Reimagining Top Romanian Football Kits
In my previous post, I wrote how Romanian teams in the 2024–2025 season heavily rely on standard templates provided by sports manufacturers or third-party suppliers. This dependence on generic designs prevents Romanian clubs from showcasing their unique heritage, fan culture, and distinctiveness through their kits.
Although many teams lack specific design elements in their logos that could be featured on their kits, in this post, I plan to reimagine some of the top Romanian teams’ kits with a “throwback vibe”. I’ll recreate their kits based on eras when they were particularly successful and explain my design choices.
FCSB — throwback to the UEFA Cup semi-final against Middlesborough
In the spring of 2006, Bucharest buzzed with a fervor unseen in years. Steaua Bucharest (now known as FCSB), Romania’s most storied football club, had defied expectations to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals. The entire city seemed to be draped in the team’s red and blue colors, as fans, young and old, gathered in anticipation of the historic match against Middlesbrough FC.
Ghencea Stadium was full that night, Steaua dominated the first leg securing a 1–0 win. The second leg in England saw Steaua take a 2–0 lead, raising hopes of a final. However, Middlesbrough’s comeback was relentless, culminating in a 4–3 aggregate victory with a last-minute goal from Massimo Maccarone. Stories are still told about that game in the media, in the press, among friends. Passed through generations of fans.
They were using a Nike Toal 90 template shirt. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But those shirts are very rare these days to find and add them to your collection, if you are a collector like me. Here’s my take on redesigning the Steaua Bucharest kit for our time:
I positioned the new crest on the chest and opted for a darker blue, closer to navy, instead of the vivid blue of the old kits. Inspired by Nike’s recent designs, like the Netherlands Euro 2024 shirt, I added small details on the cuffs. The neck collar remains red, with stripes across the chest and Total90-style thick lines on the sides, reminiscent of the original shirt from that season.
Working with sponsors can be tricky since most brands prefer their logos in their own colors or monochrome for brand awareness. However, I chose yellow as the main accent color, disregarding this constraint. The current FCSB shirt has an oddly placed sleeve sponsor, so I relocated it to the back, just below a small star detail I added.
To match the exact shirts I would have needed to use for Nike logo / Sponsor / Player name / accent details on cuffs the color white but that would be a shirt with red and white, the colors of their arch rivals Dinamo Bucharest.
These are this season FCSB shirts:
Dinamo Bucharest-throwback to “Liberec Wonder”
Moving from FCSB to Dinamo Bucharest, we shift our focus to the most iconic team in Romanian top-tier football. Known as the "Red Dogs," Dinamo has alternated between all-white, all-red, and striped kits, with many of their greatest achievements coming in these colors.
However, there’s one remarkable triumph that stands out, known as the “Liberec Wonder” where none of those kits colors I mentioned were used.
In the summer of 2009, Dinamo faced a challenge in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. After a crushing 3–0 defeat at home against FC Slovan Liberec in the first leg, the odds seemed impossible for qualification to group stage.
Traveling to the Czech Republic, Dinamo’s fans filled the Stadion u Nisy. From the start, Dinamo played with fierce determination. Marius Niculae’s goal in the 18th minute ignited belief, and Gabriel Torje’s strike just before halftime made it 2–0. The impossible seemed within reach.
In the 85th minute, Andrei Cristea delivered the third goal, leveling the aggregate score to 3–3 and sending the match into extra time. The tension was palpable, but neither team could break the deadlock, leading to a penalty shootout.
Dinamo’s goalkeeper, Emilian Dolha, made a vital save, and the players converted their penalties with precision. When the final whistle blew, Dinamo had triumphed in the shootout, completing a miraculous comeback, one of the most iconic ones in Romanian football.
The “Liberec Wonder” remains a testament to Dinamo Bucharest’s indomitable spirit. It stands as a powerful reminder that in football, miracles can indeed happen. Stories of that game are still told, passed down through generations of fans, much like the legendary Steaua vs. Middlesbrough match.
Same as Steaua at Middlesborough, Dinamo used a Nike template shirt. But black and yellow.
Here’s my take on redesigning Dinamo Bucharest kit for our time:
I kept the traditional red and white stripes but added a twist with touches of black and a hint of yellow to remind fans and players of that unforgettable night in the Czech Republic. Inspired by Macron’s work on Dinamo Bucharest’s 2017–2018 shirts, which I wrote about in a previous blog post, I based my design on those shirts.
The only decision I wrestled with was whether to use a polo collar or a simple crew neck. To stay true to the Nike templates used at Liberec, I opted for a polo collar. My unique touch was adding laurel design elements to the cuffs, inspired by the “Peluza Cătălin Hîldan” logo, which has a laurel component. Peluza Cătălin Hîldan is a dedicated supporters’ group named after the late Cătălin Hîldan, a beloved player who tragically died at 24. Known as “The Captain,” his passion and leadership left a lasting impact. This group honors his memory with passionate support, vibrant atmospheres, chants, banners, and displays, continuing his legacy of dedication to the club. Adding the laurel element to the cuffs strengthens the bond between the fans and the club.
One ongoing issue with Dinamo’s shirts in recent years is the overwhelming number of sponsors — sometimes up to 5–6 per shirt — often applied in clashing colors. This detracts from Dinamo’s classic monochromatic aesthetic.
These are this season Dinamo Bucharest shirts:
Universitatea Craiova —throwback to the big sponsors era
Moving from Dinamo to their provincial arch-rivals, Universitatea Craiova, known as the "White-Blues", it is a team that has alternated between all-white, all-blue, and striped kits. Many of their greatest achievements, much like Dinamo's, have come in these classic colors.
Universitatea Craiova, like many of Romanian football teams, has relied on kit templates most of the time. A confirmed story tells of legendary Gheorghe Popescu, who, after moving to PSV in the Netherlands, bought and sent Umbro kits to his former boyhood club, Craiova. In the late 1990s, Craiova often played at Ion Oblemenco Stadium in kits from three different manufacturers in only one season! That was the norm.
Prominent sponsors like Tomi, Golden Brau, and Vincom were always featured on that era, late 90s — early 00s, and they are the only iconic throwback vibe to Craiova kits.
In recent years, Craiova has played it safe with their kit choices, sticking to their traditional all-white, all-blue, and striped designs. A personalized shirt attempt in the 2017–2018 season, featuring Brâncuși’s Endless Column on their Joma shirts, was visually heavy and not well-received.
Despite their safe choices, one style remains untried: blue and white halves. The halves kits were used only once in the 2007–2008 season as seen in the picture below.
I’m curious to see if Craiova could pull off this twist again, adding a fresh yet traditional look . My design will be around creating visual hierachy with the main club sponsor color. As Craiova never stood as having any pelicular kits designs in the past but rather people remind the kits based on the chest sponsor.
Here’s my take on redesigning Universitatea Craiova kit for our time:
I kept their sponsor’s original color and made it an accent on the cuffs, similar to what I did with Dinamo’s design. Adding a new color to a football shirt with such history and heritage is a bold move, and fans might not welcome it at first. However, blue and orange are complementary colors. They sit opposite each other on the color wheel, creating a strong contrast when used together. This contrast can be visually striking, making the colors stand out.
Looking at Oltenia region coat of arms, where the team is based, I see a red-orange color scheme. So I do not see any reason of not bringing those colors to the shirt especially that it can work with the sponsor logo color. I adjusted the coat of arms color more towards to a orange color and I did placed it on the back of the shirt with the text “Eterna Terra Nova” — the team’s anthem name.
In design, complementary colors often work well because they balance each other, providing both vibrancy and harmony. When used in the right proportions, blue and orange can create a dynamic and engaging look, perfect for sports kits and other visually impactful designs.
I did also added a repetitive pattern of triangles on the blue half of the shirt, this is due to the triangle style text that appears in the logo at “A” and “V”.
These are this season Universtitatea Craiova shirts:
Rapid Bucharest-throwback to 70s
Moving from Craiova to one of their arch-rivals, Rapid Bucharest, known as the “White-Burgundies”, it is a team that has always had on their kits these two colors: white and burgundy. The first equipment was made out of burgundy fabric back in 1923 when the team was founded.
Like all of Romanian league teams, Rapid Bucharest, has relied also on kit templates most of the times. In 2001, Rapid’s current crest was chosen. It turned out that the source of inspiration is, it seems, an emblematic club of Europe, namely Benfica Lisbon, the most successful club in Portugal, on whose emblem appears a legendary eagle. Therefore the eagle does not resonate much with the club heritage and history. Could be one of the reason the eagle has not been appeared much as a design element part of the kits.
One ongoing issue with Rapid shirts in recent years is the overwhelming number of sponsors — sometimes up to 5–6 per kit— often applied in clashing colors. This detracts from Rapid classic monochromatic aesthetic and makes it heavy visually. My approach would be to see if I can minimalise that and put in focus the club badge.
Here’s my take on redesigning Rapid kit for our time:
To avoid the cluttered look caused by having Kappa and other sponsors in white, I opted for a darker burgundy color for the brand manufacturer. I moved the badge to the center and maintained a monochromatic scheme to evoke a retro feel.
In recent years, Rapid’s kits have been half white and half burgundy. For my design, I chose a full burgundy kit to honor the 2003 season, the last time Rapid won the championship. I added a big white collar to echo the classic kits from the 70s era.
In the previous season, the Rapid badge often got lost due to the placement of sponsors. By using less white on the kits, I aimed to bring more focus to the badge, ensuring it stands out.
These are this season Rapid shirts:
Final words
Designing the upcoming Romania National Team shirts, set for release next year, opened my apetite in exploring football shirt design further.
In my previous blog post, I discussed how Romanian teams for the 2024–2025 season often rely on standard templates from sports manufacturers or third-party suppliers. This dependence on generic designs prevents them from showcasing their unique heritage and fan culture.
While many teams lack distinctive elements in their logos for their kits, I reimagined some top Romanian teams’ kits with a “throwback vibe”, inspired by their most successful eras.
What do you think?
I post stories about Romania match worn shirts on Instagram. If you want to get in touch with me you can find me there as onromanianfootball:
https://www.instagram.com/onromanianfootball/
