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Sassuolo have enjoyed a fine start to the season in Serie A. Unbeaten in 6 and scoring 4 goals in half of those games, the Emilia Romagna side defeated Rino Gattuso’s illustrious Napoli even without their two most important players; striker Francesco Caputo and club captain Domenico Berardi. If they maintain their form this could be a historic season for a club also celebrating its centenary year.

Regardless of results on the pitch a centenary season is always an occasion worth marking. An opportunity to celebrate the traditions and history of the club. Sassuolo have done this by temporarily redesigning the club crest which sits proudly on their home and away shirts for this season. This has been achieved while leaving the design of the shirts themselves true to tradition. The Neroverdi, nicknamed so for the green and black stripes that adorn their home strip, have thrown gold into the club’s palette; changing the outline and background of their crest and inserting a large ‘100’ that sits below the club name. The green and black stripes are still present, just as they were in 1920 – a tactful move from Puma to leave an evergreen design relatively untouched for a landmark occasion. After all, we all love the classics and to see Sassuolo take to the field in their ubiquitous green and black stripes emblazoned with Mapei, a sponsor that’s now synonymous with the most successful years in their history, is always going to be a crowd pleaser. The away shirt also takes relatively few risks and stays true to the traditional colourway; predominantly white with a smart green strip across the chest with matching cuffs. The new club badge is on display once more and the sponsor retains the gold outline also present on the home shirt.

Sassuolo’s early season form will do no harm to quell any affection fans have for these shirts. The club obviously anticipate higher demand than usual as it’s not possible to simply order from the club store, instead you must register with the club in order to confirm a purchase. This is also not the first centenary offering from Puma for a club in Serie A. They famously designed Lazio’s centenary shirt in 1999 that also featured a specially designed club badge. While the Sassuolo designs appear modest, they offer crisp, clean kits that perfectly respect the history of a club transformed in the last few decades from modest roots to the upper echelons of Serie A.