Football: Fans outraged after Barcelona unveil new checkerboard jersey

Lionel Messi of Barcelona. Photo / Getty

Barcelona's new shirt for next season will be missing its traditional stripe design for the first time in club history – and fans aren't happy about it.

The club's famous blue-and-burgundy colours will be distributed in a checkerboard pattern for the 2019/20 campaign.

The club says that its first-choice uniform used for home matches has always used some form of stripes until now. The shirt will be accompanied with blue shorts.

Fans were quick to voice their disapproval on Twitter, however, after the new kit was revealed on social media with the tagline "Talent Takes Different Shapes".

"Destroying a historic kit," one fan wrote with an angry-faced emoji while another posted, "Horrible!!!".

👕 Our new kit for the 2019/2020 season

💙❤ Talent takes different shapes pic.twitter.com/lhgAH8YX0F

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 3, 2019

Horrible!!! 🤢 pic.twitter.com/vSr1dlJpLb

— Stella 💚 (@Stella_Allertse) June 3, 2019

This is such a disaster.

— Arash Bahmani (@ArashBahmani) June 3, 2019

pic.twitter.com/XOUieOau9d

— Elsie not Elise 💿 (@ElsienotElisee) June 3, 2019

While the new kit didn't receive the warm reception hoped for, club captain Gerard Pique stood by the new look insisting it was "100 per cent Barcelona".

"The kit is something new and exciting,"he said.

"It is even better that the design represents the bond the club has with the supporters and the people who are driving the city forward."

Nike's Nike Football Apparel Senior Design Director Pete Hoppins believed the new design embodied the creative spirit of the city.

"Barcelona is a club with a bold and adventurous philosophy and that resonates throughout the city," he said.

Barcelona are not the only club to fall foul of fan tastes in recent weeks.

Italian champions Juventus released their new kit last month, taking a 'progressive' design that left some supporters fuming.