The neon Barcelona jersey that revolutionised football

In football there is a before and an after. There was a moment that revolutionised the game forever, taking it to a dimension from which there was no turning back: the abolition of the away goals rule, the introduction of VAR and goal line technology, the ban on goalkeepers picking up the ball with their hands on a backward pass. There is also a before and after in football aesthetics, a choice that set a new standard that sooner or later would be replicated by all.

In the 2005/06 season, Nike produced a revolutionary away jersey for Barcelona: for the first time in football history, a team would wear a solid-coloured phosphorescent jersey. In a world dominated by pastel colours and shades almost always tending towards the dark, Nike demolished every convention by producing a fluorescent yellow uniform on which appeared just a few details in navy blue, the club's coat of arms, the swoosh and a tiny flag of Catalonia inserted inside a v-shaped collar.

It had never been seen before: it wasn't a fancy uniform but it was cool. The success was immediate, also fuelled by the fact that wearing that jersey were some of the best footballers in the world at the time, such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o as well as a very young Leo Messi, on the most important stage: that Barcelona, in fact, won the Champions League. Nike also used a little trick to keep up the interest in the phosphorescent, as for that season they also produced a fluorescent yellow training kit that peeped out from the bench on the occasions when Barcelona took the field in the classic blaugrana jersey.

In terms of shape, it did not present anything new or modern, but rather, with its soft lines, stood in open contrast to the Kombat, the close-fitting jersey made by Kappa at the beginning of 2000, which in turn had set a new standard in football aesthetics. It was nevertheless a triumph, as confirmed by the fact that Nike in the following years has cyclically re-proposed for Barcelona and other clubs different models of the phosphorescent jersey. But the best dimension of this triumph comes from the collections of Nike's competitors.

Some sooner, some later, all clothing manufacturers involved in football had to bow to Nike's intuition. In most cases the phosphorescent colours have been used for goalkeeper kits, such as PUMA with AC Milan last season, but the same German company opted for the phosphorescent yellow for Manchester City's third kit this season and last season produced an entirely fluorescent yellow one for Borussia Dortmund. Kappa has never opted for an entirely fluorescent uniform but for example in the 2018/19 season decided to introduce phosphorescent yellow details in the home jersey used by Napoli in the Champions League. Even adidas has converted to fluo by using it for both details and plain jerseys. Then there are the cases of New Balance, Macron, Umbro, Joma. In short, all brands over the years have been forced to follow Nike's example in order to keep up with the times and meet the fans' tastes.