Football Update: Football fans in England upset with New Jerseys
English premier league has always been heavily dependent on the fans and the merchandise that Fans buy. Now the fans have come together and lodged a protest against several Clubs in the Premier League, who launch a new home kit every season.
10 years ago, Premier league officials said that all clubs will only release new kits after every 2 season, to make things easier for fans how want to buy the latest club jersey.
When 2009-10 seasons began, 18 clubs released new shirts, and now before the start of 2010-11 seasons all 20 clubs in the premier league have decided to issue new strips.
London club Tottenham Hotspurs is one club that has not only launched a new shirt every season, but they have actually issued 3 new shirts for the last 3 seasons.
Spurs who qualified for Champions league for the first time by finishing 4th last season; have taken it a step further. Tottenham has decided that they will have a new sponsor on the 2nd and 3rd kit that they would wear in cup competitions. This would mean the fans would be looking to by no less than 6 different kits this season, every shirt will cost around 45 pounds.
Arsenal and Liverpool were the only 2 teams last season who did not release a new kit, but this time they have also joined the band wagon and will be issuing new kits.
Premier League thrives on its fans that show support by buying not just shirts, but all the merchandise the club shop has to offer. Clubs meanwhile do have a right to introduce a new kit every season, but that does go against the recommendations made by David Mellor in 2000. He was chairman of the Football Task force released a charter for the Premier League in 2000, which stated that Fans should not be burdened by the clubs. The charter also pledged that every club should only introduce a new shirt after a gap of at least one season. The charter also addressed the issue of overprices for home matches. Mellor who chaired the Task Force in 2000 said that it’s the fans that make the club, and they are ones who need to be facilitated most.
There are several clubs that offer 3rd kits and commemorative shirts, but 2 clubs (Arsenal and Liverpool) still have the charter that states that the home shirts would only last for 2 seasons max. Arsenal though has said that there can be certain exceptions to that rule.
Arsenal and Liverpool share the statement that says, making a home jersey last for at least 2 years does give the fans better value, and gives longevity to the kit.
The premier league rules clearly state that, all clubs should let the market research determine the frequency of changes to the kit and also its design.
The rules also say that the clubs need to clearly mention that when they intend to change the strip and the charter of every club should be available to its fans. The charter should state the changes to its ticket prices and merchandise prices.
Meanwhile Bernie Kingsley the chairman of Tottenham Supporters Trust said that they were not consulted, when Spurs made the decision to introduce 6 different shirts this season. Malcolm Clarke the chairman of football supporter’s federation also showed his descent over Tottenham’s decision. He said that 6 shirts for one season are simply ridiculous.
In an interview to BBC Kingsley said that the club only involves the fans when financial matters and club profits are not involved. He added that this 6 shirt decision will not go down well with the fans and the club will witness a backlash soon.
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