The Perugia 1998-99 Home Retro Football Shirt recreates one of the most recognisable shirts in the club’s modern history, worn during Perugia’s return to Serie A and forever associated with the breakthrough European season of Hidetoshi Nakata.
The shirt features Perugia’s traditional deep red base, combined with contrasting white detailing and a classic late-1990s collar construction. The clean red appearance reflects the club’s traditional Grifoni identity and provides the backdrop to a shirt that became internationally recognisable following Nakata’s arrival in Italy.
The 1998/99 campaign brought together an interesting Perugia side containing Nakata, Milan Rapaić, Giovanni Tedesco, Zé Maria, Renato Olive and Cristian Bucchi. While the club’s primary objective was Serie A survival, Nakata’s immediate impact turned Perugia into one of the most closely followed Italian teams in Asia.
For retro collectors, this shirt is especially significant because it represents the beginning of Nakata’s Italian career. His performances during the season established him as one of the pioneering Asian players to make a major impact in Serie A during an era when the Italian championship contained many of world football’s biggest names.
Perugia 1998-99 Home Jersey
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Size Guidance (Retro Jersey)
Size Chest (in) Length (in) Rec. Height (ft/in) Rec. Weight (lb) S 39 28 65–67 121–132 M 41 28 67–69 132–154 L 43 29 69–71 154–176 XL 44 30 71–75 176–198 XXL 46 31 75–79 198–220 Note: All sizes are for reference only. Manual measurement may result in an error of ±1 inch.
IN BETWEEN SIZES?
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Well, that's up to you. Do you like a tight fit? Go for the smaller size. Loving a loose fit? Go for the larger size.
TOP FIT
If your body measurements for chest and waist result in two different suggested sizes, order the size from your chest measurement.
Season Information
Season/Year: 1998/99
Club: Perugia
Country: Italy
Competition: Serie A / Coppa Italia
Kit Type: Home
Serie A Finish: 14th
Key Player: Hidetoshi NakataPerugia entered the 1998/99 Serie A season following promotion and faced a demanding battle to preserve their top-flight status. They ultimately finished 14th with 39 points, recording 11 victories, six draws and 17 defeats. Their home form proved particularly important: Perugia won 10 of their 17 league matches at the Renato Curi, compared with only one away victory.
The season is remembered above all for the arrival of Hidetoshi Nakata, who moved to Italy after representing Japan at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Still only 21 at the beginning of the Serie A campaign, Nakata immediately demonstrated his ability at the highest level. His league debut came against Juventus on 13 September 1998, and he scored twice despite Perugia eventually losing the extraordinary match 4–3.
Nakata went on to start 33 Serie A matches and score 10 goals, four of them penalties. He also registered eight assists in the available statistical record. Those numbers were exceptional for a midfielder experiencing European club football for the first time and made him Perugia’s leading league scorer.
Another major attacking figure was Croatian international Milan Rapaić, who played all 34 Serie A matches and contributed nine goals and eight assists. Together, Nakata and Rapaić supplied much of the creativity and attacking threat behind Perugia’s successful survival campaign. Giovanni Tedesco added four league goals, while Renato Olive remained an important presence in midfield.
Perugia also competed in the Coppa Italia, but preserving Serie A status was the defining achievement of the season. The combination of survival, Nakata’s spectacular introduction to Italian football and the international attention surrounding his performances gives the 1998/99 home shirt a significance far beyond Perugia’s 14th-place league finish.
Rec. Player Printing Options
Printing Recommendation NAKATA 7 The defining choice for this shirt. Hidetoshi Nakata arrived from Japan in 1998 and immediately became Perugia’s standout player, scoring 10 Serie A goals from midfield in his debut Italian season. RAPAIĆ 10 One of the strongest alternatives. Croatian attacker Milan Rapaić played every Serie A match during the season and contributed nine goals and eight assists. TEDESCO 20 A strong period-specific midfield option. Giovanni Tedesco became an important member of the side following his arrival and contributed four league goals during the survival campaign. OLIVE 8 A representative midfield choice from the 1998/99 squad. Renato Olive started 27 Serie A matches and provided experience through the centre of the team. ZÉ MARIA 2 A distinctive option associated with the Brazilian right-sided player who joined Perugia for the 1998/99 campaign and later became strongly identified with the club. BUCCHI 9 A centre-forward option from the promotion-era group that competed in Serie A during 1998/99. Cristian Bucchi provides a less common alternative to the better-known Nakata and Rapaić printings. NAKATA 7 is the standout printing for the Perugia 1998-99 Home Retro Football Shirt.
The association begins with Nakata’s very first Serie A appearance. Facing Juventus, he scored twice on his Italian league debut, immediately announcing himself to Serie A. He finished his first campaign with 10 goals from 33 league appearances, making him Perugia’s leading Serie A scorer.
His impact also carried wider historical importance. Nakata arrived in Italy directly after the 1998 World Cup and rapidly became one of the most prominent Japanese footballers playing in Europe. Perugia was the club where his European reputation was established before the later stages of his Serie A career.
Most importantly for the shirt itself, NAKATA 7 is the combination strongly associated with Perugia’s 1998/99 home jersey, making it the natural period-specific printing for this design.
