Real Madrid are known for winning trophies and their staple white home kits. This got me thinking, what are the best home kits the club has had over their incredible 115 years? It was tough to choose just 5, and after consulting with The Real Champs writers, I’ve been able to narrow it down. Let’s kick off the rankings with the honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions
1931/1932: Lace-up Collar & First LaLiga title
After digging and digging through Getty Images, I was unable to find a picture of the actual jersey, which is pretty disappointing because it is one of the most interesting kits the club has ever had.
You can see a picture of the jersey, and get a little history on the season Los Blancos had here. To give you an idea, think Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean. The “jersey” looks like a pirate shirt with the strings down the front showing a lot of chest.
The interesting jersey was worn by Real when they won their first LaLiga title and they went the entire season without losing a single match. In summary, I chose this jersey, not for its look, but for the incredible season, it was used for.
I’d advise going to check it out.
1998/1999: White and Dark Blue & Intercontinental Cup title
After cutting ties with Adidas in 1985, Real Madrid made the switch back to their current brand sponsor for the 1998/’99 season. With the return to Adidas, Real won their second Intercontinental Cup (now called the FIFA Club World Cup) thanks to a fantastic performance from Raúl who scored the match-winner in the final.
The ’98/’99 kit saw the Real Madrid crest move back to the left side after featuring in the dead center of the kit the previous few years. This was also the year the dark blue color returned to accent the kit.
An interesting side note, while it might be hard to see in the above picture, the classic Real Madrid logo, the club’s first ever logo, is at the neck in gold and looks very nice between the dark blue collar.
A clean kit that was very basic, but at the same time kept the class of a Real kit.
1982/1983: First Adidas kit & 15th Copa Del Rey title
Rewind about 20 years from the previous kit, when Real Madrid first partnered with Adidas in 1980. Again, I apologize, as I was unable to find a picture of the kit. If you’d like to see it, click here.
After first joining up with Adidas for two seasons, the kit featured no sponsor. The 1982/’83 season was the first in Real Madrid’s history that featured a sponsorship on the front. That first sponsor was Zanussi, an Italian producer of home appliances.
Even though the deal with the Italian company only lasted a year, it was still a significant move for the club. Since the ’82/’83 season’s first sponsorship, there has only been one season since, the 2001/2002 season (we will discuss that more later) that has not featured a sponsorship.
The spring of ’82 saw Los Blancos win their 15th Copa Del Rey title 2-1 over Sporting Gijón in the sponsorship-less uniforms.
#5. 2013/2014: La Décima
This kit not only has great significance to me personally as a fan, but it also has great significance to the club as a whole. It was the first Real Madrid jersey I ever purchased, and I happened to buy it at the Real Madrid store while on my first trip to Madrid.
The 2013/2014 campaign not only saw a new sponsorship adorn the front of the kit, but it also was a change in style from the previous years as an orange trim was included around the neck, and gray was the prominent color of the stripes down the arms. This, of course, was instead of the usual blue or purple that had featured on many of the previous kits.
Despite finishing third behind Atletico Madrid who won the league, and FC Barcelona, Los Blancos made an impressive run in the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Del Rey.
In this impressive campaign, manager Carlo Ancelotti led Real Madrid to a Copa Del Rey title, giving the Royal Whites their 19th title in the competition. The final will best be remembered for Gareth Bale’s stunning goal in the 85th minute which sealed the match for Real, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo who was suspended.
Bale lit the competition up in his first season with the club, and he wasn’t done there. In the Champions League Final against Atlético Madrid, with Los Blancos trailing 1-0 in the 93rd minute, Sergio Ramos came to the rescue heading in a corner kick delivered by Luka Modric to tie the match and force it to extra time.
In the half hour of extra time play, the Royal Whites scored three times, with Bale again the hero scoring on a rebound header in the 110th minute, which proved to be the title winner.
One of the best year’s in Real Madrid history was complimented with an impressive jersey.
#4. 2006/2007: Raúl, Guti, and David Beckham win Real the LaLiga title
During the 2006/’07 season, Adidas went with a new look for the giants of Spain. This was the last season Real were partnered with Siemens and the only year the front of the jersey featured “Benq-Siemens.”
The team of ’06/’07 was one of Real’s best ever with the likes of Brazilian Ronaldo, Raúl, Guti, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and David Beckham helping the club to their 29th league title. It was certainly an interesting league winning campaign, however, as Real finished tied in points with FC Barcelona, and ended up with a worse goal differential (Barca finished +45 and Real finished +26).
At this time, the tiebreaker was decided first by points, then by head-to-head points. And, thanks to defeating Barca 2-0 and drawing 3-3, Los Blancos secured the league title.
This was also the first season van Nistelrooy was a part of the club after being brought in from Manchester United for €15 million. The Dutch forward led the team in scoring with 25 goals in the league, and 33 in all competitions.
With Fabio Capello at the helm, Real stumbled in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey, falling out in the round of 16 in both competitions.
Nonetheless, it was a cool mix up to the normal white kit, and I especially like the lines on both the shirt and the shorts.
#3. 2001/2002 Centenary kit & 9th Champions League title
This jersey comes in at number 3 for several reasons. First of all, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the club and, as I mentioned earlier, it has been the only home jersey that hasn’t featured a sponsorship on the front since 1982.
This was also a great season for Los Blancos who were led by Zinedine Zidane. Despite finishing third in the league and runners-up in the Copa Del Rey, the Royal Whites won the Supercopa de España and won their ninth Champions League title.
Luis Castillo was the one who suggested I include this jersey in the rankings because of how clean and simple it is. Plus, this jersey was worn in some games, not all season, as the other white home jersey featured a Siemens sponsorship on the front.
Raúl led the team in scoring for the season, registering 29 goals in all competition, but it was the then player now manager, Zidane, who was the hero for Real, scoring an incredible half-volley goal in the second half in the Champions League final as Real Madrid defeated Bayer Leverkusen.
This was the jersey the team sported on that fateful night in Glasgow, Scotland.
#2. 2011/2012: Gold numbers and trim & 32nd LaLiga title
Not only were the kits flashy, but so was the team.
Led by the always eccentric José Mourinho, and with Cristiano Ronaldo at peak form, Real Madrid were the talk of the football world during the 2011/2012 season.
The home kits for the only time in the team’s long history featured gold numbers and gold trim and no sign of the usual blue or dark purple which had been the usual accent color of the kits.
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Other than the usual crest on the left side, these jerseys are barely comparable to any of the other kits the club has had. Everything, from the Adidas logo, to the stripes, to the thin accenting lines under the sleeves, to the stripes on the shorts and socks, were gold.
Not only are the jerseys pretty freaking cool, but the release video is pretty cool as well. Take a look for yourself and try not to get too nostalgic seeing the likes of Iker Casillas, Kaka, and Xabi Alonso.
The 2011/’12 season saw the Spanish giants win their 32nd LaLiga trophy after accumulating 100 points over 38 matches, losing just two, and scoring a phenomenal 121 goals with a +89 goal differential.
Safe to say the gold on the kits made the players play well above expectation. Once 2012 rolled around, Los Blancos didn’t lose a league match, and only drew three matches.
This was also Raphael Varane’s first year at the club as he was bought from Lens for €10 million during the summer at the ripe age of 19.
#1. 1959/1960: All white kits & yet another European Championship trophy
Taking the top spot is the 1959/’60 kit, which features no additional color or stripes. For five years, Los Blancos wore the “pure white” kits and it brought them nothing but good luck.
Every year the club sported these incredible kits, they won a European Cup. Real Madrid became the first team to ever win 5 consecutive European Cups led by the likes of Alfonso di Stéfano, Puskás, and Gento.
Real solidified themselves as the most powerful team in all of Europe with yet another European Cup, and thanks to manager Manuel Fleitas, and probably the most famous president in club history, Santiago Bernabéu, the club was again on top of the football world.
The beauty of these jerseys is indeed the simplicity of them. The shirt, shorts, and socks featured no other markings other than the Real Madrid crest and was a showing that, it didn’t take fancy kits or fancy players to win trophies, it took a solid foundation of teamwork and simply skill to be the best.
I wish I could’ve been alive to see the run of this team between 1955 and 1960, but I’ll just have to read about the legacy these men left behind.
Next: The value of depth: just how loaded is Real Madrid’s midfield?