Is this AC Milans best ever kit?
Kappa’s AC Milan jersey was so simple in its design it is a classic!
AC MILAN KIT
Football Kit Links
Below is a list of links to a few websites that look at football kit design, fashion and history.
There is also a couple of decent sites where to purchase modern and retro kits.
www.footballfashionboutique.com
www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk
Hope they are of use to you.
Motherwell Away Kit
As previously mentioned in another blog (Hands Up, If You Like Macron) I let it be known I am not too chuffed with the Macron designs for this season. I thought I’d stick my neck out and make a polite suggestion for an away kit for next year!
So without further ado please find the new way kit for Motherwell F.C. 2015/2016!
Worst Motherwell Kits Ever!
Motherwell Football Club’s colours are iconic, just ask any Bradford City or A.S. Roma fan and I’m sure they’ll agree! They are officially listed as claret and amber, not maroon and orange or wine and gold. With this unique colour scheme you might think kit designers would have it easy, sadly though, some of our home and away kits have been, not to put too fine a point on it, awful.
My Motherwell F.C. worst 10 kits is listed below, with number 1 being the worst offender.
1. Adidas (H), Seasons 79-83, It was YELLOW!
2. Xara (H), Seasons 04-06, Sacrilege!, The claret chest band became white!
3 Pony (H), Seasons 96-98, That shirt! Even worse, those shorts!
4. Macron (A), Season 14-15, Those strange shoulder logos and that weird asymmetrical look.
5. Macron (H), Season 14-15, The strange shoulder logos again!
6. Patrick (H), Season 82-84, They should have reintroduced the claret band a season earlier.
7. Bukta (H), Season 08-09, Claret sleeves? No thanks.
8. Puma (H), Season 13-14, Same as 7 above with the added woe of claret side panels.
9. Puma (A), Season 10-11, Perhaps a wee bit too plain?
10. Hummel (H), Seasons 92-94, Those chevrons look black to me. We’re not Wolves you know!
World Cup 2014 Brands
Now that the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil is finally over, who has won the bragging rights as the most successful sports brand at the tournament? Was it Adidas, Nike, Puma or perhaps one of the lesser known sports brands?
Most people will undoubtedly point to Adidas and the exploits of Germany, Argentina and Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez as an indicator that the brand with three stripes was the most triumphant at the competition. Meanwhile, others will highlight the achievements of Nike’s ambassadors, the Netherlands, who achieved third place overall, including that memorable dismantling of former World Champions Spain along the way.
What if success was measured differently though? If a simple calculation of how many victories were achieved out of total appearances at the World Cup, who would be crowned best performing brand then? The table below shows each sports brand present at the 2014 World Cup and their win percentage rate out of all possible appearances.
Burrda tops the performance chart in terms of % of matches won.
As you can see the larger sport kit manufacturers such as Adidas, Nike and Puma drop down the pecking order and are replaced with Burrda and Lotto who supplied kits to Belgium and Costa Rica respectively. Both these teams reached the last eight where they were eliminated from the tournament. It makes for thoughtful reading and I wonder would the bigger brands, viewing this kind measure, consider narrowing down who they supply kit to? Imagine if Adidas had only supplied Germany and Argentina at this World Cup! Of course this is highly unlikely, as we all know that supplying team kit is only half the story, the other half, the major half is replica kit sales.
According to Forbes, and their source Fanatics, the real winners of this World Cup, in a commercial sense, despite, a 7-1 thrashing at the hands on the actual winners Germany, could be Brazil, as they topped the most popular player and team jersey sales charts.
Brazil and Nike doing well off the field!
In fact it is great news for Nike in general as, out of the top 5 player jerseys, they produce 4 of the kits and they have the right to the top 3 selling team jerseys too!
No doubt each individual sport brand present at the World Cup will provide its own evidence in due course as to why they were the most successful. For me, I’d have to say it was Adidas, but I’m sparing a thought or two for Burrda!
Hands Up, If You Like Macron?
I’ve been a Motherwell Football Club fan for far longer than I care to remember. As a club we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs both on and off the pitch.
The on-pitch disappointments you learn to live with, particularly when you are in the SPFL, scrapping for second place at best, which will soon turn to third place with the probable return of Rangers next year!
However, I have to say I was really annoyed with the decision to go with Macron kits for this season. I’ve no doubt that sound commercial sense played a part in the new kit deal and it will benefit the club greatly. But, it’s Macron and they irritate me and what’s more I know why they get up my nose so much.
I have absolutely no doubt that the quality of Macron’s sportswear is second to none; after all big name clubs like Lazio, Napoli, Sporting CP, Aston Villa and Leeds United have been only too happy to sign up with and continue to be with the Italian kit-maker that has been very successful in making in-roads in the competitive market of kit suppliers and replica kits.
So if it’s not the quality perhaps it is the design of the kits? Now we’re getting warmer! Macron’s kit designs on the whole are actually very good. Aston Villa’s home kit and the Napoli camouflage away kit for last season were excellent, well almost excellent apart from one wee thing, which is the source of my annoyance!
Macron’s “celebration” logo; it annoys me, but probably only me!
It’s the Macron logo which appears on the shoulder area of the kits they make! For me it just looks out of place and intrusive on what are generally well designed kits. Why not put it on the chest above the Macron brand name, like Adidas do with their logo and Nike do with the Swoosh? The logo too, is annoying, I guess it’s supposed to bean athlete celebrating victory (something a Motherwell fan isn’t that used too),
but it reminded me of myself on the day Macron unveiled their Motherwell kit design as I threw my hands in the air in exasperation!
What about the rest of you football kit aficionados out there, do you love or loathe the Macron logo?
Final Fantasy For Adidas
The sports clothing manufacturer Adidas must be thrilled with the outcome at the FIFA World Cup 2014 as both teams in the final will be resplendent with the famous 3 stripes brand.
It has been a mixed World Cup for Adidas. The company’s long-term relationship with FIFA was put under strain when revelations about corruption were made public regarding the awarding of the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. According to a Sky News report (see link below) the company felt strongly enough to issue a statement about its concerns regarding the negative publicity being generated about FIFA and its partners.
While the off-the-field build up to the 2014 world cup was being over-shadowed because of the company’s links with FIFA, Adidas suffered on-field embarrassment too. None more so when Spain were heavily defeated 5-1 by the Netherlands. To make matters worse the reigning World Champions were then eliminated at the group stage after a second defeat to Chile.
All that now seems in the distant past as the German giant now looks forward to a final that will not only show-case its sports kits worn by both Germany and Argentina, but also the high-profile stars of the game such as Lionel Messi and Thomas Muller who have lucrative footwear deals with Adidas. Furthermore the two aforementioned players have been prolific goal-scorers at this World Cup and both will be hoping to add to their respective goal totals to overhaul current Golden Boot favourite James Rodriguez of Columbia who also wears footwear with three stripes!
new.sky.com/story/1278019/adidas-qatar-2022-claims-damaging-sponsors
Brazil:1 – 7:Germany, Bad News for Nike?
The hopes of a nation not just dashed, but utterly crushed, as Brazil the country famed for giving the world the wonderful, flair-filled attacking football, wilted under a ruthless performance from Germany in the first semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2014.
Whilst a nation mourns for the protagonists of the “beautiful game” I wonder what the execs at Nike are thinking right now? Firstly, they will be hoping that the Netherlands do the business for them this evening in the second semi-final. I don’t think they’d cherish the thought of an all Adidas final between Germany and Argentina!
The current Brazil kit deal ends in 2018 and according to SportingIntelligence.com the deal is now the fourth most lucrative in the World and is surprisingly Nike’s third top performer, behind France and new recruits, England, who respectively occupy positions 1 and 2 in the kit deal value chart.
However, there will be genuine concern at Nike that, whilst there may not be any real commercial damage done, there could be some damage done to the its reputation.
Brazil’s famous canary yellow jersey epitomizes all that is great about football and Nike, just like any other sports brand, loved the idea of being a major part of that, particularly when things are going well. Sadly, last nights thrashing has finally revealed just how low the most successful football nation ever has sunk. The Nike-clad Brazilians displayed an astonishing lack of skill, talent and ambition compared to their Adidas-adorned opponents. The question now is, will Nike be caught up in the national hand-wringing that will undoubtedly ensue and how do they meet that challenge?
Nike could of course take the easy option and just lay low and let the CBF handle the crisis, or they could take a more brave approach and formally state their continued support for Brazil and offer any technical assistance where possible. Such a measure would probably be welcomed by the fans, who would see that, like themselves, even through the difficult times, Nike aren’t for walking away.
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