Marking an historic 110 years since the club was established, Corinthians and Nike have released a special edition shirt for the 20/21 season, as well as an extended lifestyle collection that honours the Corinthian-Casuals – the English club that is widely considered responsible for the popularisation of world football.
Before we get into the shirt itself, time for a little history lesson. We all sitting comfortably? No, Jeremy, put your hand down, you can go to the toilet after. Right, now way back when football was a new sport doing the rounds in England, two great amateur teams popped up between the years of 1882 and 1883: Corinthian and Casuals. Corinthian helped to increase the popularity of this new sport around the planet, going on tours and generally spreading the word. It was also the first club in history to play outside its home country. After a while, the two main football powers of the time joined forces and became Corinthian-Casuals Football Club, and to this day, many people still consider Corinthian-Casuals to be the fathers of football, sporting their legendary brown and light pink uniform. Still with us? Good.
In 1910, five workers watched a demonstration match during a visit of the British club to Brazil. Mesmerised by what they had seen, they decided to create a team that went on to become one of the world’s most popular clubs, 110 years later: Sport Club Corinthians Paulista – a club adored by a nation of millions of fans, with a supporter base three times bigger than the population of London.
To honour this legacy, Nike and Corinthians have produced a special third shirt for the 20/21 season as part of the club’s 110-year anniversary. The design sees a brown base with light blue details, with the inclusion of the crest originally used by Corinthians between 1919 and 1939. A huge cross divides the shirt into four quadrants, in a reference to the Saint George cross that later became associated to the flag of England (Saint George is the country’s patron saint). The round neck follows the same light blue colour pallet used in the sleeves.
At the neck, on the inside of the jersey, the words “e duobus unum” feature – which means “the best of two in one” in Latin. The words are also part of the Corinthian-Casuals crest, and they symbolise the union of the two founding teams that led to the creation of Corinthians Paulista. The name and the number of each player appears in the same shade of pink that became legendary in the original Casual shirt.
“Corinthians is certainly one of the most famous teams in the world,” remarked Gustavo Viana, Head of Marketing at Nike do Brasil. “This history had to be told and known by sports fans everywhere. The Corinthian-Casuals journey inspired not only the birth of Corinthians Paulista: it found in Brazilians true sports lovers”.
The Corinthians 20/21 third shirt and extended collection is available exclusively at nike.com.br and ShopTimão.
