Quite like this template worn by Wydad AC (feat. Amrabat) for an away/third kit. Seem to remember reading that players don’t like wearing the button collars nowadays though.
Why are we always the last ****ing team in the whole world to release our new kit. Having said that, I prefer the old way of changing kits every 2 seasons, allows the fans to get some wear out of it. Also, that said I love the black 1904 kit and could happily watch the team in that.
For what they are(cheap nylon) and factoring in the cost to produce them,they should be so much cheaper to buy.Surely Clubs can see the frenzy of supporters flocking to buy one in the sale when it's been heavily reduced,wouldn't they prefer a constant stream of buyers throughout the season?? £60-£70 for a piece of cheap tat is daylight robbery! Edit...Between you and I,have you seen the price of the new Rangers clobber? I was in the shop yesterday and my eyes were watering!!
It boils down to the deal itself, which in our case is a very strange one as the owner owns the licence for the brand so could well be a very tidy way to add cash to the club as 'Sponsorship' and also gives him a much bigger profit margin but no actual external money coming in. For example, a usual kit deal (forget the mega deals of United, Liverpool etc) would be Brand X paying a lump of cash and for bigger clubs an additional 'Gift of Kit' and the club would buy their retail product and potentially some of their Player and Staff requirement. Depending on the size of the lump of the cash and 'Gift' the prices will be higher, because despite some of my customers crazy perceptions, Kit companies do actually have to make money. Nowadays the smarter clubs and CEO's realise that if they remove the cash and gift they can get access to gear at rock bottom prices. For example last year our factory produced for a nice little brand with a League 2 club contract and they were selling to that club at £12 a shirt meaning that club was able to make £30 a shirt and with 3/4000 shirts put a nice amount of cash in the bank when fixtures were not happenig and cash flow was very tight. Their deal the year before was something like £25k cash and £10k (at club purchase prices) of gift for the first team but their shirts were costing them around £28 each meaning they would have been (*** packet maths) about 50k down on profit from shirt sales alone. Yes they had to buy the first team gear but the prices were so low it would not have gone over £10k meaning they were massivley up on the deal the year before, which I think was Macron. It has been a real interest of mine what Acun is doing with our deal. I wanted to ask him at Portsmouth when I was sat right next to him but bottled it! He must have seen the potential in obtaining a licence for a brand and then using that to be able to put any kind of deal together that he wanted to. City shirts will be costing around £9 to make if they are working to Kappa spec as our factory produces for Kappa Australia and Scandinavia at those prices therefore he has the potential to absolutely smash the life out of our replica sales and also inject money from 'Kappa' as way of a kit sponsorship without it effecting his ownership rules, I assume. Depends how his Kappa thing is set up I guess. To go back to your example of Rangers, given the size of that beast they have probably had millions in sponsorship and if they are running the retail themselves they are just being greedy but more likely the brand is retailing the product (like Mike Ashley did with them) and needs top recoup the millions they gave Rangers. What I have never understood is why clubs dont flood their shops with much cheaper kids kits and ensure that there are thousands in the area wearing their gear. And guess what, I think that is what Acun did last year. Everywhere you go now kids are wearing City gear again. His haters will say it was because he had to shift loads of stock that was not selling but the timing of the sale was very early and I am more inclined to think it was a purposeful way to get more and more people in City gear.
I have to admit Jim(and I'm not being cynical),he did start shifting sale stuff really early last season but it certainly worked!! I passed by that shop in St Stephens and it was that mobbed that I couldn't be bothered going in(I was in a bit of a hurry to get up Springbank to be fair).
I spent hundreds on gear for my lad, he is dripping in City gear now, goes to school in City gilet and has a City puffa jacket for winter waiting for him. I know loads who did the same. I was the only person in the football team I coach who went to City as a member with my family. Now there are 4 other players with their dads who have got memberships near us. Acun and Joe Clutterbrook (and the other staff) deserve credit for what they have done with the club from this point of view. Even when we were nearly relegated one of the dads text me and said 'I've got those seats in front of you' because there is a buzz about going to City again. If we get it right with players this summer it could well be hard to get a ticket soon such is the marketing success they have made of it.
Interesting! Yeah they've done a great job raising the profile of the club on the street, the reissue of the classic kits by the club is a great idea and good to see some nods to the history.
We went to the Luton game last season & went into the club shop, my Mrs wanted to buy some shirts for her nephews & nieces in Trinidad, but I stopped her, I couldn’t have them traumatised by supporting City!
I am noticing more people in city kits in the summer than in years gone by. Especially kids. It’s certainly remarkable given that we’ve only been a good team during his tenure one year.
