Getting back on topic 😉 😆
I like it better than the last one.
The problem with releasing shirts every season is that it's very difficult to retain a traditional looking kit, while freshening it up to stop them all looking almost identical.
This isn't particularly aimed at the club itself, it's almost completely widespread in football, mainly as a money generator.
But I did prefer it when they alternated the home and away new kit releases so you still got a fresh kit every year, but kept each one for two seasons.
With the advent of the third shirt (whether you need one or not)
The "old" away one could become that when the new one is released.
It'd be interesting if this would have a massive drop-off in income compared with 3 new ones that not everyone can afford to buy every season.
People obviously have the option of buying or not, but manufacturers are well aware of that desire to have the latest one.
A way round this explains the massive upturn in the retro market, something clubs themselves have obviously cottoned on to.
As regards the shirt itself, it's not bad, like others I'd have preferred it without those white panels, and looking at the already released Puma templates, we've not fared too badly.
I think I read somewhere, we're one of the longest clubs to have been with puma. We do seem to often get little bespoke touches, but I'm not over keen on this year's little windmill design.
I've seen a couple of comments about it having too much white on it, which reminds me of the same thing levelled at the 2000-02 Bodyline kit, now that did look VERY white 😆
Turned into a bit of an iconic kit thanks to Sir Alan Lee.
Seemed to be to accommodate a full colour one2one logs as opposed to the previous black one.
Which brings me nicely onto the fact I'm really pleased the diamond partners have continued into another season allowing another wonderful cause to be front and centre on our kits.
Thank you for staying with me if you read all that, I got a bit carried away.
Days off in the pub 😆
Same. I think at PL level, it's obviously a money spinner because more 'fans' will buy a shirt without going to games (or very rarely going), so the shirt is about the only real affiliation to the club for many (along with faux nostalgia for games they never saw, and having a back story for their weird loyalty). At our level, I'd love to see some numbers on sales and how the per year stacks up against per two years, along with the added cost of redesigning, promoting etc. Is it actually worth it financially for smaller clubs, even before questioning whether a shirt needs revising every year.