‘Embarrassing’: Fans rage as Barcelona unveil new 'checkerboard' shirt offering

Spanish football giants Barcelona have officially presented their new home kit for next season – and it’s safe to say the offering that will be worn by Lionel Messi and Co. has met with a mixed response online.

The mighty Blaugrana revealed the kit on Twitter, proudly showing off a new design featuring “checkerboard print” for the first time in the club’s illustrious history – dispensing with the traditional vertical stripes in various forms.  

The kit is made by US sportswear giant Nike and will be donned by men’s stars such as Messi, Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique, but also have the same look for the club’s women’s team as well as basketball, handball and futsal teams. 

Unveiling the new design, the club ran with the tagline “Talent Takes Different Shapes.”

“The new design takes its inspiration from the city of Barcelona by incorporating the characteristic blocks of its Eixample district, home to some of the most emblematic buildings designed by the great architect Antoni Gaudí,” the club explained on its website.

But the Twitterati – and football fans in particular – can be a fastidious bunch, and many did not hold back in giving the club a dressing-down for dispensing with what was a widely loved previous style.

Some  accused the club of “destroying a historic kit,” while others simply branded the offering “embarrassing.”

It also unleashed a meme frenzy from fans desperate for the club to reverse the seemingly irreversible and replace the kit with another design before the start of the season.

Others noted the distinct similarity in pattern to the kit worn by World Cup finalists Croatia – who have the same checkerboard pattern, albeit in red and white.

Barcelona are not the only giant of European football to fall foul of fan tastes in recent weeks.

Italian champions Juventus released their new kit in May, taking a “progressive” design that left some supporters fuming.  

Should you be among those who actually like Barca’s new jerseys, you’ll be able to get your hands on one from June 4.