Football and nostalgia have a long-standing relationship, which makes retro collections so popular among fans. But as the trend has exploded in recent years, are we getting a retro overload?
From vintage-themed capsule collections and classic jersey re-releases to on-pitch kits inspired from designs of yesteryear, retro’s place in football has been ubiquitous in recent years.
The latest throwback collection from adidas, the “Terrace Icons” line, features sleek tracksuits, polos, and sneakers for the brand’s flagship clubs. Juventus, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Arsenal were among the clubs that the Three Stripes blessed with this collection, but for some reason, it feels like we’ve had this exact release already. And we probably have.
That’s because ’80s terrace culture is a saturated creative market in today’s game, with many brands and clubs turning to this subculture to fuel their releases. But when is enough, enough? At one point, retro releases were looking likely to become incredibly overdone. The question is now, are they played out or is the game toeing the line of nostalgia without overdoing it?
This terrace collection is another iteration of adidas’ revert to retro, adding to the large number of releases over the last few years that either “pay homage” or are “inspired by” the past. At the start of the season, the brand wasn’t shy about dishing out throwback gear to its various clubs.
Newcastle’s away and third kit are both remakes. Arsenal received the retro makeover. Manchester United, too. All of the Three Stripes’ clubs are revealing retro gear in some way, complete with the signature trefoil logo.
It was just in November that AS Roma and adidas unveiled their “Bring Back” collection inspired by 1993, including a remake of that season’s home shirt. A few months later, to kick off 2025, the brand re-released Newcastle’s iconic 1995-97 shirt from the Kevin Keegan era. Both releases were, as expected, lapped up. From a brand perspective, this is sensible. Creating noise in the football space by leaning into extreme levels of nostalgia is a tactical approach from adidas and others.
It’s not just kits or fashion pieces that adidas are looking at either. It re-launched the iconic Predator boots a few years ago and have brought back the iconic foldover tongue.
It also dropped retro-inspired colorways on these boots, from the classic red and black to the more daring blue and white made famous by David Beckham. Not to be outdone, adidas went full-on retro as well, releasing the exact model of the old Predators with updated tech on several occasions.
Alongside the Predator, the brand has brought back the legendary F50, again looking at classic colorways to generate hype. With this move, adidas has a whole portfolio of retro-inspired gear that it continues to regurgitate for their clubs and players.
But adidas is far from the only retro merchant. It’d be silly for the likes of Nike not to join in. The Swoosh recently re-released the 2004 Portugal home kit, and in recent months dropped more T90 trainers as well as re-releasing classic Mercurial Vapors. Kappa has been using inspiration from years gone by for a while, utilizing the classic Banda design and old-school shirt cuts.
Like it or not, retro is here to stay. Brands and clubs will continue to tap into fans’ nostalgia and use those emotions to drive noise and eventual sales. Nostalgia is an incredibly powerful marketing tool and it is rife throughout this sport. Is it overdone? You could argue yes. But as long as it generates money, it’s not going anywhere soon.
