Spectacular carnival shirts pressed in Holland and Germany!

For many people February and March are months to stay inside to avoid the cold and gloomy weather, sipping on a hot chocolate, waiting for the sun to return. However, for many communities it is also the start of the best period of the year: carnival season. The main events of Carnival often involve parades, public celebrations and dressing up, giving people some light in these dark days. Carnival is celebrated all trough-out the world, and the West of Germany and the South of the Netherlands are certainly no exception to that. Consequently, the main football teams of Mainz and Waalwijk, both decided to create special one-off match shirts, to celebrate ‘Fastnacht’ (Mainz) and ‘Carnaval’ (Waalwijk). It goes without saying that we at MatchWornShirt are big fans of all shirts, but these two really tickle our fancy!

Mainz 05 made sure to keep the beautiful red and white club colours omnipresent on the shirt, that they wore in their 1-0 win against Union Berlin. Across the front, the shirt bears red, white, blue and yellow stripes, which are the colours of ‘Fastnacht’. On the back is a white square with in it the number and name of the players, as well as the name of the club. Around the square an abundance of names are written in red. These are all the names of fans that supported Mainz 05 throughout the Covid crisis, by extending their season tickets, without being able to watch a game. This is an amazing gesture by Mainz 05 and that makes this shirt even more special.

RKC Waalwijk went for a different approach. The club swapped their traditional yellow and blue kits for all black ones, with a festive touch. Painted on the black background, are all kinds of Carnival decorations, in the yellow, red and blue of ‘Carnaval’. These colours are also visible on the stripes across the chest of the shirt, as well as the crest of the club, that was changed for the occasion. The badge of the club is probably the most notable change of the entire shirt, seen that the club gave their lion, that traditionally features on the crest, a ‘Carnaval’ scarf, a mask and a crate of beer. The greatest thing is that the money raised with these funky shirts supports the ‘Fonds Gehandicaptensport’, which is a charity that enables disabled people to participate in sports.

We can safely say that these shirts are some of the most extraordinary ones we have ever seen at MatchWornShirt, and we have seen a lot!