Atlético Unveil Brand New 2015/16 Home Kit

Atlético Madrid unveiled the shirt the team would wear for the 2015-16 season, and with it a new name across the chest. Plus500, a multinational company specialising in the online trading of CFDs, became the new main shirt sponsor, replacing the Azerbaijan partnership that had drawn plenty of controversy in the preceding years.

The design looked backwards on purpose. The start of the 2015-16 campaign marked 20 years since the “Doblete”, the league and cup double of 1995-96, and the new home jersey was presented as a tribute to that side. It featured five red stripes on white, just like the shirt worn two decades earlier, with a blue stripe outline reaching down to the shorts. That double-winning season remains one of the defining chapters in the club’s history, and both trophies from it are listed in the honours section.

There was one genuine first. For the first time in Atlético’s history, the back of the shirt was completely red. Recent shirts had carried a red square behind the numbers, a concession to visibility rules in European competition; the new design did away with the patch and committed to a fully red back.

The shirt went on sale at the Vicente Calderón club shop from midnight on the day of the unveiling. The stadium itself, then still the club’s home on the Manzanares, has its own page in the stadium section.

The sponsor change was the part that generated the most discussion among supporters. Reaction to the Azerbaijan deal had long been divided, with critics pointing at the country’s record and others noting that state-linked sponsorship was hardly unique to Atlético among Europe’s big clubs. The reported value of the new Plus500 agreement drew scepticism of its own from some fans, as did the fit and feel of the new shirts. Kit launches at Atlético rarely pass without argument, and this one, tying a fresh commercial era to the most celebrated season of the modern club, was no exception. More news from that summer is collected in the archive.