Our 5 Kits That Defined a Career series continues with a man synonymous with the Italian capital: Francesco Totti.
Francesco Totti is a one-club legend. The Emperor of the Eternal City. Known for his class, elegance and his true Roman passion. Nobody embodies loyalty more than Totti, who dedicated his entire playing career to his club, AS Roma.
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He’s a legend of more than just Italian football, and remains one of the best players to play the game. His career is etched in Roman history, representing what it means to be Roman and serving as the city’s Gladiator against the rest of Italy and the world beyond. When you ask a Roma fan who embodies that ideology, you can bet Totti is up there on the list, rubbing shoulders with past Emperors.
For the kit nerds among us, Totti’s career wearing the giallorossi of Roma and azzurri of the Nazionale is etched in our memories. From Scudetto wins to Champions League to a World Cup win, Totti’s career can be defined by kits, which become artifacts of a historic career that transcends more than just the sport.
Roma 1997-98 Home
A Diadora kit, but one you’d probably not rank in your all-time Roma shirt list. The reason I’ve included it, though, is because this was the season where Totti reached maturity and entered his Golden Boy era. Il Pupone becomes Roma’s new No. 10 under Zdenek Zeman, electing him as the club’s new symbol.
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This season was the moment he took on the mantle of the club. He was the guy. His transition from prodigy to the main man was complete. The ’98-99 season was when he was handed the captaincy, but it was this kit that defined the beginning of his journey to becoming the Emperor of Rome.
The shirt itself was classic Roma colors, with a deep red base and a bold trim. The collar is beautiful, and the centered badges finish the kit off nicely.
Roma 2000-01 Home
Photo by Holde Schneider/Bongarts/Getty Images
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One of the many reasons Totti’s career is so special is that he could have won a lot more trophies had he left Roma. Whether it was to Real Madrid, which nearly came true, or elsewhere, he’s in that category of player that sacrificed titles to remain at the club he loved, joining the likes of Alan Shearer. However, it was 2000-01 where he managed to get his hands on his first trophy with Roma as the club went on to win the Scudetto.
This shirt probably goes down as Roma’s most iconic kit. Using Kappa’s Kombat technology, it was a tight, stretchy fit shirt. But it wasn’t the look alone that cemented it as one of Roma’s best. Totti and Co., under Fabio Capello, delivered a Serie A title to their tifosi for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
It was Totti’s peak as a leader. Sitting in a more attacking midfielder role thanks to his strong playmaker traits, he was integral to Capello’s system that proved so successful.
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Italy 2006 Home
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
The first non-Roma shirt in the list to define Totti just had to be this kit. With everything that was going on in Serie A this year, it was crazy that Italy steadied the ship to go and win the biggest prize in world football. And Totti played an integral part in it.
One goal and four assists throughout the tournament, including a full 120 minutes against Germany in the iconic semifinal, Totti was a part of a squad with the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and Alessandro Del Piero.
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The shirt is part of football history now, representing a period of Italian football that was, yes, tumultuous, but also beautiful, with so many iconic and legendary players representing the country. Totti was one of them, if not the best of them.
Roma 2006-07 Home
Photo by Newpress/Getty Images
This was Totti’s most complete season as a player. Fifty appearances across Serie A, Champions League and the Coppa Italia, scoring 32 goals and assisting 16 times. This gave him the European Golden Shoe, a Capocannoniere award as Serie A’s top scorer, and a Ballon d’Or nomination, where he eventually finished 10th.
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Roma exited the Champions League in the quarterfinals this season but managed a triumph elsewhere, as they won the Coppa Italia, beating Inter on aggregate. There was a tactical rebirth under Luciano Spalletti, reinventing Totti as more of a false nine, which proved fruitful for both player and club.
The kit itself was a part of Roma’s return to Diadora, and while not all that special, it earmarks Totti’s best season on a personal level.
Roma 2016-17 Home
Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images
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The closing chapter. This kit marks the end of an era as Totti played his last game for Roma and bid farewell to the game. The season didn’t prove fruitful for him, spending most of the time injured or on the bench. He was 40 years old, after all.
But this kit isn’t meant to represent a time when Totti was at his peak. It’s not meant to full-stop his career, either, as to Romans, he is eternal. Roma finished second this season in the Serie A, a high finish for the club that hadn’t won the league since 2001.
The kit closes the curtains on Totti’s time as Emperor of Rome. He took to the floor of the football Colosseum that is the Stadio Olimpico, for the last time. Tears poured, for sure. This was a man who defined Rome as a city and Roma as a club.
