Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Resist the monstrous white kit!


You've probably seen this over on Arseblog already, but I thought I'd add my own slice of vitriol to the matter.

Quite simply, this will not do. I'm sick and tired of Nike and the other myriad corporations running modern football disregarding history and the desire of most football fans in the pursuit of a quick buck.

Yes, we hardly kicked up a fuss when 'Fly Emirates/O2/JVC etc' was plastered over the shirt and now stadium, even if I wish they weren't there. Yes, we may have played a few seasons in a white shirt before (although I would like someone to actually supply me with dates on this). Yes, from an objective viewpoint, the shirt is aesthetically not awful. And Yes, I did, as I knew it would only be a one-off, buy the redcurrant shirt.

But I want yellow. I want the colour of Arsenal's truly historic away kit. Ok, for the last few years we've played in Blue (didn't like), Green (no-one liked) and, apparently, white.

But I want the colour Charlie George had on when he scored in 71; the colour Sunderland and Brady wore in '79; the colour Thomas wore at Anfield in '89; the colour Overmars, Wiltord (essentially) and Adey wore in our recent victories up at OT; the colour Thierry wore as he ripped apart the Madrid defence last year. The real colour of The Arsenal when we're away from home.

I would prefer Yellow and Blue, naturally, but Yellow (predominantly) and the recent grey/black has been acceptable. Other colours are not Arsenal colours: they are nike colours. Do not forget this.

There will be many on here who undoubtedly think 'I quite like the kit' or 'it's only a kit' or 'you're living in the past maaan'. But the colours of the club are its most basic call to arms, the visible, essential means of uniting its fans to its players: they are a massive part of the way a club defines itself.

Arsenal in all white? No thank you. What team is that? I wouldn't recognise them.

Remember: our famous green kit failed due to low sales. I urge you, if you care at all about maintaining the few traditions we have left at the club, DO NOT BUY THIS KIT. That's the only language Nike understand.

It's funny really. I was quite up for buying the away kit this year. Oh well, let's hope Nike see sense, or that this isn't actually the kit.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

get a life mate! We have 3 kits now and I'd rather wear this than some ugly blue stuff... it ain't bad except that it is a Nike kit but there is nothing we can do about the choice of brand!

Anonymous said...

That design is awful, but ... our colours are read and white, so what's the big deal if a new kit is designed that uses white as the main colour? People who complain about it being like the Spurs kit are just pathetic. Who gives a f*** what they wear? Or anybody else for that matter ... Manu and 'Pool wear red, should we dump the red? Spurs wear white, should we dump the white? I know! Let's change to blue ... oh blimey Chavski wear blue - that's no good then. How about pink? YEAH! nobody wears that - do they? PINK home kit and flourescent orange away - wicked!

Sponsorship is a huge factor in funding the new stadium, players' wages and future transfers - it's an intrinsic part of modern life - get used to it, and get over it.

Unless you prefer not to have any money then we can compete with Leeds in a couple of seasons.

Get a life and discuss important things.

Anonymous said...

the one in this pic isnt as nice as this one shown on online gooner

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/images/2007_4_exclusive_36.jpg

i think its quite stylish!

Goonerboy said...

It's not to do whether they're nice or not - I agree, they're ok to look at.

It's just I'd like to maintain our traditional away colours: yellow and blue, or at least predominantly yellow. And it says a lot for what fans think of tradition if this kit is swallowed up and bought en masse.

Anonymous said...

as far as iam aware, we still gonna be red 1st kit, yellow away, and this white is 3rd strip.

i dont see the problem.

Anonymous said...

As far as I understand it, we have three kits; the red and white first kit, and then two kits that each spend a season as the second kit and a season as the third kit. Since the concept of three kits has come in, I believe one has always been yellow and blue and the other has been something else. This kit is the something else, and as something else goes, I quite like it. I've always enjoyed the reverse Arsenal look of a white t-shirt and red sleeves (in fact I bought one just the other day). Now I'll be able to regard it as official Arsenal colours.

If it was all white I'd hate it, but the red sleeves make it an "Arsenal" shirt as far as I'm concerned.

Goonerboy said...

If it's a third strip, that's fine. We'll never wear it, and it won't be our first choice change strip.

Hossein said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

It looks great.

We've had white away kits in the past.

http://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/images/imagecache/Arsenal%20Shirt%20Poster%201913-2006.jpg

Hossein said...

erm Wiltord was essentially wearing GOLD mate.

Goonerboy said...

Gold is closer to yellow than white, no?

Anonymous said...

i think you need to be getting a different colour.... bit like the yid army with alot of white...

Anonymous said...

Here's a bigger picture.

http://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/images/Arsenal%20Shirt%20Poster%201913-2006.jpg

Nowt wrong with it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with most of the comments above. If a player is good and a team is good then they should play well no matter what. I even go as far as to say that a good player should play the same whether at home or away. To argue over the colour of a shirt is petty & pathetic. If we only had a red and a yellow strip it would quickly become dull, at least someone is trying to update the club.

Anonymous said...

It's not great, but better than the horrid yellow one we had last year - needed sunglasses to watch the team.

I think it would be ok were it not for the horrible green rims.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, sod tradition, lets screw the fans for all we can get because they think yellow is boring.

Blimey, I really don't understand what is wrong with yellow and blue. They seem to be able to make enough design changes to red and white to keep the money flowing in. Why can't they do the same with yellow???

Anonymous said...

Why do you need to listen to a blog and let them make your decision for you. If you like the kit then go and buy it. Just because these blogs say something doesn't mean you have to follow it. All the blogs say the same thing anyway and copy each other. Basically everyone coppies arseblogger.

Goonerboy said...

All the blogs don't say the same thing.

I should imagine Myles will probably love the idea of a white kit.

And I don't copy Arseblogger. There's hardly any swearing on my blog, for one.

Anonymous said...

while I would always prefer a yellow with a blue trim, we are red and white and this kit is red and white. ok its in reverse but nevertheless it is our main colours. Green or blue are worse.

Anonymous said...

This kit is predominantly white, whereas Arsenal wear predominantly red. Not to mention the similarity with S***S.

Can you imagine signing Ribery, and him running around in this? I can't think of anything uglier - I don't think I could watch! Then again, I don't think we'll sign him, and don't want him anyway, but it's something to think about...

Anonymous said...

give a toss

Anonymous said...

There are more important issues to worry about than the colour of the shirt.As for tradition well that went out the window yrs ago.If you like the shirt buy it if not don't simple really.

I agree that most of the blogs are a rehash of arseblog.The one thing I do notice from reading the various bloggers and listening to the arsecast is that most bloggers don't attend all the games yet they are experts who think they speak for the majority of fans.

Anonymous said...

i think the white kit looks decent - but to those of u who say its just a kit? are u mad?!?!

next they get rid of the red home kit for good, or change the name, after all its "just a name".

i say bring back the '89 yellow and blue

Anonymous said...

Ha, Arsenal Hotspur eh?

Why not?

Anonymous said...

and for the record i have been going to all home games since 1981

Anonymous said...

it looks alright it not no spurm top so its cool with me

Anonymous said...

Perhaps I've missed it somewhere, but are the shorts red? If so it changes the white/red balance significantly and might make it clear this is a Spurs strip!!

Anonymous said...

"Can you imagine signing Ribery, and him running around in this? I can't think of anything uglier - I don't think I could watch!" -- James.

Are u sure? C'mon guys. lets be more realistic. many of u r reacting as if the white shirt is some poisonous fabric that will kill anyone who wears or see it. will u moan so much if arsenal win the league and cl league next season? i dun think u wld even care tt we have a white away kit. In fact i think many of u wld want the white kit to return cos we won the cl league with it.

Anonymous said...

Not to sure what people are getting at with the kit not meaning anything.

Kit colours are like a standing. If this is the third kit, great, it's been said, we'll never see it. If this is posing as a second kit… We have a problem.

1. Because YES it too closely resembles the Spurs kit. How would you feel if someone mistoke you for a spurs fan oneday?
2. It's just the reverse of red and white and i don't see why we should pay 40 odd pounds for that.
3. It's NOT traditional! (you don't see ANY of the other big clubs changing their second strip!)
4. Yellow and blue, i mean… SERIOUSLY, you can play around with those colours enough, no need to bring white into the fray!!

Oh and i'ld just like to say, if the kit isn't that important, then why do we need to change to white?

And i'm sorry, but if you had the money, you could've bought yourself a 3 years strecth on the season ticket list and bumped everyone that was already on red so going to every game isn't the issue…

Oh, i also think this is the third kit so this is rather pointless…

Anonymous said...

And what's with the damn "WHO ARE YOU" Chant?!

We're ARSENAL isn't that something smaller clubs say when a bigger club is losing to them or when they've just equalised?

Jaybles said...

in reply to two posts above this:

"3. It's NOT traditional! (you don't see ANY of the other big clubs changing their second strip!)"

that is sheer nonsense - just about EVERY big club I can think of have changed their away kit SEVERAL times in recent years - ManU: black, white, grey, blue. Chelsea: orange, yellow, white. Liverpool: yellow, green, white etc. That's off the top of my head. Marketting is what the Premiership is ALL about now, and clubs will not be releasing shirts that look the same as the previous season's, because it will hit sales. Sad but true.

I love the yellow kits, I will be buying this season's next season when it's cheaper. But I don't see a problem with an occasional change, online gooner lists the away kit as white/redcurrant top, redcurrant shorts and hooped socks, well no real fan will mistake that for Spurs. White is our colour along with red, always will be.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to clarify

Wiltord at O.T in 2002 was the Gold Kit, not Yellow. I guess Im being a bit pedantic.

I agree, White Kit sucks and I shall not be buying it.

Anonymous said...

" White is our colour along with red, always will be."

Christ, yes, white is our colour, but our 'colour' is ALWAYS predominantly red, just as the spurs 'colour' is ALWAYS predominantly white.

"Are u sure? C'mon guys. lets be more realistic. many of u r reacting as if the white shirt is some poisonous fabric that will kill anyone who wears or see it. will u moan so much if arsenal win the league and cl league next season? i dun think u wld even care tt we have a white away kit. In fact i think many of u wld want the white kit to return cos we won the cl league with it. "

Yes, it is important, because it's about our identity. Would you be happy to change the name to Arsenal Hotspur if it meant winning the league? Move a few miles further up the Seven Sisters Road? Rename the Stadium 'White Hart Lane'?

The fact that we're predominantly red defines who we are as a club - it's as important as any tradition we have. Spurs are white, Arsenal are not, and never should be. It's a fucking SCUM kit.

Anonymous said...

Why can't we have kit like Barca or Boca Juniors - really cool and tasteful , I would think their kits account somewhat to the popularity of those clubs and definately give them high volume shirt sales. As for the WHITE KIT it is TOILET a shite kit.

b said...

Not a fan. Why doesn't everyone just stop buying new kits altogether? That'd stop em. Just wear the older ones. You look "cooler" then anyway.

Anonymous said...

Goonerboy I agree with you whole heartedly, Just to bakc you up 100% I just wanted to add another famous yellow and blue kit. The UNTOUCHABLES, say no more! I also noticed whenever we were on TV This shirt was at time more popular than the red and white!

Anonymous said...

I have some 100% solid info on this:

Home kit will be the same as last year.

Away kit will be the white shirt and red sleeves

3rd shirt: will be navy and redcurrant hoops. Sounds awful but apparently looks quite good. Released August time.

This information is 100% solid and WILL be our kits next year.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE:
1st kit- Red & White
Away kit- White & Maroon
3rd kit- Blue & Black stripes
go to............................. pic2.piczo.com/absarsenal/?g=20236752&cr=2
Gooday,
Alex h-g