Although not as widespread as in previous years, several European clubs have marked the upcoming lunar year in 2025 by playing out in special commemorative kits and jerseys.
According to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Lunar New Year begins on January 29 as we head into the Year of the Snake.
Paris Saint-Germain were the only major European side to play in their Lunar New Year kit this weekend, with the Ligue 1 Giants wearing a designer shirt before facing Reims at the Parc des Princes.
The front of PSG’s home jersey remained intact, but the reverse Vantage revealed that the back panel had been reworked in collaboration with designer Jay Chou and his street-street label Phantaci to include a “Year of unique snake. As such, all players’ names were written in Mandarin script.
Elsewhere, Barcelona confirmed that their men’s and women’s teams Will wear unique pre-match Lunar New Year kits when they face Alaves and Levante respectively next weekend. The shirts will also feature the players’ names written in Chinese on the back.
In the Premier League, Tottenham wore a limited-edition pre-match shirt, which featured a golden snake sliding down a column of Chinese-inspired tiles. Unfortunately for Spurs, good luck and prosperity was in short supply on the pitch as they went on to lose their fourth league game
Chelsea have also been furnished with a lunar pre-match shirt for their trip to Manchester City at the Etihad, with the Blues warming up in a scaly black and gold design.
City themselves have made a habit of marking the Lunar New Year with a unique kit in recent years, but it appears the club have not produced one this time around. Instead, fans were treated to an on-field pre-match show that included martial arts displays and a traditional dragon dance.
Manchester United are also known for creating custom shirts to usher in the Lunar New Year, but this year Completely bland design was quietly released in mid-December and was not worn at all in their 1-0 win at Fulham on Sunday.
However, Championship club Sheffield United deserve a special mention after going above and beyond to design their own homage to the Year of the Snake with a Lunar New Year kit so garish and ornamental it’s actually quite difficult to look at for more than a few minutes without inducing a migraine.
This one can slip back where it came from.
