Once again, SMBD and PSS collaborated together to create this strong shirt that reminds us of Ajax Amsterdam's iconic attire
To say that the 2021 season has been quite underwhelming for PSS Sleman would be an understatement. Despite starting off 2021 brightly - by finishing third in the 2021 Menpora Cup - things tailed off quite significantly in the league proper. The Super Elja are currently 15th in the 18-team Liga 1, hovering just above the relegation zone with only two wins to their name so far this season. PSS were also under siege by their own supporters thanks to their abysmal league form - the club's fanbase called for the heads of three figures, head coach Dejan Antonic, full-back Arthur Irawan, and general director Marco Gracia Paulo. The three were seen as the people most responsible for PSS' decline this season, with allegations that an underperforming Arthur was often selected by Dejan in his starting lineup due to the fact that Arthur's mother is one of the stakeholders at PSS, while Marco did nothing to help his cause after threatening to relocate PSS should the club decide to sack Dejan from his post - something that naturally angered not only the PSS faithful but everyone with a working pulse and a sane mind.
So far by the time of writing, Marco has already resigned from his post at PSS, while Arthur is poised to follow Marco out of the club as well, with the controversial and notoriously out-of-form player being linked with both Persija Jakarta and Persik Kediri.
But we're here not to discuss the #DejanOut #MarcoOut #ArthurOut and #SavePSS campaign, we're here to talk about football shirts. Working alongside long-time apparel supplier SMBD (aka Sembada), PSS once again produced a strong showing for 2021/22, releasing three outfield shirts and two goalkeeper shirts for the season. I myself managed to cop my favorite out of the five - their white-and-green away shirt. Let's get right into the second episode of #Project18!
A Baby of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Bunch
Founded on May 20th 1976, PSS is the youngest one out of the three main teams that represent the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesian football - PSIM Yogyakarta was founded in 1929 while Persiba Bantul was founded in 1967. Together alongside Persikup Kulon Progo and Persig Gunungkidul - who were founded around the same time as PSS - the quintet were the footballing representatives of Yogyakarta's five regions, consisting of the city of Yogyakarta (PSIM) and the surrounding regencies of Bantul (Persiba), Sleman (PSS), Kulon Progo (Persikup) and Gunungkidul (Persig).
Apart from competing in the amateur top-flight league Perserikatan, not much was known about PSS' early days, with the club only arriving in the modern incarnation of the Indonesian top-flight - the Liga Indonesia Premier Division - in 2000. By then they were the only representative from the Special Region of Yogyakarta in the top-flight, following PSIM's relegation in the same year. And that enabled the baby of the bunch to slowly but surely assume themselves as Yogyakarta's premier football team.
PSIM's promotion in 2006 managed to spice things up a little, but much to the disappointment of everyone both PSIM and PSS were placed in separate groups in that season's Liga Indonesia Premier Division. The season was then interrupted by tragedy, as a powerful 5,9 SR earthquake struck the Special Region of Yogyakarta on May 27th, 2006. Both PSS and PSIM were forced to resign from the league, but both the league operators and the Football Federation of Indonesia (PSSI) were generous enough to allow the two to retain their places in the top flight next season, thus abolishing relegation altogether.
Both PSS and PSIM missed out on the chance to qualify for the Indonesia Super League, a brand-new, fully-professionalized top-flight league, at the end of the 2007 season, however their disappointments were somewhat abated by the arrival of Persiba Bantul in the Premier Division. The three Yogyakarta-based teams were drawn into the same group in the 2008/09 season and thus began a period of all three Special Region of Yogyakarta teams vying together for a spot in the Indonesian top-flight.
And while Persiba Bantul managed to reach the promised land in 2010, PSS were consistently touted as promotion favorites season after season. They did win the Indonesian second-tier in 2013, but adjustments to Indonesian football that were done to repair the damage inflicted by a 2-year long dualism conflict meant that the Super Elja were denied promotion, and they had to wait for five more years in order to them to finally reach that promised land.
Despite spending a good chunk of their recent history in the Indonesian second-tier, PSS were world-renowned due to their loyal and creative fans, which was even acknowledged by international media such as Goal and Copa90. The Brigata Curva Sud 1976 (BCS) are arguably one of the most iconic supporters' groups not only in Indonesia, but also in Southeast Asia and Asia as a whole, and this was done thanks to their ingenious ways of expressing their support and admiration towards PSS.
Taking inspiration from their Italian counterparts, the BCS ultras crafted numerous chants and coreographies that were put on display in each matchday, some of whom topping the other in terms of scale. The BCS also knew how to put up a light show with their pyro and flare displays and they also have a policy to focus their chants in motivating their team, giving no tolerance to any chants that insult the opposition, thus making them one of the friendliest ultras in Indonesia.
Just the BCS doing what they do best
And the BCS' undying support towards PSS went beyond their chants, coreos, or pyros. They also sponsor the club for a good number of years through their very own fan-store, the aptly-named CS Shop, and the BCS also established an all-female branch to enable PSS' female supporters to group together and voice out their support safely. Moreover, the BCS are quite vocal about how the club is being run, and will not hesitate to show their stance once they feel that PSS is being mismanaged. The BCS boycotted PSS' matches in the 2020 Liga 1 season following the exit of popular head coach Seto Nurdiantoro, with the group seeing that the club's owners are lacking in terms of ambition. This wasn't the BCS' first boycott of PSS' matches - the previous year they had boycotted a PSS home match against Borneo FC following the arrest of a 17-year old PSS supporter who had publically criticized the club's previous owner.
Most notably, the BCS were the spearhead behind the #DejanOut #ArthurOut #MarcoOut and #SavePSS movement, storming the PSS club office in Ngaglik, Sleman on late September to voice out their demands and aspirations. The BCS are truly a set of supporters who put their loyalty and concerns for the club above anything else and their presence truly made PSS a feature in the Liga 1.
Inspired by Ajax's Iconic Look - Fight Together, Glory Forever
For the 2021/22 season, SMBD have released two versions of the PSS shirts - the authentic version which is the same shirts worn by players in matches and the original version which gives you a toned down yet similar experience for a cheaper price. The authentic shirts are sold for Rp399,000 while the original shirts are sold for Rp299,000 - a Rp100,000 price difference. And learning from experience from the previous year, there should be a replica version of the shirts which are essentially supporter version shirts in other clubs, the cheapest possible version of a club's football shirt.
Out of the three outfield shirt types released by PSS, I like the away one the most so I decided to cop one earlier this month, an original version since my budget isn't exactly vast enough for an authentic one. It came to me inside this nice little plastic packaging.
And after taking the shirt out of its simplistic packaging...
PSS' away shirt for the 2021/22 season is predominantly white, save for a huge green space in the front that was sandwiched by the shirt's white coloring. This immediately reminds me of Ajax Amsterdam's iconic home shirts, which utilized the same design but instead of green, the Netherlands giants use red for their front space. Another difference is that the Ajax shirts don't utilize the same polo-style collar that PSS' away shirt for this season use. Despite utilizing a polo-style collar, PSS did not place any buttons in the front of the shirt, but it doesn't reduce the overall professional vibes that the shirt has.
Twinned by design? Maybe
The PSS badge bore symbols that are also seen in the Sleman Regency logo - a stalk of rice plant, a strand of cotton, and the Prambanan Temple. The rice plant and cotton symbolizes the gotong royong (working together in unity) spirit that is embodied by the people of Sleman, while the Prambanan Temple stood out as being an icon of Sleman Regency. Situated within the Yogyakarta-Central Java border, the Prambanan is highly revered by the people of Sleman, just as much as it was revered by the people of Klaten Regency across the border. Unlike the authentic version which utilized a 3D on tatami material for the badge, the original version uses a more simpler 3D rubber material, which is also quite neat in my opinion.
The same material was also being utilized by the SMBD logo on the right chest region, as well as the image of the Prambanan Temple emblazoned at the back of the shirt. Once again, this signify Prambanan's status of being the icon of Sleman Regency.
Also printed in 3D rubber are the slogan of PSS' shirts this year, printed at the bottom of the shirt's inner seam, and a set of Javanese characters printed on the collar. The slogan reads out "Fight Together, Glory Forever," something that's quite ironic considering what PSS are going through right now, while the Javanese characters on the collar reads out "1976," the year of the club's foundation.
The sponsors of this shirt are all screen-printed, so is the Liga 1 patch on the right sleeve. This would ensure that the sponsors and league patch have a shiny and slick look to them, but at the same time being more durable than their polyflex counterparts.
One might not see this at a first glance, but there's this grayish pinstripe design going on in the shirt's white coloration. This is quite neat, as it gives the shirt more character, but at the same time it does give off an impression reminiscent of a baseball jersey. Maybe not anyone's cup of tea but I do like it, as it doesn't make the shirt too bland.
As with all toned-down versions of a player-issued football shirt, the side vents were omitted completely, as both the original version and the possible replica version of PSS' shirts are meant to be used casually not competitively. In the authentic version of the shirts, a mesh material was used for the vents to provide circulation, but in the original version, the side vents were made using the same polyester as the rest of the shirt.
For this year PSS has three different themes for their home, away, and third shirts respectively. For the away shirt, the Super Elja wanted to emphasize that home is where the heart is. Wherever PSS would go for their away matches, they'll always carry a part of Sleman in their hearts as they would want to make their regency proud with a win away on the road. To this end, the 2021/22 PSS away shirt printed maps of Sleman's different districts on the green space on the front of the shirt. From Mlati to Tempel, Ngaglik to Godean, Depok to Kalasan, and from Prambanan to Pakem, all of Sleman's districts were faithfully mapped out on this shirt. Quite a touching detail, if I have to say, a reminder that PSS are doing their regency proud by doing well away from home.
In an even nicer touch, SMBD also included an Indonesian flag on the side of the shirt, as a simple yet patriotic reminder.
Wrapping up the shirt's look are the original version tag as well as the sizing tags, printed on the bottom of the shirt and inside the collar respectively. As a side note, the original version tag in this shirt is black in color, while those buying the authentic version will get a golden tag.
Conclusions and Scoring
As a company formed by PSS Sleman fans themselves, Sembada have gone above and beyond in creating the best shirts for their beloved team. Each and every one of PSS' shirts underneath them has been excellent, from the simple and crisp to the elaborate and sophisticated.
I have to say that in my opinion, this is another strong showing from SMBD. Sure that green space would confuse some people into thinking that PSS are literally using the same colors as their home shirt for their away shirt, but since white is the dominant color of this shirt - remember, the back of this shirt is entirely white - then said confusion will be mitigated quite quickly.
I also love the philosophy behind this shirt - it reminds the players in away days that home is always a part of yourself, no matter where you go. This would surely motivate players in away matches to make not only their team proud but also the team's home region. Also design-wise, their subtle nod to Ajax also sold this shirt to me, while PSS' recent struggles have united all of Indonesian football behind their supporters. They surely deserve a better team and management than what they have right now, and hopefully, Marco's exit would pave a wave of change that the Super Elja are desperately needing.
So how would I rate this shirt?
Unlike the Football Shirt Tier Lists, for #Project18 I'll be using a letter-based grading system similar to those used in Japanese video games, ranging from S (the highest) to F (the lowest).
The tribute to one of European's biggest football teams, the amazing and touching philosophy behind the shirt, and the reasonable price for such a high-quality shirt makes the 2021/22 PSS Sleman away shirt a deserving recipient of an S for me. Fans with extra cash can buy the authentic version, people like me can get the original one, and hopefully, a replica version will be released so that everyone can have this amazing shirt. It's worth every penny, trust me.
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