Jalil Anibaba signed with Sporting Kansas City prior to the 2015 season after he’d spent the previous four seasons with the Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders.
Peter Vermes signed Anibaba due to his ability to fill in on the backline at multiple positions. Anibaba did his best to fulfill that promise, coming in and starting 15 of his 17 appearances for the club.
The defender also chipped in offensively, scoring a goal and assisting on four others.
Anibaba’s time in SKC was brief, however, and after winning the US Open Cup title in 2015 he signed with Houston Dynamo the following season.
The 2014 season saw Sporting Kansas City introduce an indigo and Sporting blue hoops secondary kit to the club’s repertoire. The new kits were immensely popular and became the forefather of the hoops being adopted as the official look of SKC in 2023 with the new hoops 4.0 primary kit.
The hoops look was complimented by a “For the Glory of the City” badge on the inside of the crest honoring the tifo displayed by the Cauldron from the 2012 US Open Cup final. There was also checkerboard pattern in the neck to replicate the flag waving in the Cauldron.
Anibaba’s match worn shirt has a few marks/picks/pulls on the front and back of the shirt, including an interesting one just above the middle of his name. It features his #23 but was not signed by him on the back.
