Rangers’ Europa League final date with Eintracht Frankfurt has Gers fans scrambling to make travel arrangements as they head for Seville from all around the world – but they may have to watch Gio van Bronckhorst’s men in the final as they wear something other than the famous blue jerseys.
With Frankfurt officially the home side at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, they get to wear their home kit in the final in the case of a colour clash, and the Germans’ all-black kit is likely to cause a clash.
UEFA’s Article 55 of the Regulations of the Europa League covers who kit colours in the competition, stating: “For the final, both teams may wear their first choice playing attire. However, if there is a clash, the team designated as the away team must wear alternative colours. The UEFA administration proposes suitably contrasting colours in advance of the match.”
For obvious reasons, Rangers’ away kit is out of the question and the black elements of the third kit – namely the shorts – mean that is unlikely to be an option either, at least not the full kit.
So far this season, whenever Frankfurt has hosted a team who wears blue, the visitors have had to change and UEFA’s rules are such that they determined West Ham couldn’t wear their traditional kits on Thursday night in the semi-final second leg in Germany.
That then rules out the home shirt being worn too and, the only thing that we can really be pretty confident of right now is that Ranger will be wearing white shorts and white socks.
What are Rangers’ kit options in Seville for the Europa League final?
Reading a bit more into UEFA’s kit rules for the Europa League, there isn’t a huge range of options on offer for Rangers in Seville – or to be precise, UEFA as it is the continental governing body who have the final say.
All blue, as often worn in Europe can be immediately discounted, as can the traditional black socks with red tops.
There is a chance that the Light Blues are allowed to wear the home shirt with white shorts and white socks, provided the black and blue aren’t deemed too close of a clash, but it does seem unlikely.
Rangers have had to use similar this season against Dundee United owing to the Tannadice side’s black shorts and socks but the contrast between the shirts is going to be what makes the decision.
That could leave Rangers turning out in the never-before-seen combination of the purple third kit paired with white shorts and white socks.
While there is also the special white ‘Gallant Pioneers’ kit that was launched to mark the 150th anniversary of the club’s formation.
However, it would likely need special approval from UEFA with the regulations setting a deadline of August last year for any kits to be worn to be registered.
There is one last option that could see Rangers turn out in blue, although it is the least likely of the lot, and that is forcing Frankfurt to wear alternative colours.
If that were to happen, however, the likelihood is that UEFA would have both teams in their away kits rather than allowing the ‘away’ team to wear their home colours and forcing the ‘home’ team to change.
Nobody would be happy with that outcome though so it’s probably the one UEFA will go with.
If only Jimmy Bell was here to sort it out.