Crystal Palace reveal NHS and Black Lives Matter special shirt

BY ANDREW McSTEEN

Crystal Palace have revealed their special, one-off, away shirt which they will wear in their match against Bournemouth this Saturday evening – the first-ever Premier League match to be shown live on the BBC.

The match is their first back under the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’, which sees a return to action after pausing since mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown.

The shirt features an ‘NHS’ logo on the chest between the club crest and shirt manufacturer as “a show of recognition for the incredible work of NHS workers during the COVID-19 crisis,” according to the Premier League.

The NHS logo will feature on the shirt for all nine of the Eagles’ remaining league games this season and will also feature on the match official shirts. A moment’s silence will be held ahead of the Bournemouth game, in recognition of those whose lives have been affected by COVID-19.

For the Bournemouth game only, the Palace shirt will see all player names on the back replaced by ‘Black Lives Matter’ in recognition of the global organisation and movement. The Black Lives Matter logo will also feature on the right-hand sleeve of the shirt, and will be for the remainder of the season too.

The Premier League has said that it will support players who ‘take a knee’ before or during matches and will restate its ‘No Room For Racism’ messaging in various forms. Palace defender Patrick Van Aanholt has already-publicly stated that he will take a knee, telling Sky Sports that footballers “have a platform, and as a global sport, we have to come together.”

This message of unity is also included in the ‘We Are One Team’ messaging from the Premier League which will feature on match balls and stadium branding, reflecting how “how the League, clubs, fans and players have come together to support the NHS, their communities and society as a whole during the pandemic,” according to the league.