Real Sociedad Centenary Shirts

Spanish club Real Sociedad, from the Basque region, plays in the Segunda Division, which is the second level of league football in Spain. The team ranked 4th in the 2007/08 season, just missing out on a promotion place as the top three clubs get promoted to La Liga. In the present season, the team is still in the top-half of the table but attaining a promotion place looks to be an unreachable target as the season closes to an end. Promotion would have been the best way to celebrate the club’s centenary. Real Sociedad were founded on the 7th September 1909, and will obviously celebrate such a historic landmark by issuing a special set of kits for the upcoming campaign. As it looks they will be away from La Liga for the 2009/10 season, they hope to end the 100-year celebrations with promotion to this prestigious league in Spain and all of Europe.

Midfielder and captain Mikel Aranburu modelled the new centenary home kit. The design was revealed before the unveiling ceremony, as the fans were asked to choose the design themselves out of three options. This design obtained 9699 votes out of the 22607 cast. The top management of the club were also present for this event held at the Anoeta Stadium. The shirt is striped vertically in white and blue. However, the sleeves have a dominance of the blue colour, while the chest is all white. It is worn with white shorts that have blue details, and horzontally striped, blue and white, socks. On the other hand, Xabi Prieto modelled the away strip, which in contrast with the home strip was kept secret until the 25-year-old midfielder walked out wearing it. It features a red colour, but the right side of the shirt has a lighter shade of red. All the kit is plain red. On both shirts, shirt designers and manufacturers Astore have put the dates of this centenary on each side of the centralised club crest: 1909 and 2009. Players will walk out in this shirt with extra pride as they are marking such an important milestone in the club’s history.

Official Source