Retro Novara Shirts – The Pride of Piedmont

Novara Calcio's story begins at the dawn of the twentieth century, in 1908, when the club was formally established in a city that was already a thriving industrial and commercial hub of Piedmont. In the early decades of Italian football, Novara competed in the regional Northern Italian championships that predated the unified national league system. They were not outsiders – they were genuine participants in the emerging national game, rubbing shoulders with the great clubs of Turin and Milan.

The interwar years brought Novara their most storied period. During the late 1920s and into the 1930s, the club competed in Serie A at a time when it was still finding its identity as a unified national competition. These were days of tram rides to matches, of amateur passion bleeding into something more professional, and Novara were there in the thick of it. The club's stadium – eventually renamed the Silvio Piola in honour of their most celebrated alumnus – became a fortress of modest but fierce local pride.

The postwar decades saw Novara drift between Serie B and the lower reaches of Italian football. Relegations came and went; promotions were celebrated wildly and then cruelly followed by the drop. This oscillation is the very rhythm of life for Italy's mid-table heritage clubs, and Novara accepted it with the stoicism of people who know that survival itself is a form of glory.

The modern era delivered one truly extraordinary chapter: the 2010–11 Serie B season, when Novara won promotion to the top flight. Their single Serie A campaign in 2011–12 became the stuff of local legend – a season of fighting, of late equalisers, of matches against Juventus and AC Milan that their supporters will recall until their dying days. Ultimately they were relegated, but the experience crystallised what Novara represents: a club that earns its moments rather than buying them. Today in Serie C, they continue that tradition.

No discussion of Novara is complete without Silvio Piola, arguably the greatest player ever to represent the club and one of Italy's all-time footballing immortals. Piola, born in Robbio just outside Novara, began his career with the club and became a towering centre-forward whose record of 274 Serie A goals stood for decades. He was part of Italy's 1938 World Cup-winning squad and represented everything that was powerful and direct about Italian football of that era. That the club's stadium bears his name is entirely fitting – he is Novara's greatest gift to the sport.

In more recent times, the 2011–12 Serie A season brought a cast of journeymen and emerging talents who became heroes for a season. Striker Germán Denis – the Argentine known as 'El Tanque' – arrived on loan and gave Novara a physical presence in attack that belied the club's modest resources. His goals kept them competitive far longer than anyone expected. Goalkeeper Matteo Sereni, with his experience in the top flight, provided leadership between the posts.

Managers have also shaped Novara's identity. Attilio Lombardo, the former Crystal Palace and Juventus winger, took charge at a difficult period, bringing his experience and tactical intelligence. But it was Attilio Tesser who masterminded that unforgettable Serie B title-winning campaign, earning promotion and etching his name permanently into Novara folklore. His disciplined, organised approach was perfectly suited to a squad of hungry players desperate to prove themselves at the highest level.

The Novara retro shirt palette is immediately distinctive: blue and white, worn in vertical stripes that echo the traditions of Piedmontese football. In the early decades, shirts were heavy cotton affairs in deep blue and white, reflecting the manufacturing aesthetics of northern Italian textile regions. The badge – featuring the city's heraldic imagery – anchored the identity of the kit even through design changes across the decades.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Novara's kits carried the hallmarks of Italian kit design: close-fitting collars, regional sponsor logos, and that characteristic Azzurri Blu that sits somewhere between royal blue and midnight. These are the kits that collectors most passionately seek – shirts that feel like documents of a particular Italian sporting culture.

The 2011–12 Serie A campaign produced kits that have since become the most collectable in the club's modern history. Worn during matches against the giants of Italian football, these shirts represent the pinnacle of the club's recent ambitions. The sponsor logos and the cut reflect the early 2010s aesthetic, but the stripes remain timeless. With 16 retro Novara shirts available in our shop, there is real variety for the serious collector.