks a bit strange with text only at the top – this is a kit that would definitely benefit from the addition of name and number.
In my experience, the comfort of Adidas’ kits is second to no one, and this kit is no exception. Like the home kit, it’s made using Adidas’ ClimaCool fabric, but seems thinner and lighter. The addition of mesh underarm vents and a collar notch make this a comfortable and well ventilated top to wear onto the pitch or around town.
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On the whole, the Bayern Munich 11/12 Away kit is another good showing from Adidas. If the aim of the design is to stand out, it certainly succeeds; this shirt will definitely start some conversations at the Sunday five-a-side. It’s a shame that more effort wasn’t given to fully integrate the shirt’s disparate elements; with a bit more clarity in the overall design, this shirt could have been iconic. Despite the lackluster summation of its parts, though, this year’s Bayern Away kit still manages to impress.
4/5
*Note – If you think this shirt looks strangely familiar, you’re right: Bayern wore the same away kit during the 10/11 season.