Nostalgia is an unforgiving trap of our own minds. Sometimes it brings back a feeling of goosebumps, and sometimes it leaves us with memories we can never recover. And if you’re a Liverpool fan, it certainly hits you like a truck.
After all, they waited for their 2019/20 season title for 3 decades as the players changed, managers changed, kits changed. But within all these, some kits stay in the mind forever.
For instance, Fernando Torres in 2008/09.
Manufactured by Adidas, the gray themed shirt had Carlsberg as sponsor. The body had a checkered pattern with light and dark shades of gray. On both sides of the shoulders were 3 red stripes with a semicircular red striped collar.
The other standout jersey was from the 2004/05 season. With Steven Gerrard donning the iconic red kit manufactured by Reebok, that holds a touch of nostalgia due to the famous Champions League night in Istanbul. Now that seeping feeling is returning to those who saw the leaked away kit for the 2024/25 season.
After the 2024/25 home kit release last month, leaks of the away kit surfaced on social media.
The primary colour theme of the jersey is black, just like the one in 2019/20. The main colour is complemented with turquoise lines on the shoulder and a hoop to enclose the sleeves.
On closer inspection, embedded spiral lines can be seen throughout the jersey. Liverpool is not known for the collar patterns on their kit and this one also is on the same lines with only a black round neck on the jersey.
The Nike sign on the right and the Liverpool badge on the left are white to maintain the contrast with the sponsor’s name on the front. The badge maintains the theme of only featuring the liver bird without the crest of the Anfield gate.
For the Liverpool fans, the first thing that came to their minds seeing this was Sadio Mane.
The 2019/20 black kit from New Balance was similar to this leaked design with the major difference being in the front of the shirt. There was a brick wall-like design in the front and the hoops on the jersey sleeves were a semicircle. Both jerseys have a similar colour scheme of black as primary and turquoise as secondary colours.
The picture of the Senegalese in the third kit from the 2019/20 season soon flooded the social media platform X as he became a cult figure in that kit.
But even after 2 years of exit, the Kops clutch their memories of Mane. The same feeling is reciprocated by the former African Player of The Year as well.
‘Obviously it is strange – really, really strange – to no longer be a Liverpool player,’ Mane said in an interview after signing with Bayern. ‘For sure I am going to miss you guys but anyway, I love you guys. I still have my house in Liverpool and everything so for sure I will come back, of course, and I would love one day to come back to Anfield to say hi to them and of course to watch Liverpool playing because for me, I am going to be Liverpool’s No.1 fan – after the supporters.’
Now plying his trade with Al-Nassr in the SPL, Mane occasionally dons the black-grey kit of the club. Probably that hasn’t let the habit of seeing Mane in black die down entirely and the fans will keep reminding him that he’ll never walk alone.
