The 2018/2019 Champions League campaign was a journey not many Ajax supporters will forget. Ajax Amsterdam surprised the whole world by knocking out Los Blancos and Paulo Dybala‘s Juventus in two return games while wearing this shirt! In this article, we are going to check out this Ajax Champions League jersey, as well as where to find it.
All you need 🙂
Design
This Ajax Amsterdam kit uses the Adidas template from the 2018/2019 season. This template (Regista) was also used for Olympique Lyon, Leicester City and the Moroccan national team. The shirt uses an all black base with a goldish/beige panel at the top of the shirt. This goldish color has also been applied to the 3 Adidas stripes under the armpits on both sides of the shirt. Below the beige panel, there is a white stripe to finish this design off. Also, we can find the 3 Saint Andrew’s crosses that symbolize a part of the flag of Amsterdam.
Ajax stars who wore this shirt
The Godenzonen had an amazing squad with both young talented and older experienced players. The first star who might come into mind is Frenkie de Jong, who plays for FC Barcelona at this moment. Bianconero Matthijs de Ligt also may be a player you think of when you see this shirt. Both players stole the show during the Champions League campaign that season, which resulted in transfers to two of the most popular European teams. Wizard Hakim Ziyech, who plays for Chelsea at this moment, also wore this legendary shirt.
Surprisingly, this shirt doesn’t have the name of one of the players I just mentioned on the back. My shirt has the official name and number for Nicolás Tagliafico on it. The Argentine left back warrior was of value to Ajax because of his winner and fighter mentality. You really got to love his passion for the game we all love. He doesn’t mind showing a bit of South-American passion in his style of playing football!
Doesn’t Tagliafico’s number 31 make this shirt even look better? This squad number is not very common, but that makes it even more special! Most of us tend to collect shirts of the biggest stars with mainstream squad numbers (e.g. 7, 9 and 10) but I can really appreciate the less common ones.
Where can I find this shirt?
Although this shirt was released more than 3 years ago, it has already become a modern classic. The memories Ajax gave us in this shirt during the Champions League campaign of 2018/2019 are unforgettable. For this obvious reason, this shirt is sought-after and quite hard to find. At this moment, you can find this legendary shirt on the following websites:
- Football and Vintage Amsterdam: This store based in Amsterdam has many vintage and Ajax football shirts. The Ajax 2018/2019 away shirt is available in a kid’s size XL, which is equivalent to an adults’ size XS. This store provides you with all the information you need on every item. World wide shipping is possible as well.
- Ebay: The well-known online marketplace on which many collectors have bought at least one thing in their life. On this site, you can find basically everything. It’s a paradise for football shirt collectors, because they might even find rare shirts they had been looking for for ages on here. At this moment, the Ajax Amsterdam 18/19 away kit is available on Ebay in size 2XL.
- Classic Football Shirts (CFS): At this moment, this famous football shirt store doesn’t sell the Ajax shirt you might be looking for. Nevertheless, I still recommend you to keep an eye on this store, because the shirt might pop up one day since CFS adds hundreds of new shirts to their website every month! Maybe your lucky day will come soon :).
How to recognize fakes?
Like we all know, this shirt has become popular since Ajax eliminated Real Madrid and Juventus in it. Sought-after shirts are often reproduced and sold as ‘official’, but I’m going to share some tips with you to recognize fake versions of this shirt of the Godenzonen (Sons of God in Dutch).
The most obvious thing you have to keep in mind are the logos. If the stitching work doesn’t look good, it may be a good indication of inferior quality, which often means that the shirt is fake. Make sure to check the inside of the shirt too, because some logos might look legit from the outside, but can still be badly sewn on the inside.
The best tip I can probably give you is to check the product code on the small label inside the shirt you can find close to the neck. You need the code in the middle. We are going to use this reference with the name of the brand of this shirt (Adidas). Type in ‘Adidas CF5468’ on Google images. In this case, images of the shirt we have been talking about pop up, because the shirt I got is an official licensed product. Always make sure to ask for pictures of the small label on the picture below this text.
Also, the color of the name and number for this shirt is very specific. The name set on fake shirts might have a (slightly) different color than the original name set. Keep in mind that you may find an original shirt with a fake name set applied to it too. Always check the exact color of the name and number and compare it to the original before you buy this shirt. Another good indication can be the small Ajax logo in the number. Make sure to check this out carefully in the picture below this subparagraph. Fake shirts/name sets tend to have bigger Ajax logos in the numbers.
My thoughts and opinion
Although the design of the shirt isn’t maybe too special, the memories I got to this shirt make it look awesome. I think many collectors value both design and memories when considering the beauty of a football shirt. This Ajax 2018/2019 away kit is no exception. It reminds me of the way Lasse Schöne scored an amazing goal against Real Madrid and Matthijs de Ligt’s header that sent Ajax to the semi-final. Now, I would like to know which player comes into your mind when you see this legendary shirt! If I have to give an answer to this question, I would say Frenkie de Jong (really mainstream, I know). But why? Because this was the season in which he showed the world what he is capable of: being a very intelligent, young midfielder who is always one step ahead of his opponent!
Leave a Reply