Football is dominated by strict rules and ever-changing jersey designs since not only a few years (i.e. FC Barcelona, Juventus & others with their 'revolutionary' kits). However, there is one area where teams are staying true to their history and their roots - captain armbands. We take a look at the most iconic captain armbands in soccer. Thanks to NSS Mag for the idea and the examples of captain armbands.
It has to be noted that bespoke captain armbands are somehow is a process of rarefaction: the Premier League and the UEFA and FIFA competitions dictate teams to have standard captain armbands since a few years already, and the Serie A has also started to force all teams to wear the same captain armband. Some exceptions are made for extraordinary cases like the one of Fiorentina which obtained a special exemption for wearing a personalized band in honor of Davide Astori.
#1 - FC Barcelona Captain Armband
Possibly the best-known club captain armband in the world, Barcelona's captains are wearing the Catalan flag. In UEFA competitions, they use two captain armbands as the competition forces all teams to wear a standard captain armband.
#2 - Ajax Captain Armband
Ajax's armband features the powerful Amsterdam flag in black, red and white. In 2015-16, Adidas even included the captain armband on the inner sleeve cuffs of Ajax's home and away uniforms.
#3 - St. Pauli Captain Armband
Hamburg's club St. Pauli is one of the cult teams in Europe. The team's armband is black with the Jolly Roger dyed white, the sign of recognition of all the Pirates, the Kiezkicker's supporters. The theme was adopted in in the 80s after the movement of the club's headquarter in the x-rated zone of the city.
#4 - Germany Captain Armband
Boasting the colors of the country flag, the captain armband of the German national team has been the same for decades. Sometimes it feature the German lettering "Spielführer", which means "captain".
#5 - Athletic Bilbao Captain Armband
There is likely no other team on the planet that has such a string link to its territory as Basque club Athletic Bilbao. They have an unwritten rule whereby the club will only sign players who were born in the Basque Country, or who learned their football skills at a Basque club. Markel Susaeta's armband is coloured white, green and red and reflects the Basque Country's flag pattern.
#6 Bonus - Buffon, Baggio & More
Many players in the world of football are known for wearing bespoke unique captain armbands, including Buffon, Baggio, Asamoah Gyan and many more.
Do you know any other teams have notable captain am bands? Comment below.