Recreativo de Huelva celebrated their 130th anniversary this week, with a special heritage version of their blue and white striped shirts.
Football came to Spain through the Andalusian port of Huelva, with the country’s first recorded sighting of the game taking place in the city in 1874.
Recreativo de Huelva were founded in 1889 by British workers at the nearby Rio Tinto copper mines making Recre Spain’s oldest football club.
El Decano (The Dean) now play in the Segunda División B, Spanish football’s third tier, counting Sevilla’s B team among their rivals, but as recently as 2005-06, Recreativo beat Real Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu on their way to finishing 8th in La Liga.
Adidas usually kit-out El Abuelo (The Grandfather) of Spanish football but these classically simple shirts don’t pay reference to the three stripes.
Legend has it the modern day outfit inherit their blue and white stripes from a set of shirts chosen on a shopping trip to London in 1909.
Recreativo’s 1889-2019 anniversary shirts keep that vintage feel, bringing an antique drawstring collar to the neckline as was the footballing fashion more than a century ago.
It’s not clear if the special edition shirts will see action or not, but the oldest club in Spanish football are celebrating their birthday in style.
For more on the history of Recreativo de Huelva, check out this story from our friends The Outside Write on the club’s foundation and survival here.
Thanks go to Andrew Gillan of Mis Viajes en Fútbol for making us aware of this wonderful shirt!
Sartorial Soccer 