The best jerseys with a city map on it When geography and football meet to celebrate identity and attachment to local teams

Until a few years ago, one of the most prominent trends in football shirts was architecture and symbols that make cities different and unique. Graphic references and sources of visual inspiration have been and still are essential to create kit that can have an impact on merchandising, a positive spin on branding and to cement the relationship between city and club more and more. The start of it all was in 2017 when Nike designed the uniforms for the 2018-19 season and for the first time one of the predominant motifs became urbanism. On the third jerseys of Barcelona, Roma and Tottenham the swoosh chooses to pay homage to the urban elements that characterise the metropolis of reference such as Avinguda Diagonal, the Borough of Haringey area and the map of the Eternal City. 

Like Nike, Kappa has always tried to convey territoriality and a sense of belonging on its jerseys, and there are two concrete and most successful examples in its history, those involving Genoa and Napoli. "Into cheu du Zena", was the slogan designed last season to present Genoa's new jersey to the city. A jersey as simple as ever, divided into the traditional red and blue quarters, embellished with the tone-on-tone map of the Ligurian city. Similarly, in 2019, to celebrate and thank the affection of the Neapolitan fans, Kappa has created the 'Napoli District'. A fourth jersey obviously dedicated to the city and featuring two shades of grey, black inserts with the map of the 30 districts of the capital of Campania.

Santos and Le Coq Sportif

Outside the borders of Italy, football and architecture have met thanks to Le Coq Sportif also in Brazil in the new Santos jersey. As happened with the Kappa and Nike jerseys, the French brand has placed the map of the city on the front of the jersey to celebrate the 113th anniversary year. This one is more special than the others, not because of the design or choice of colours, but because it was made by a fan thanks to the contest launched by the team together with the French brand. 

Jako and Joma

From Jako to Joma, the substance does not change. In addition to the brands already mentioned, the German and Spanish brands also decided to put the city map on the St Gallen and Hibernian jerseys. Both very similar and made in green, the former focuses on the large headland and hill systems that characterise the Swiss town. The second, on the other hand, captures the very streets of Edinburgh, exactly those of the city district of Leith where the team was founded.