Hellas Verona 1987-89 Home Hummel RICOH vintage shirt

Hellas Verona 1987-89 — The Hummel jersey of a club that shook Italy

In 1985, Hellas Verona lifted the Scudetto, to the disbelief of the peninsula. This 1987-89 Hummel home jersey with the RICOH sponsor is a direct continuation of that golden era — the worn remnant of a provincial club that dared to challenge the giants. A piece of Serie A that is no longer easy to find.

Jersey details

Season: 1987-1989
Club: Hellas Verona FC
Type: Home
Manufacturer: Hummel
Sponsor: RICOH
Condition: 8/10
State: LITTLE DIRTY, LITTLE PULLS, RENOVATED — authentic wear of a vintage worn jersey, with slight traces of life and small snags that bear witness to its real age

What this jersey represents

At the end of the 80s, Hellas Verona still lived in the aura of its 1985 Italian championship title — the biggest shock in the history of modern calcio, won by a small northeastern city against the Turin and Milan behemoths. The 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons corresponded to a period of staying in the top flight, a Serie A that was still very competitive with Juventus, Inter, and AC Milan starting to build its future dominance.

Wearing this jersey at the time was a display of pride for a club that had nothing to envy anyone. The Bentegodi, Verona's mythical stadium, still roared with the memory of that unexpected title. And even if the results were more modest during these two seasons, the club's identity remained intact, etched into the very fabric of this Hummel jersey.

Moments etched in this jersey

The direct legacy of the 1985 Scudetto
This jersey was worn only two years after the most improbable title in Italian football. Coach Osvaldo Bagnoli had left the club after his triumph, but the soul of the group was still there — that pride of Verona which had proven that a city without an international star could dominate Italy.

Hummel on Italian fields — a rarity in itself
The Danish brand Hummel was not common in Serie A during this period. Seeing it associated with Hellas Verona today makes it a unique collector's item, far from the ubiquitous Adidas or Umbro that dressed most Italian clubs. This choice of equipment manufacturer reflects the atypical positioning of the Veronese club on the national scene.

RICOH, a sponsor rooted in its era
The RICOH logo — Japanese giant of reprography and office equipment — on the chest of this jersey is a perfect time capsule of the 80s. Japanese sponsors were then invading European jerseys, a sign of economic globalization that was beginning to permeate football. This detail alone places the jersey in its time with watchmaker's precision.

Authentic vs Replica

A vintage authentic jersey has nothing to do with a modern reproduction. It is a garment that actually existed on changing room benches, in stadium aisles or in the hands of a fan from that era. The materials, labels, prints, everything speaks of a manufacture from another era — before football became a large-scale merchandising industry.

This one shows a condition 8/10 with some slight traces — a little dirt, small snags, but it has been renovated. This is not a defect, it is its history. A perfectly new jersey out of a warehouse in 1988 would be suspect. Here, you have before your eyes an authentic object that has lived, and which still looks very good after more than 35 years of existence.

Vintage sizing guide

Be careful, vintage sizes from the 80s do not at all correspond to current standards. A Medium from 1987-89 generally fits like a modern Small, sometimes even like an XS depending on body types. The cuts of the time were more fitted, designed to be worn close to the body without the ample volumes we know today.

Before ordering, take a tape measure and measure the width of your shoulders as well as the chest circumference of one of your worn t-shirts. Then compare with the precise product measurements indicated on the sheet. This is the only reliable way to avoid unpleasant surprises with a vintage collector's jersey that cannot be returned to the local sports department.

Why have it in your collection

The vintage Hellas Verona jerseys from the 80s are the Holy Grail for any serious retro calcio enthusiast. The club experienced a truly unique window of glory in the history of European football, and items testifying to this period are becoming increasingly rare on the market. Add to that the equipment manufacturer Hummel — not exactly common in Italian collectors' displays — and you get a piece apart.

In condition 8/10 with renovation, there are really not many in this state on the secondary market. Most jerseys from this era have aged poorly — deformed, faded, without labels. This one has held up. For a collector, this is exactly the type of piece you regret having missed six months after seeing it.

To go further

• Hellas Verona FC - Wikipedia
• Football Kit Archive - Kit history
• UEFA - European football

If you know what Verona's 1985 Scudetto represents in the history of football, you already know that this jersey deserves its place in a true collection. The rest is up to you.