While Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen yesterday could have gone better, the fans could overall be satisfied by a dynamic display of attacking football that had not been seen at the club for quite some time.
However, it is only human nature to want more and more regardless of what you already have, and the Bayern ultras decided to make their feelings heard on what was otherwise a festive occasion.
This particular protest was about the new jerseys of the current season. As the fans all know, Bayern’s current home kit is red and black, a slight departure from its traditional red and white colors. If anything, it resembles a South Korea kit more than a typical Bayern kit. This is the second consecutive year that adidas have provided Bayern with a rather unorthodox kit, with the previous season’s home kit being primarily white instead of red.
The ultras are clearly displeased at this lack of respect for the club’s colors, so they have been staging protests even before the start of the season, from the kit’s debut match against Wolfsburg last season, as a matter of fact.
This time, they went a step further and not only criticized the home kit’s colors, but also the usage of the new Oktoberfest kit against Leverkusen. A banner in the Südkurve read “No red and white jersey, a defaced crest, your ‘Mia san mia’ is just a facade!”
The ‘defaced crest’ refers to the custom crest on the Oktoberfest kit, which looks like this:
It is indeed strange that Bayern has already played three home games this season, yet has never suited up in its red home kit so far. This writer has already written a piece covering that here. That said, it might seem a bit hypocritical to some that the ultras are now pining for a kit that they have been protesting since its release. If anything, the kit protests by the ultras could be considered to be a tad rich by some fans.
Football kits are now fast becoming fashionable items even off the pitch, and design is definitely more important than it was in the past, but at the end of the day, what matters most is how the team performs in the kits, not the kits themselves. That’s not to say some of the protests haven’t been warranted (such as the one for the god awful mint away kit in 2018/19), but still, there are worse things to complain about.
Despite the protests, though, the current Wiesn kit is immensely popular with international fans. While not enough to warrant an immediate sell-out like the dark green and gold 2021 Wiesn kit, there are still countless accounts of fans all around the world purchasing it, and only a week after its release, too.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen? Then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover everything from the starting XI selections, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, observations from the match, and where things go from here. You can get the show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
