Riding high at the top of the table and closing in on promotion to the first division of Greek football, Athens Kallithea caught the eye for another reason on the weekend in their 1-0 win over Egaleo – the debut of the long sleeve version of their stunning home shirt.
Athens Kallithea have very rapidly established themselves as ones to watch both in the style game, charging into the vanguard of football fashion as they have with their recent kits from Kappa (this season's set ranking very high on our list), but also in terms of their performances on the pitch. This weekend, they captured their fourth straight win and fourth consecutive clean sheet at home, edging out visitors Egaleo, 1-0, at a frigid Grigoris Lamprakis Stadium. And when we say frigid, we mean it… actual snow in Athens. So what better time to debut the long sleeve version of the club’s home shirt?
After a bright start to the match, the breakthrough came when Andreas Vasilogiannis’ tricky dribbling drew a penalty, with Javier Matilla dispatching the spot-kick in the 32nd minute. Try as they might, Egaleo pushed for an equaliser, but thanks to some stalwart defending and some top drawer saves, it just never came. And that left space to simply admire that beautiful long sleeve version of AKFC’s home jersey, which was untarnished by the result.
Of course, the regular short sleeve version of the home shirt has already been worn numerous times this season, but following the reveal of the long sleeve version in the original promotional campaign there was a question as to whether we’d ever see it in action given the regular temperates of Athens. Thankfully though, a brisk cold front meant that the shirt was given its moment to shine, drawing focus as it rightly should.
Originally revealed back in August, the home shirt expresses a modern minimalist take on classic Greek aesthetics, with a navy base featuring delicate horizontal pinstripes and a red pop in the polo-style collar. Golden accents in the branding and crest add an elegant flourish to proceedings, while the ΕΜΣΤ wordmark of the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens also appears in gold, as part of a first-of-its-kind partnership between the two institutions.
The Athens Kallithea 23/24 long sleeve home shirt is available at shop.akfc66.gr
