Move over, Roy of the Rovers – Tintin is after your footballing crown! Earlier this week, at the Hergé Museum, adidas and the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) proudly presented the new home and away kits for Belgium’s national teams, inspired by the world famous comic character.
Look out for the new kit when Belgium play England in a friendly match, later this month, and was unveiled on Thursday at the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve.
The new home kit features a luxurious dark shade of red, stand-out gold details and a fashion inspired graphic pattern that has been embossed in the jersey. The away kit is a homage to Belgian cartoonist Hergé and the comic character he is most known for: Tintin. Fitting the outfit Tintin was most featured in, the away kit for the Belgian Red Devils features a blue jersey with characteristic white collar, brown shorts, and white socks.
The home and away jersey share a fashion inspired graphic pattern that has been embossed in the jersey, giving it a luxurious look, and making the jerseys’ appearance slightly different as light hits it. In the pattern of the home jersey the crown of RBFA’s crest is featured repeatedly, with 1895 featured in gold as design detail in the neck of the jersey. For the away jersey, the opposite logic has been followed, with 1895 on the jersey and gold crown in the neck.
This is the third Belgian away kit in recent history that is a tribute to something, or someone with roots in Belgium and recognised and celebrated around the world. The UEFA EURO 2016 away kit was a playful salute to the Belgian cycling heritage, a sport in which Belgium has had and continues to have great international success. The FIFA World Cup 2022 away jersey and capsule collection was inspired by Tomorrowland’s famous fireworks, bridging the worlds of sport, music, and entertainment.
It is now time for Hergé and Tintin, who practiced many sports during his adventures, to be seen in matches of the Belgian Red Devils.
“As a big Tintin fan, I am delighted that our Red Devils will be conquering Europe in a jersey based on one of Belgium’s greatest heroes,” commented Piet Vandendriessche, Executive Director of the Belgian Union. “We are thrilled to pay homage to a true global icon: Hergé. He not only captured my heart and my mind growing up, but that of so many generations. And that is exactly what the Red Devils but also the Red Flames are also trying to achieve. Hopefully Tintin will give them the inspiration to put up great performances, starting this summer in Germany.”
The home kit will be worn by all Belgian national teams from Saturday 23rd March onwards, when the Belgian Red Devils play Ireland. The Belgian Red Devils will debut the away kit in the friendly match against England, on Tuesday, 26th March.
Both kits will also be worn by the Belgian Red Devils at UEFA EURO 2024, alongside a new training wear, staff wear and travel wear range. The home kit comes with black/gold shorts, red/gold socks, and gold player embellishment. The away kit features a brown/white shorts, white/gold socks, and white player embellishment. The team also have white/gold shorts and brown/white socks as alternatives.
The Adventures of Tintin is a world-famous comic series, created from 1929 onwards by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi (1907-1983). The series is composed of 24 albums, from the first album Tintin in the Land of the Soviets in 1930 to the last one, Tintin and the Alph-Art (unfinished album).
Main character Tintin is much more than the intrepid hero whose cause is just and whose heart is pure: he is the center piece of a complex universe where we are placed face to face with our own reality. Characters such as Captain Haddock, professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, or Thompson & Thomson, are lending colour, depth, and perspective to his world. Tintin: a unique palette of qualities, combining breathtaking tales, clear line graphics, and themes of universal appeal.
Reprinted and published in ever greater numbers, the books are a source of inspiration for artists, writers, producers, and directors. Tintin personifies all of the universal values that are a mirror to everyone’s own aspirations. Eternally youthful, the indefatigable reporter continues to conquer the world with unflagging, never-failing vitality.
Hergé’s legacy lives on in the Hergé Museum, which is in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and was designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc.
Here in Britain, we have our own football hero, of course – Roy of the Rovers, who made his debut in Tiger in 1954, the creation of Frank S. Pepper and artist Joe Colquhoun. Many a footballing event has had a “Roy of the Rovers” moment since.
Surely England must respond quickly, with its own Roy of the Rovers kit, or fans could head to RoyoftheRovers.com and buy a replica ROTR shirt in time for the big match?
That, or perhaps cut a new deal with Nike, who, former Roy of the Rovers editor Barrie Tomlinson reminds us, previously created a Melchester Rovers kit…
• All new adidas RBFA product is available now, on adidas.be, shop.rbfa.be and through selected adidas stores and retailers around the world
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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John – Have to say that this is stretching credibility a bit. There is no way that, without prompting, even the staunchest Herge fan is going to utter ‘Ooh, Tintin’, when the guys from Belgique run out in this nonetheless pleasant strip.
A big difference between Melchester and TT is that Roy has had several artists and writers, whereas the Herge influence in Tintin has been unshakeable for many years (although I’ve noted an homage or two, lately: not sure they’re official).
Best – Dave
Speaking personally, there are several British football comic characters who are better known for playing the beautiful game than Tintin, but you may be underestimating his “reach” in Belgium, which is pretty pervasive. And let’s be honest, we have seen British comic characters turn up in publicity campaigns for things they’re not necessarily associated with in their own comic strips down the years!