Macron have unveiled eight all-black away kits for the Canadian Premier League’s delayed second season.
The Italian brand holds a league-wide deal supplying all 8 CPL clubs with kit.
Their 2020 “City Edition” strips take inspiration from each clubs’ home town, weaving depictions of local landmarks onto the all-black designs.
The 2020 season has been delayed by the impact of Covid-19 but will now be played in a short tournament format between August and September.
The behind closed doors “Island Games” will be held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with the 8 teams playing each other once in an opening group stage, before the top 4 move into a second round pool, ahead of the best 2 sides battling it out for the North Star Shield in a winner takes all final.
The brilliant, bespoke Macron designs succeed by focusing on individual identities for each club and their uniforms.
Here’s a run-down of the 8 new shirts which may just turn into a lesson in Canadian geography:
Atlético Ottawa
Debutants Atléti can’t wait to start life in the CPL after revealing their home shirts back in May.
Whereas that design was faithful to parent club Atlético Madrid’s Rojiblanco stripes, their first away kit is a tribute to Ottawa’s Peace Tower from Parliament Hill.
Sadly, Ottawa will need to wait a little while yet before football returns to the Canadian capital itself.
Cavalry FC
As Slovenia will testify, the sight of mountains on a football kit is nothing new, but Macron’s bold tribute to the Rockies is our pick of this bunch of CPL jerseys.
Cavalry come from the city of Calgary and were runners-up in the inaugural CPL season, losing out to Forge FC in the grand finale.
The red light rising rising over the Rocky Mountains may have looked even better if pushed up to the chest, but we won’t argue with what amounts to the peak of Macron’s 8 designs.
FC Edmonton
The Eddies’ 2020 shirt looks as if a giant wave is about to consume Alberta’s Legislature Building.
The splattered blue ink effect is a dramatic finish to the design and looks brilliant against the black backdrop.
Forge FC
The 2019 champions from Hamilton, Ontario return with another winning design thanks to that fiery spark orange accent colour.
Doughnut merchants Tim Hortons, also founded in Hamilton, bring local backing to the design which will carry a gold “Champions” badge on the right hand sleeve.
This City Edition shirt is a tribute to the Gore Park fountain – a hub for the port city’s vibrant arts scene.
HFX Wanderers
The boys from Halifax, Nova Scotia feature the same MacDonald Bridge from their crest across the bottom of their shirts.
The suspension bridge in cool blue sets off nicely against the black for a combination that Haligonians (that’s people from Halifax of course) can be rightly proud of.
Pacific FC
From the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Pacific FC’s shirts are blessed with an individual purple and aqua-blue colour scheme, along with a sponsor that just looks great on a football shirt.
That little oceanic tribute stretching up the left side of the shirt is the Fisgard Lighthouse, one of the first sights seafarers would see of Canada’s West Coast.
Valour FC
Valour hail from the city of Winnipeg and their name is a tribute to the brave men of Manitoba who fought in the First World War.
Their 2020 away shirt is a representation of Winnipeg’s skyline with the Provencher Bridge, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and Fort Garry Place featuring on a classy black and gold top with red details.
York9 FC
York9 take their name from the nine districts that comprise the York Region close to Toronto.
The Nine Stripes’ city strip features a map showing the location of each of the municipalities, with the region’s northern border highlighted in green.
So now you know your Markham from your Whitchurch Stouffville.
The luminous green flashes create one of the more eye-catching shirts on show.
The Canadian Premier League kicks off on Thursday August 13th.
Which of Macron’s 2020 Canadian Premier League away shirts is your favourite?
Sartorial Soccer 