So, after this season’s first victory in League One on Saturday, and still basking in the glory of that spectacular finish by Thor, there was yet another need to ‘Bring Seshy Back’ at the Glasshouse in Stirchley. One drink led to another, and nostalgia began to kick in again, with discussions about the best choice of VHS to hire at Oscars in Rubery for a Sunday night before school started on Monday morning.
Despite all this, I managed to get back home to the present day and settled down to watch life in the fast lane of the Premiership elite on Match of the Day.
That’s when it hit me, and it hit me hard: Nike should not be producing our kit.
First of all, I want to be crystal clear… I’m not saying we should storm the club shop in protest, pitchforks in hand, demanding a change of kit supplier. There’s no need for an online petition, and we shouldn’t be planning to smuggle cabbages or turnips through the new turnstiles to throw at Garry Cook and the commercial team at half-time. But come on, surely I’m not the only one who thinks our lads would look a bit more ice-cold in those iconic three stripes?
I’m a child of the late seventies and early eighties, and I grew up when replica kits started being sold in Harry Parks. Adidas was in town, and boy, did they make an impact. The royalest of royal blue shirts, with those three white stripes on a long-sleeved shirt worn by Kevin Dillon or Frankie Worthington, were the halcyon days. I know the penguin shirt was an Umbro design before that, and I fully embraced the return of that Umbro number worn by Seb Larsson and Kevin Phillips back in the noughties, but it really was the return of Adidas (during the Dong era, of all things) that made me believe that the good times would return.
The introduction of that yellow away shirt back in August 2016 at the Bull Ring was just quality marketing that even a guy approaching his late 40s couldn’t avoid getting excited about, and I even bought the drill top that season. People may have been screaming “it’s got a sticky badge” all over social media, but a cool 30-degree cycle, and only wearing it on longer winter 10k training sessions, means it’s still in tip-top condition today.
So, back to the Match of the Day curtain-raiser for the 2024/25 season, and the graveyard games at the end of the show late on a Saturday night. There it was, the ultimate insult: the team from Witton has only gone and changed their kit suppliers to Adidas. A cut too deep to manage at that time of night. The only option was to put the TV on standby, head to bed, and hope that this bright future we are now experiencing with Knighthead can bring one more gift before we wave goodbye to St Andrew’s.
I just want to see us back in an Adidas kit. I know it’s a lot to ask. I understand the commercial implications of telling Nike Inc. to take a jog, but surely, if you whisper it, there’s an Adidas business development manager in the UK who can see that “The Project” has one more missing piece to ensure success is inevitable before we head to Wheels Park.
I know that removing the shackles of the swoosh could be a longer-term project, yet I can see a compromise on the horizon for next season (and beyond). Umbro used to be under the wider Nike portfolio, and this is something I think most Bluenoses can relate to. It could be memories of Trevor Francis, Bob Hatton, or even Cameron Jerome that ignite those memories of previous successes on a cold Tuesday night at Anfield, but a return to a football supplier has to be the way forward.
Look, I get it. Nike is all about that cutting-edge, sleek design, and of course, there are natural US and CEO connections, but there’s just something about those old-school Adidas kits that tugs at the heartstrings. Surely we can bring back a little Adidas magic, right?
So, this is a plea to the commercial team. The scoreboards, the food trucks, the logistics suppliers are huge steps forward for a club in the third tier of English football, and I’m embracing it all, but can we just think about the kids? The 8-year-old kid that I was when Jim Smith was taking us to 4-3 wins over Forest, and the 8-year-olds now thinking about Alfie May poaching goals at Adams Park. Do they really want to be looking at a swoosh or three white stripes?
Also, if we are expecting the return of Jude to spearhead our push to the Champions League places when Wheels Park opens, the Adidas account manager looking after Jude would also have a few supporting words to back a certain Mr Gardner during the negotiations… The more I think about it, the more this looks like an inevitability!