HBO’s The Sopranos still make it into most discussions about the greatest TV show of all time, even after over 20 years of its release.
While the iconic drama follows the man-mountain of a mafia patriarch Tony Soprano (played by the late James Gandolfini) and his adventures, most people would not draw any connection with football whatsoever from the show.
But unsuspecting football fans were treated to a very unexpected crossover when the protagonist Tony Soprano’s wacky yet unforgettable ‘Tabasco’ shirt was turned into a neat football jersey.
In season five of the classic HBO drama, Gandolfini as Soprano infamously wore an absolute eyesore of a shirt that featured hot sauce bottles and chilli peppers in abundance.
Gandolfini’s attire as the mafia kingpin caught a lot of attention from fans at the time, even though the shirt divided opinion on how visually appealing it was.
It is still something that many Sopranos fans bond on, and naturally football fans with a soft spot for the show were very excited when Copa Football remade the ‘Tabasco’ shirt into a decent looking kit.
Copa Football released their latest jersey from their collection of football shirts, and it was an outright nod to the classic show.
The newly released shirt featured similar patterns as well as a similar colour scheme as the original shirt from The Sopranos and was accompanied by “Soprano” on the back along with the number eleven.
Two variants of the shirt were seen on online social media platforms, a shirt and a polo version of the same brilliant jersey. The club crest on the jersey featured the acronym ‘TS’ as a nod to the drama, while the fictional strip club of “Bada Bing!” were featured on the front of the shirt as shirt sponsors.
The jersey had plenty of references galore for the fans of the show and served as a refreshing crossover of football with TV.