So onto out first team, Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar or as they're better known, KA. They are the second Icelandic team I've made kits for following on from what I have made for KR. I have quite an affinity with Iceland as I kind of went into last time but it's far too long a story to tell here. KA are from the second largest city in Iceland called Akureyri, it's a beautiful little place in the north of the country not many miles outside of the Arctic circle. They're quite a small club with limited success but have won the national league once back in 1989 since then they've struggled to maintain top flight football and currently lie in the country's first division. KA do also have a local rivalry with Þór Akureyri who share the local municipal stadium too as well as competing in the same league. As well as liking the city I also wanted to make kits for quite a small team with a bit of history and success but that no one outside of Iceland had heard of and I think I have chosen the perfect team.
For the home kit I have just used the clubs typical home colours of predominantly yellow with a blue trim. The Icelandic flag features on the back of the shirt above the players name as do the national colours on the socks. The team name also features on the back of the shirt beneath the players number an idea sort of taken from the German Bundesliga, I just think it adds an extra element of identity to the shirts.
The away I have used quite an ususual colour scheme a light slate blue with yellow trim. I chose this colour as it is pretty much the same colour as the skies and the land while I was there so thought it worked well. The yellow is a hangover from the home colours but I realise not it just doesn't work and would have been better off using the blue from the home instead of the yellow.
Now onto Burkina Faso poles apart from Iceland in near enough every aspect. Located in the West of Africa, it is a sub-saharan country and quite a poor one at that. Their football team has also had minimal impact on the world stage never qualifying for a world cup and a best performance of 4th in the African Nations Cup back in 1998. Players of the national team are begininning to penetrate into Europe's top league's now with players such as Jonathan Pitroipa playing in Germany, Charles Kaboré at Olympique Marseille and Yssouf Koné gaining Champions League experience last year with CFR Cluj. Things certainly are looking brighter football wise for the former French colony of Upper Volta as it was formerly known. Currently Burkina Faso are lying in 2nd in their World Cup 2010 group (which also acts as African Nations Cup qualifying) just behind heavyweights Côte d'Ivoire their chances for being at the 2010 World Cup seem pretty slim since being narrowly defeated in Ouagadougou 3-2 by the Ivory Coast, if they can somehow gain a win in the return leg in Abidjan they could yet still be set for a date in South Africa.
For the kit they traditionally play in all green with a red trim and yellow are a tertiary colour following suit with the national flag. I have stripped down the design a bit here to make sure it pretty much all green and striking as most African strips are and hopefully striking enough so that young Burkinabé who see their team play in it will want to follow in their foot steps.
The away I have made all white and personally I prefer this as, yes, it is busier than the home. Accompanying the white are both green and red as well as a dabbing of gold in their for good measure.
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