Brisbane Roar have not only released some of the best new kits seen in recent memory, they’ve also finally tapped into something A-League clubs have ignored for years – football culture. Take a stroll down any main street in an Australian capital city and what do you see? The answer, if you’re looking closely enough, is football jerseys. They’re everywhere.
Long gone are the days when a replica football jersey was something you only wore to the game. These days you’re just as likely to see someone strolling down Queen Street Mall in a Borussia Dortmund jersey as you are to find them being worn on the terraces at Signal Iduna Park. A new era of the UEFA Champions League is here, only on Stan Sport.
Where once it was mildly embarrassing to see some daggy middle-aged bloke rocking a jersey, today they’re a must-have fashion accessory – worn by everyone from Snoop Dogg to Dua Lipa and lifelong San Lorenzo fan, Viggo Mortensen. So why wouldn’t an A-League club try to tap into the zeitgeist and respond to what football fans actually spend their money on? Probably because the game’s administrators have spent far too long focusing exclusively on what happens on the pitch – to the detriment of the culture they’re supposed to be in charge of building off it. That’s where someone like Chad Gibson comes in.
An early face of A-League’s advertising as the inaugural captain of Queensland Roar – back when the club was conceived to represent the entire state – Gi.