Colours in football, much like in real life, hold plenty of importance, as they’re heavily associated with clubs and even add to their identity.
Aside from acting as signifiers for a particular team, colours also elicit emotion or confer a certain message, especially when they star on the kits teams wear.
When you spot Real Madrid’s White with black trims, you can almost feel the club’s lineage and history, similarly, sporting the Chelsea Blue will probably instil a bit of that London pride in you.
Examples such as these are endless, and of course, that’s not all that colours are important for.
They also help to easily differentiate between rivals, such as the 2 Manchester Sides who wear Red and Blue whenever they cross paths.
A club’s primary colours hold almost sacred value for its fans, and any tampering with the traditional looks is usually considered blasphemy, which is actually a major reason why sportswear brands often play it very safe when it comes to home kits.
With that established, you’d be surprised to know that Scottish heavyweights Celtic, who have historically worn Green, are currently selling Blue kits in their official shop, despite it being the primary colour of sworn rivals Rangers.
So, why is this the case?
Well, the links go all the way to the Asian archipelago known as Japan.
Before taking charge of the Bhoys, Ange Postecoglou served as manager of J-League side Yokohama Marinos, a successful stint which saw the Australian lift the League title.
Naturally, he learned quite a bit about the nation’s footballing landscape during his spell there, and he subsequently brought some of his learnings to the Scottish Premiership.
The Japanese influences all started when Celtic acquired the services of Kyogo Furuhashi, and then followed it up with a historic triple signing, as they brought in Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daize Maeda.
With 4 Japanese talents currently on their books, you can bet that The Hoops have a legion of Japanese Footy fans in their corner.
Suffice it to say, Celtic are big in Japan, and similarly, Bhoys’ fans have plenty of love for their mini-Japanese contingent.
As such, it simply made sense for them to sell the Samurai Blues’ gorgeous World Cup kit in their official store.
Japan’s kit has been created by Adidas, who also sponsors Celtic, which has created a nifty opportunity that that club is making full use of.
The Asian side’s kit has been made available through pre-order on Celtic’s official store, not only does this offer more exposure for the gorgeous look, but it also provides a convenient manner for European fans to get their hands on the kit.
Fans online were mostly pleased with the reveal and didn’t seem to have any issues with their club housing a blue and white kit.
Hopefully, the rest of Japan’s World Cup collection makes it to the official store as well.
