Having debuted their latest special edition effort in their recent 3-1 Svenska Cupen group stage win over Kalmar FF, AIK and Nike officially launch the 1891 Behrens Edition jersey. The design reinforces AIK’s position as one of the most stylish teams in the world, whilst nodding to the heritage of the club.
In 1891, a 23-year-old typographer named Isidor Behrens decided to create an all-inclusive sports club that anyone could become a member of. And so it was that Allnmänna Idrottsklubben (literally translated as the sports club for everyone) was born. From that time, AIK has gone on to forge a reputation as one of the most stylish teams in the world, a reputation that was bolstered by the “Smokinglirare” (“Tuxedo squad”) term that was attached to the team, born from the rich history of the club.
In the late 1920’s and during the 1930’s AIK played its football with such a renowned level of individual skill that it was said that they had an aura of gentlemanlike urban elegance in their appearance. And so the term “Smokinglir”, Swedish for “tuxedo play”, evolved from the Tuxedo Squad term, becoming attached to the way the team played their football and how the club look and behave, existing today as an important part of its long term strategy.
Ranging from educating young players in terms of how to behave on and off the pitch to always being the best looking team in the player’s tunnel, with some of the best looking kits in the world, “The Tuxedo play” mentality is consistently inherited from generation to generation. And it's ingrained in the “Behrens Edition" Jersey.
The jersey debuted in AIK’s 3-1 Svenska Cupen group stage win over Kalmar FF, showing off that gloriously oversized club crest – rightly hailed as one of the most beautiful crests in the world. The overall design harks back to the shirt designs prior to 1911, before black became the official colour of the team. As if to accentuate the special, limited edition nature of the shirt, and tying in further to the "Tuxedo" theme that's intrinsically linked to the design, the jersey comes in a suit carrier.
All revenues from the sales of shirts will be used to send 129 youngsters to Stadium Sportscamp, a non profit camp to introduce youth to sports. AIK together with Nike and Stadium will select the 129 youngsters, with the ambition being to give the opportunity to those that it normally wouldn’t be open to, highlighting AIK’s mantra that “Sport has the power to change the world for the better”.
Pick up the AIK 1891 Behrens Jersey at prodirectsoccer.com
