The Friulian sense of pride and community that has been exported around the globe features heavily on Udinese Calcio’s Away Kit for the 2020/21 season by Macron, with the names of cities with Fogolâr Furlan associations listed on the shirt.
The new Away Kit is sky blue with navy blue sleeves and has a Mandarin collar with ribbed details. It boasts a whole host of historical references – starting with all the cities around the world where there is a Fogolâr Furlan association being listed on a gold stripe running diagonally across the shirt. Meanwhile the eagle of the Friuli coat of arms is embossed, tone on tone, on the bottom right and on the right sleeve is a sublimated tone-on-tone print of the year the Patrie dal Friûl (Patriarchate of Friuli) was established: 1077.
The inside of the back of the neck is customised with a black-and-white banded label featuring the club crest and the words ‘I PRIMI BIANCONERI D’ITALIA’ (The first Bianconeri of Italy) while the outside has the motto ‘Alè Udin’ is printed in yellow.
The chest features Macron’s logo – the Macron Hero – on the right, with the Udinese Calcio crest on the left.
Blue shorts with white sides and blue socks with two horizontal lines (one yellow, one red) at the top complete the kit. The Macron Hero appears on the front of the socks with ‘U.C. 1896’ on the back.
As part of the kit launch, Udinese Calcio and Macron sent a commemorative package with a shirt and a message from Gianpaolo Pozzo to all the 140-plus Fogolârs Furlans across five continents, who then unveiled the 2020/21 Udinese Calcio Away Kit on their official social-media channels.
“Being part of a community with your heart and mind is something to be proud of and that’s what those who represent the Patriarchate of Friuli around the world feel,” said Udinese general manager Franco Collavino. “With the launch of this highly evocative shirt today, Udinese have shown once again how proud we are to represent Friuli. For some time we had been working on the idea of doing something to involve all the Fogolârs Furlans, to strengthen the historic, natural bond Friulians have had with Udinese Calcio since 1896. We have always felt a sense of responsibility in representing our homeland around the world and that is why we wanted a shirt like this, which is even more significant in a year like this.”
Loris Basso, president of the Friuli in the World organisation, added: “This is a great opportunity to strengthen the Friulian identity around the world and to remember the tastes, smells and traditions of our homeland, as well as the colours: blue and gold, besides black and white. This initiative is a chance for those who departed Friuli a long time ago to get the new generations involved. Today, we and Udinese Calcio want to thank all those who have left an indelible trace of Friulian honesty and respect across the globe. May ‘Fuarce Udin’ be sung out loud in Fogolârs Furlans around the planet. On behalf of all Friulans, a heartfelt thank you.”
Thanks to the club’s partnership with PromoTurismoFVG, Udinese fans around the world can also take part in a competition to win a week-long trip for two to Friuli Venezia Giulia, with travel and accommodation included, as well as ten 2020/21 Home Kits and ten 2020/21 Away Kits. To enter, just go to www.udinese.it.
“Udinese Calcio help to promote the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and with this latest move they have shown how much they care about our territory,” said Sergio Emidio Bini, regional councillor for Tourism. “PromoTurismoFVG, together with Lignano Sabbiadoro, Grado and Prosciutto di San Daniele – partnering Udinese for the second season – naturally wanted to get involved in this initiative and bring together other great ambassadors for our territory, like the Fogolârs Furlans around the world. Now more than ever, it is essential that we work together to promote and increase the visibility of our tourist attractions.”
“We always say that creating a shirt means being a tailor of history and emotions,” commented Gianluca Pavanello, CEO of Udinese technical sponsor Macron. “In this case we’re even prouder than usual at having created a jersey that besides representing the club also represents the pride of belonging to a territory such as Friuli. This shirt crosses borders and carries a message of brotherhood and unity. And if it provides an extra incentive to those who wear it on the pitch, it will make the Friulian fans scattered around the globe feel even closer to the land where their roots lie.”
The new Udinese kits are available for purchase at the Dacia Arena Macron Store, Macron Stores, authorised Macron vendors and online at store.udinese.it and macron.com.
The new Udinese Calcio away kit – like all of the clothing range designed for the club – features Macron’s new logo, the Macron Hero. The logo represents a human figure and is inspired by the blade of a javelin, which by definition is fast and dynamic. The Macron Hero symbolises the joy felt at the end of a challenge, the achievement of a goal. Effort, passion and determination. Macron’s philosophy is “Work hard. Play harder”.