Three of this season's new shirts: Liverpool, Manchester United
and Spurs.
It's twelve years now since Douglas Hall was caught by a tabloid
sting scoffing at Geordies for paying £50 for replica shirts worth
£5. Fans were outraged, and politicians attacked club greed and
"exploitation". Twelve years on, and Newcastle's new 2010-11 shirt
has gone on sale –
yours for £50.
What the lack of change shows is that, deep down, fans don't
really mind paying mark-ups for club branding. What has improved in
the last decade, though, is the quality.
This year's new launches are a well-made, pretty good-looking
bunch. They are almost all retro-themed, and, disappointingly,
there's nothing properly ugly like Tottenham's 2009
urine-in-the-snow-themed yellow streaked top. The only one that
comes close is Everton's
fluorescent pink away
outfit – "a brave design", says Leon Osman.
In fact, the only consistent negative about this season's home
tops isn't the designers' fault. The problem is the new range of
sponsors' logos: uglier and seemingly larger than ever.
Take Liverpool's shirt (£44.99
from Kitbag.com). It's a classic Adidas
design – a modern version of the 1989-90 title-winning top. It
feels classy: neat gold piping and quality, breathable fabric. But
that's not what you see first. What you see first is what Standard
Chartered Bank paid £80m to make you see first. And it's not a logo
of beauty.
Likewise Spurs. Replacing the urine stains there's a
retro blue shoulder bar: a
good-looking 80s-themed Puma top, spoiled by an ugly "A" motif,
promoting a software infrastructure company.
And
Manchester United's top,
billed as a tribute to the 1980-81 side, is actually all about Aon.
(Although inside United's shirt there's a bonus: a chance to test
your gag-reflex by finding the word "Believe" printed on the
reverse of the club badge – positioned, says the PR blurb, "right
next to your heart".)
Arsenal's 70s-style top, meanwhile,
screams Emirates just as loudly as last season's shirt – but at
least there is a
welcome return to white
sleeves.
Maybe the best new shirt this year, though, is
Blackpool's – a top which
proves they've already grasped the ethics of Premier League
economics. On offer: a chance for fans to spend £40 on a top
advertising their new club sponsor Wonga.com. Wonga's line of
business: selling short-term loans at 2689% APR.
