La Liga is ready to bring back the Retro Matchday for the upcoming season. Some executives from the Spanish league have confirmed to The Athletic – without revealing their names – that there is already a plan to repeat the initiative, which this year involved almost all the clubs in Primera and Segunda División. The only exceptions were Real Madrid (due to the ongoing high tension between club owner Florentino Pérez and La Liga president Javier Tabas), Barcelona, Rayo Vallecano, and Getafe (which, at least officially, cited logistical reasons).
From a practical standpoint, the day unfolded as follows: during the Liga and Segunda División matches, participating clubs wore a jersey inspired by a design previously worn in the past. Most clubs revived graphics and designs from the Eighties, Nineties, or early 2000s, and the retro kits were presented during Madrid Fashion Week. In this way, between 80,000 and 90,000 collectible pieces were introduced into the football nostalgia market, which according to Forbes was worth $6.8 billion in 2025. And this figure is set to rise. Even the referees’ uniforms, television graphics, and match balls were “adapted” to this new format: a comprehensive idea that, according to La Liga’s estimates, should generate between €6.5 and €7.5 million for each club.
Internal sources at Barcelona have indicated that the club intends to participate in next year’s Retro Matchday. The situation is more complicated for Real Madrid: the Blancos may again decline the offer and continue their personal battle against the commercial initiatives planned by La Liga. The initiative is currently unique in its kind and intertwines football with other sectors: “The Retro Matchday integrates sport, culture, fashion, and storytelling into a single experience,” says Jaime Blanco, La Liga’s head of club relations. “Presenting this collection during Spain’s most famous Fashion Week is the ideal platform to project the sporting and cultural identity beyond the playing field.”