22 Nov 2015
Hamilton wear France kit in tribute

Hamilton Academical wear France kit in Paris tribute

Hamilton Academical wore the France team's away kit for their home draw with Aberdeen on Sunday , in tribute to victims of the attacks in Paris.

Hamilton striker Christian Nade's sister was caught up in the violence,  in which 130 people were killed in the French capital on 13 November.

The Scottish Premiership club said they wanted to show "sympathy and solidarity with the people of France".

Hamilton said the kit would be sent to French clubs to be sold for charity.

Accies player-manager Martin Canning told BSports Radio Scotland before kick-off: "Obviously that was upstairs that decided to do that and as players and staff we fully support it.

"But I said all week to the players our main focus is on the pitch and going and doing our job.

"We show our solidarity with what happened and we fully support it, but our main focus is to go and get three points."

Hamilton Academical kit

The kit featured the France national team's logo, plus a French and a Scottish flag

Canning also has a Frenchman, former Hibernian and Coventry City midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin, as his assistant.

The club said discussions regarding the use of the French jerseys were sparked due to Aberdeen's first and second strips clashing with Hamilton's home kit, depriving its first-choice sponsor exposure in a "prestigious, home live TV fixture".

With Nade and Beuzelin in mind, it sought, and was granted, permission from the SPFL to utilise the French kit, complete with its home sponsors.

Accies could not source France's home kit in the requisite sizes, opting instead for the all-white away kit, and battling a "race against time to get them all badged, named, numbered, sponsored front and back and sleeve-badged" before the match.

The club intends to send the jerseys to each of the French Ligue 1 clubs for auctioning to charities.

Jack Simpson and Ben Riley of Hamilton Academical

Hamilton duo Jack Simpson and Ben Riley show their support

On Friday, the English Premier League announced that the French national anthem - La Marseillaise - would be played before all of its matches this weekend.

Fans had united to sing La Marseillaise before England's win over France in an international friendly at Wembley on Tuesday.