Ajax Amsterdam have been releasing some ice-cold away shirts the last seasons. The Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt is no exception. Also, this was Antony’s first season at Ajax, where he would become an important player later on. This shirt even made it into the top 4 best kits in the 20/21 season. Besides that, many Ajax supporters fell in love with this retro-looking jersey. In this post, you can read more about this shirt.
The design
General
The Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt was released in June 2020. The base of this kit boasts a combination of different types of light blue. Some navy colors were used on the diagonal stripes on the shirt. The transition from light blue to navy blue in between the navy stripes give this shirt a unique and retro look. The shirt also has some subtle white details, for example the Adidas logo, which is embroidered. When it comes to the collar, a mix of white and red was used to match the rest of the kit. Surprisingly, the pattern of the shirt continues onto the sleeve cuffs. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the sleeve cuffs had had the same design as the collar. The Ajax team crest is red. Its red color definitely makes it stand out on this jersey.
Sponsors, printing and patches
The Ziggo sponsor is white too, which seems to be a good color for a sponsor on this shirt. On the left sleeve we got the Curaçao sponsor, which is white, just like the main sponsor. The other sleeve has got the golden Eredivisie patch on it. The other teams of the Dutch Eredivisie got a blue patch on their shirts. The champion of the previous season, which was Ajax in this case, wear a golden Eredivisie patch on their right sleeve. The Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt has three little crosses below the collar on the back. The three crosses that represent the municipality of Amsterdam are white.
The printing or name set on the back is red, just like the Ajax crest and some other small details. Ajax have more or less been using the same shape and design for name sets on their shirts since the 2017/2018 season. They just change the color of the name set and the surrounding lines. Nevertheless, this name set looks clean if you ask me. Both the 3 and 9 got the small white Ajax team logo in it as well, like we are used to. This red name set has white lines around it, to make it stand out even more on this shirt.
As I said before, the Ajax name sets have been almost the same since a few years. This printing looks like the one on the Ajax 2018/2019 away shirt. Instead of using beige, they used red with the same white line.
Antony Matheus dos Santos
The Brazilian talent joined Ajax in the summer of 2020. He grew up in São Paulo, where he played in the youth teams of São Paulo FC. He made his debut for this Brazilian team on 15 November 2018, when he was 18 years old. Antony played his first match for Ajax on 8 August 2020, and he even scored 2 goals. The fans in Amsterdam quickly realized that this Brazilian star is a very technical football player. He loves to show off skills on and off the pitch, which reminds us a bit of Samba Football.
Antony told that the presence of David Neres at Ajax played a big role in his transfer. Neres is Brazilian too, and had been part of the Dutch squad since the 2016/2017 season. Antony told that he immediately got a friend there, who he could speak in his native language (Portuguese) with. Neres, who plays on the same position, left to Shakthar Donetsk a few months ago. This gave Antony the possibility to play more often on his favorite position (left or right wing).
Antony has become an important part of the squad by now. Also, his passionate actions and the smoothness of his skills resulted in him scoring 21 goals in 72 matches for Ajax so far. Also, he made his debut in the Brazilian national team on 8 October 2021. He scored a goal during this essential game in his career. Up to now, he has played 7 games for A Seleção, in which he scored 2 goals. I think we are all curious about the rest of his career. At this moment, it looks like he will grow into a bigger player than he is now, and that he will probably make some more nice transfers.
Final thoughts and my opinion
What makes this shirt so beautiful?
The Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt is an absolute beauty if you ask me. Soccer Bible did a good job by including this shirt in their top 4 of best jerseys last season. The retro design and combination of fresh, blue colors on this kit make it beautiful. The transition from light blue to dark blue is the best detail of this shirt, if I have to be more specific. The navy lines create a very cool effect all over the shirt, which makes it unique to look at. The way the color white has been used on this shirt is great too. Smaller details, like the Adidas stripes, logo and sponsor look great in white. The lines around the ”Antony 39” name set look fresh too.
Shirts with less common squad numbers on them are always more special, like I mentioned in one of my previous posts. Antony switched to number 11 at the beginning of the 2021/2022 season. This makes the Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt with ”Antony 39” on it even better. Number 39 is clearly a sign that a player is new to a team, and that he has to prove himself, in many cases. Antony definitely showed what he’s capable of during his first season at Ajax. His mind-blowing performances turned him into a starting-11 player. Quincy Promes, who wore the number 11 before Antony, left to Spartak Moscow. This gave Antony the opportunity to switch to number 11.
My rating
Also, the golden Eredivisie patch is the icing on the cake. It makes the shirt look complete with the white Curação sponsor on the other sleeve. The Ajax 2020/2021 away shirt is definitely one of the best shirts I got in my collection. It connects the past (the pattern on the shirt) with the present (the modern design of the name set). My rating: 8.5/10.
Are you looking for an Ajax shirt?
If you fell in love with Ajax away shirts like I did, you might want to buy one for yourself. You might be looking for the same shirt I have, or for a classy home red and white home shirt. Classic Football Shirts has a great collection of Ajax shirts which you might want to check out! 🙂
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