AS Roma and Adidas Drop Black Third Kit

Roma’s home kits and away kits are always beautiful. There, I said it. Sorry other clubs, the Giallorossi just have better core colors than you do, and that red and that yellow will always work well on a kit. They even work perfectly with white as a complementary color, which is why one of the favorite Roma kits I own is the 2016/2017 away with a Lupetto. Simple, yet beautiful.

By contrast, if you’re making a third kit for Roma, the potential variance in kit quality is a lot larger. Sometimes you get an absolute beauty, like Nike’s 2019/2020 third kit that featured a red and yellow collar nestled on top of a blue shirt. Other times it’s a misfire, like Nike’s 2016/2017 third that went with a gradient neon orange look. Although I do love those wilder color choices, there’s something calming and lovely about a color combination that’s often ended up on Roma’s third kits - black background with traditional giallo e rosso accents. Today, with the release of the 2023/2024 third kit, the Giallorossi and Adidas may have released the ne plus ultra of that style.

Simply put, the kit is a beaut. It’s mainly done up in black but with neat additions including Adidas stripes done in the ghiacciolo colorway, sleeves featuring “a guilloché motif inspired by the ornamental elements of the mosaics of Ancient Rome,” a stylized R that was used by the club during the 1970s, and of course, Piero Gratton’s iconic Lupetto. While it does come sponsorless due to the club’s lack of kit sponsor at the moment, you can fork over a couple extra euros to get SPQR plastered on the front - bringing the finished product just a bit closer to what Lorenzo Pellegrini, Paulo Dybala, and Romelu Lukaku will be wearing on the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico.

Here’s the brief note that the Giallorossi and Adidas released in tandem with a series of pictures featuring players from the men’s and women’s teams in the new kit:

“Modernity and diverse influences are the elements which represent the new generations of football fans. It’s a shirt designed for high-level sporting performances while also being a means for fans to express themselves.

“Roma supporters are proud of their club’s history and identity and are keen to show it both within the Olimpico and beyond its confines.”

I’ll keep it level with you: when I saw that this kit had finally been released, I bought it even before I got out of bed — that’s how much of a slam dunk this kit is to me. I will always love the Lupetto, I was missing a black Roma kit in my closet, and the addition of the SPQR “sponsorship” means that even though I’m grimacing at paying $165 for a shirt, I can at least rest assured that I’m buying a timeless addition to my collection. If you’re interested in joining me, I’d suggest you do so quickly. If there’s anything I’ve learned from Roma’s third kit releases in the past, the stock doesn’t typically last very long.