Hannover 96's 130th anniversary kit by Macron is all red, all tonal

Hannover 96 were founded on April 12, 1896. On that date in 2026 the club turns 130 years old, and Macron has produced a special edition shirt to mark the occasion. The campaign around it carries the motto Teil dieser Geschichte, part of this history. The shirt itself makes the case quietly, without needing to shout about it.

The design

The base is a deep, intense crimson, the same red that Hannover have worn since the early twentieth century. Macron has kept everything else on the front in the same tone. The crest, the Macron Hero logo, the heise shirt sponsor, and all sleeve details are rendered in matching red. From any distance it reads as a single unbroken field of colour, and that restraint is exactly right for an anniversary piece.

The fabric tells a different story up close. Macron has used their Eco Lanman jacquard for the front and sleeves, a fabric with fine vertical pinstripes woven structurally into its construction rather than printed on top. The effect adds depth and sophistication without reading as decorative. The rear panel is Eco Micromesh, which keeps the weight down and the airflow up. It is a practical detail that does not affect the visual at all.

The anniversary details are worked into the shirt without being decorative. 1896–2026 is embroidered on the external back collar. Inside the rear hem there is a customised silicone band with the anniversary dates repeated and interspersed with the Hannover 96 crest, the sort of detail that only the wearer ever sees, and that is usually the point with these things. Back numbers and lettering are in white, which provides the only real contrast on the shirt.

The kit is completed with black shorts carrying a tone-on-tone embroidered crest, and white socks.

Materials

Both the Eco Lanman and Eco Micromesh fabrics are made entirely from post-consumer recycled plastic, part of Macron's broader sustainability commitment across their kit production. A matching goalkeeper shirt is also available, in a silver-grey base with anthracite details. The same tone-on-tone treatment applies: crest, sponsor, and patches all rendered in the base colour.

The debut

The shirt will be worn on the pitch for the first time on April 18, 2026, when Hannover host SC Paderborn in the 2. Bundesliga. That is six days after the club's actual 130th birthday. The timing means the anniversary date falls on April 12 and the kit debut follows shortly after, a reasonable sequence for something produced to mark the occasion rather than replace the regular season home kit.

Worth having

Anniversary shirts live or die on how well the heritage reference connects to the actual design. This one does the work properly. The choice to stay in the club's original crimson rather than reaching for something more elaborate, the tonal branding that refuses to compete with the colour, and the structural pinstripes rather than a printed pattern — each decision points back to the same idea. It is a shirt that reads as old without pretending to be vintage.

For collectors with an interest in German football, the top 10 Bundesliga kits of the 2000s is worth a look alongside this one. And if you want to see what Macron is doing across the rest of their European roster this season, the Lorient centenary piece is the closest comparison.