Disappointment for football fans Malaga CF's 120th anniversary shirt sells out in just four hours

The new shirt launched by Malaga CF to commemorate the 120th anniversary of football in the city - the birth of Malaguismo - has become one of the biggest sales successes in the club's history.

In just four hours, all available shirts of the first batch, totalling 2,000, were sold out, surpassing the club's expectations. The feedback at a presentation held on Wednesday 3 April at La Malagueta bullring was already very positive among the more than 100 fans in attendance.

But the real reaction came on Thursday, when the brand new Blue and Whites' shirt went on sale, and a long queue had already formed several hours before the opening of the La Rosaleda shop, the only place where it could be purchased. The first to queue arrived about 6am, when the store did not open 10am. But by the time it opened, when there was an avalanche of people, there were already hundreds of fans in the area. Until midday the queue stretched as far as the corner of Avenida de La Palmilla.

The other option for buying the shirt was online via Malaga CF's official website, but many fans chose to go in person as they feared the website would crash, which it did. The servers were down for more than an hour before access was possible again. But soon after, the shirts were not available as stock ran out.

It's sparked a furore as only 2,000 shirts were launched and many who made the effort to stand in long queues either missed out or couldn't grab their size. In just an hour and a half the XL sizes were sold out in the shop. Some have also pointed out that the shirt comes a little small and the sizing does not correspond to people's usual sizes.

About 2pm Malaga CF announced the commemorative shirts had already sold out, but assured "the pre-sale period for the next batch will be announced soon. No Malaguista will be left without theirs!". The fans in the queue who were left without a shirt from the first batch have been put on a reserve list, and will be notified so they can go and buy them when the next ones are available.

Why have only 2,000 shirts gone on sale? Malaga CF thought they were going to be enough to cover the demand for the first few weeks and then continue to adjust future orders to the factory. But the reception surprised the Blue and Whites, who claim that on this occasion they have sold the same number of shirts in just four hours as during the first three months after launching a new official playing kit.

The shirt costs 69.95 euros for the general public, with season ticket holders receiving a 10% discount. The design is a vintage kit, reminiscent of the Malaga shirt worn by Juanito and Esteban Vigo at the end of the 80s, when the now defunct Club Deportivo Malaga returned to the First Division. With the new shirt, the Blue and Whites will compete in a single official match this coming Sunday 7 April against Ceuta at La Rosaleda stadium.