Roma’s special derby kit is ancient history – literally

AS Roma have unveiled a special one-off kit for the Rome derby, and it takes the idea of retro to a new level.

While other clubs have worn shirts inspired by outfits from the early 20th century Francesco Totti and his teammates will be wearing a kit which draws its inspiration from more than a millennium ago. The one-off Nike kit bears the initials SPQR, which stand for 'Senatus Populusque Romanus' and have been used to represent the city of Rome for some 2000 years, long before Italy was a country. The colour scheme, meanwhile, is designed to evoke the tunics and helmets worn by ancient Roman legions. Roma have form for simple and stylish kits, with their away effort this season a prime example. Oh, and the home kit they've been wearing this season isn't too shabby either. In essence it's perfect for a team who regularly produce moments of magic like Diego Perotti's sublime rabona chip, which he almost definitely meant. Maybe. We don't know how they produce the goods time after time, but the new effort - as modelled by local hero Totti below - is everything we've come to expect from the Serie A club, The kit goes on sale from November 29 at nike.com and asromastore.com, and from other Nike and AS Roma retailers from November 30. Catch up with this week's episode of Football Friday Live