1 April 2009

ERREA 404



Turns out 'Boro have dropped Italian shirt muppets Errea in favour of super kraut stars Adidas for next season. This leaves us, Burnley, Palarse, Brizzle Rovers, Chelts and Grimsby flying the flag for crap shirts in the English league.

Middlesbrough FC's Chief Operating Officer Neil Bausor said: "The club is delighted to be joining forces with a market-leading global sports brand.

"The club has a history with adidas that dates back to the 1970s. Our new, long-term agreement enables us to work with adidas again to provide the playing staff and fans alike with product ranges that blend exceptional quality, design and technology.

"We're confident the club's supporters will be delighted with the move to adidas and the new range."

Hmmm. I'm not sure how many shirts we sell, but I would've thought quite a lot for a team in our league. With fans increasingly non-plussed about Dick's designs (Hello Boys it ain't) you have to wonder that if the club linked up with one of the big 4 brands to produce kits, how many more would we sell? Enough to cover the extra manufacturing costs? Probably. The next kit has to be special, we've had a few duffs over the years and our sponsor is horrible, question is - how will the board react to this smouldering discontent?

Adidas are launching the 'Boro training kit before the actual home shirt - another intersting tactic, and one that I'm sure will see red raincoats and tracksuits flying out of the Riverside megastore much quicker than any Errea ones ever did.

TSLR has seen what St. Pauli did with their merchandise to improve their kit revenues, and more importantly brand identity (basically from obscurity to global super power). Time to start a fresh we think, Dick - Let's have a meeting.

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