Football is huge within the UK and even across the cheap football kits. It is a custom that every Saturday and Sunday thousands of people either attend a match at their local stadium or go and watch one of the many professional teams across the UK.
The number of people that are playing grows every year and recent estimates say that over 8 million players are playing every week, that is 1 in 8 people choosing to spend their weekends participating in the game.
If we are not attending games or playing, we can quite easily catch a game on the TV over the various types of broadcasts that are now available. Any day of the week throughout the football season you can find a game of football on some form of TV channel. Gone are the days when all the games were on a Saturday, the English top flight professional games can be found at anytime during the week.
Football clubs are businesses at heart. The buying and selling of players at a profit, ticket sales, TV rights, and half time cups of tea with a burger all contribute to the profits of the club. It is because of this that clubs are able to spend so much time and money on getting their next strips outfit so right.
It seems that each year football clubs release a new range of football strips, a change in sponsor or shirt manufactures will inevitably cause a change in kit redesign. But even if there are no forced changes it is now a custom of most teams to release a new first, second or third strip, usually because they know their loyal supporters will want the latest design and go out to buy it.
Some teams even change the colour of their main home strip which does not always sit too well with fans. This happened to Cardiff city during their recent acquisition by Malaysian business man Vincent Tan. Cardiff, nicknamed ‘The bluebirds’ changed their home kit colour which was traditionally blue to red. After outrage from the fans, the colour was returned to blue again.
In the past the material the shirts were made from was either a cotton or wool based material, or mix of the two, which resulted in heavy and uncomfortable to wear. Today’s materials are a mix of polymers that now offer a light weight self wicking type material that draws sweat away from the player and will dry out quickly. A common type of polymer material is lycra.
As a sports club, whether you are an amateur club or professional, it is a big decision to change your kit for the up and coming season. It is a custom that most teams will keep the style or colour of their existing kit, but with a slight change that sometimes is not that noticeable to most. A date added to the sleeve of an arm or a slightly deeper red or blue is a typical change that most teams will adopt.
Where do you start if you want a new strip design? There are online companies that offer standard custom kits, these can be standard block colours or strips to suit the design of your team. However, there is a growing demand for a design that is different from all the rest and will make a statement for the team.
Sublimated kits are the new trend in sports wear design, companies can present virtually any design incorporating the club logo and sponsor onto high quality breathable fabric. The only real limitations is the imagination of the designer.
The next time your team requires a change that might just push them onto a promotion or cup win. Step away from the usual custom of ordering out of a brochure and look online and see what design you can come up with.
