O'Neills - New Kit Supplier (Confirmed)

[ollywhyte]

20 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Please tell me for what away game is it where we can't wear either the red or yellow shirts? 

Training kits are essential. 

There’s definitely been a cock up somewhere mate that’s clear as day. Whether it’s a last minute change of plans etc who knows. You just wouldn’t randomly produce every bit of kit we could possibly need, including 3 keeper kits, various training items, jackets, polo shirts the list goes on and simply neglect the away.

By your logic they may as well of just called the third shirt the away and no one would have cared about waiting for a third as there just wouldn’t have been a rush or need for it. 100% the intention would have been to have the shirts ready by now, promo video released and available for fans to purchase as our only ‘new’ release of the summer. They’ve had one shirt to design since February ffs. I’m not blaming O’Neils as I believe we’ve insisted on whatever change is being made.

Luckily as you mentioned the shirt colour combinations we have mean we won’t need this away shirt with any real promptness, but it’s pretty poor of it isn’t ready ahead of the season.

[W-S-M Seagull]

54 minutes ago, ollywhyte said:

There’s definitely been a cock up somewhere mate that’s clear as day. Whether it’s a last minute change of plans etc who knows. You just wouldn’t randomly produce every bit of kit we could possibly need, including 3 keeper kits, various training items, jackets, polo shirts the list goes on and simply neglect the away.

By your logic they may as well of just called the third shirt the away and no one would have cared about waiting for a third as there just wouldn’t have been a rush or need for it. 100% the intention would have been to have the shirts ready by now, promo video released and available for fans to purchase as our only ‘new’ release of the summer. They’ve had one shirt to design since February ffs. I’m not blaming O’Neils as I believe we’ve insisted on whatever change is being made.

Luckily as you mentioned the shirt colour combinations we have mean we won’t need this away shirt with any real promptness, but it’s pretty poor of it isn’t ready ahead of the season.

I've given a pretty reasoned argument as to why I believe it's not yet ready. I can see no evidence that it's been delayed due to a cock up. Just a lot of hot air with no substance. 

All the other stuff you've mentioned, we need and that's what I simply believe it's come down to, priority of need. I think some people think that thousands of shirts can be produced in minutes. 

Of course the intention is that you have all 3 of your shirts on sale for the first home game plus merchandise but I think most are forgetting that we've only been with O'neills since Feb and they have had a mammoth task producing kits for all of our teams, plus merchandise to sell and on top of that will be working on producing Bears stuff too. 

As I've said before, Hummel have only just delivered Coventry home shirts for the team (minus sponsorship logos) they've not released an away or third kid which they are going to need for Sunday and fans won't be able to get their hands on a shirt until after the 3rd game of the season or something. Coventry signed their new deal with the new UK distributor in February.

SportsPro have had since Feb to design and produce the stuff for Coventry and they've still not got it. 

O'Neills managed to produce kits for all of our teams pretty quickly and then made them availabile to buy.

So whilst our situation isn't ideal, when you look at it within the context that Coventry have worse supply issues than us then O'Neills haven't done too badly at all.

 

[Taz]

9 hours ago, MarcusX said:

This has passed with no reply or reaction…

Anyone gonna ask, source? Or a wind up 

Perhaps a lot of people have said user on ignore so haven't actually seen it. I know I didn't...

[soultrader]

9 hours ago, Mendip City said:

Is it me or do we have “supply issues” with every kit manufacturer??? What’s the common denominator here…?? 

Football shirts?

[soultrader]

Genuinely would not be upset if the away kit was blue.   Could use it to reclaim Bristol Blue.

As someone mentioned earlier would also be good to see some street art variant.  I think an Inkie shirt would be spot on

[1960maaan]

8 hours ago, Ghost Rider said:

So you think they’ve made the conscious decision to release a 3rd kit before an away kit?

Maybe because of the need for rushed kits, they called it the 3rd kit so they could have a proper launch for the away kit, with a proper design/trial/snagging/signoff/delivery period. 
It's not like we have never had a delay on the delivery of a shirt / kit before. 

[Unan]

Unrelated but with Banksy being a ciderhead I’ve always wondered why we’ve never reached out, even if all profits went to charity (probably a sticking point), it would be iconic.

[soultrader]

23 minutes ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

Unrelated but with Banksy being a ciderhead I’ve always wondered why we’ve never reached out, even if all profits went to charity (probably a sticking point), it would be iconic.

Think how many shirts club would sell if had Banksy design?

Truly a USP of the club

 

Could start a tradition.   Always have the 3rd kit as a different street artist

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

Unrelated but with Banksy being a ciderhead I’ve always wondered why we’ve never reached out, even if all profits went to charity (probably a sticking point), it would be iconic.

Perhaps he did one with Mark Ashton on it and they weren’t impressed?

[spudski]

1 hour ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

Unrelated but with Banksy being a ciderhead I’ve always wondered why we’ve never reached out, even if all profits went to charity (probably a sticking point), it would be iconic.

Charity would be a good idea. 

The media attention would probably draw more money in than shirt sales. 

https://www.banksy.co.uk/licensing.html

[Spike]

16 hours ago, MarcusX said:

The problem I had with Bristol Sport kits, and I had a few of them, is that each year it would be a completely different material and fit. There was no continuity, I'd buy the same size and on one shirt it was baggy and the other it was too tight. We may as well have had a different brand each year. In terms of quality, they've lasted, but I dont wear them as much tbh

With the likes of Adidas, and more so with Hummel as again I had a few of them, the fit was the same each year. I've got 2 years of keeper shirts and a home shirt and they all fitted as I expected.

Yeah I can understand that with Bristol Sport but I think that came with it being "in-house" and them struggling to find the right people to actually make them, no excuses obviously but it's a shame they couldn't continue and try to fix that issue by finding a good supplier.

With O'Neills, I just don't think they're capable of supplying us with what we need. Bristol Sport and Hummell both delivered on the design aspect, Adidas delivered quality but failed on the supply  and the club dropped the ball on the designs, Puma I think fulfilled what we needed but the templates were a little "meh". 

One thing I do wonder when it comes to kit supply is why we've never gone back to Umbro. Umbro make high quality kits, and the designs are usually classy, clean and on brand. 

I keep playing with already released Umbro templates and in the last 10 minutes made these and it just makes me frustrated that this is something Umbro could put in place instantly as the templates are already there, no 18 months to design etc, it would just be printing using things they already have in place.

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

4 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah I can understand that with Bristol Sport but I think that came with it being "in-house" and them struggling to find the right people to actually make them, no excuses obviously but it's a shame they couldn't continue and try to fix that issue by finding a good supplier.

With O'Neills, I just don't think they're capable of supplying us with what we need. Bristol Sport and Hummell both delivered on the design aspect, Adidas delivered quality but failed on the supply  and the club dropped the ball on the designs, Puma I think fulfilled what we needed but the templates were a little "meh". 

One thing I do wonder when it comes to kit supply is why we've never gone back to Umbro. Umbro make high quality kits, and the designs are usually classy, clean and on brand. 

I keep playing with already released Umbro templates and in the last 10 minutes made these and it just makes me frustrated that this is something Umbro could put in place instantly as the templates are already there, no 18 months to design etc, it would just be printing using things they already have in place.

 

They made some fantastic kits for the Bears. However there must be a very good commercial reason as to why the Bears have moved from Umbro to O'Neills. 

I guess it's probably something to do with the financials. Whilst Umbro made some fantastic kits for them, if the Bears were barely making any money from the sales then from a commercial perspective it's not ideal is it? 

I'd imagine the profit margin is bigger with someone like O'Neills than it is with a big brand like Umbro. Especially if the whole Bristol Sport group has done a collective deal with O'Neills. 

[exAtyeoMax]

Just now, W-S-M Seagull said:

They made some fantastic kits for the Bears. However there must be a very good commercial reason as to why the Bears have moved from Umbro to O'Neills. 

I guess it's probably something to do with the financials. Whilst Umbro made some fantastic kits for them, if the Bears were barely making any money from the sales then from a commercial perspective it's not ideal is it? 

I'd imagine the profit margin is bigger with someone like O'Neills than it is with a big brand like Umbro. Especially if the whole Bristol Sport group has done a collective deal with O'Neills. 

Only if people buy the kit…

[W-S-M Seagull]

9 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Only if people buy the kit…

Apart from the splat (which isn't down to O'Neills) there is nothing wrong with the 3rd shirt and I'd buy it if it had our proper badge on. Nothing wrong with the GK kits either. 

I get the issues people have with the collars on the home shirt but I've seen plenty of examples where the collars have been fine. I think it's worth remembering that the home shirt was incredibly rushed. 

I suspect there will be absolutely zero problems with the rugby stuff that O'Neills produce for the Bears. 

I'm also expecting big things of the away kit. 

[soultrader]

28 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah I can understand that with Bristol Sport but I think that came with it being "in-house" and them struggling to find the right people to actually make them, no excuses obviously but it's a shame they couldn't continue and try to fix that issue by finding a good supplier.

With O'Neills, I just don't think they're capable of supplying us with what we need. Bristol Sport and Hummell both delivered on the design aspect, Adidas delivered quality but failed on the supply  and the club dropped the ball on the designs, Puma I think fulfilled what we needed but the templates were a little "meh". 

One thing I do wonder when it comes to kit supply is why we've never gone back to Umbro. Umbro make high quality kits, and the designs are usually classy, clean and on brand. 

I keep playing with already released Umbro templates and in the last 10 minutes made these and it just makes me frustrated that this is something Umbro could put in place instantly as the templates are already there, no 18 months to design etc, it would just be printing using things they already have in place.

 

Aren't Umbro owned by Nike nowadays?

Didn't Nike buy them cos of Wayne Rooney sponsorship deal?

[Barrs Court Red]

Just now, soultrader said:

Aren't Umbro owned by Nike nowadays?

Didn't Nike buy them cos of Wayne Rooney sponsorship deal?

They are, and Umbro don’t actually make anything. It’s literally a brand.  If this model differs from the other big guys, I don’t know. 

[Red Army 75]

 

[petehinton]

very weak and pathetic statement/‘explanation’, that, from whoever gave it

[soultrader]

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/city-men-news/bristol-city-kit-update/?fbclid=IwAR3_NPk-oNI4GrU7ALkAQ2DKfaV8Gbq91b2XlKTFCA7xNKsakLbCG3B_9OY

[phantom]

12 hours ago, ollywhyte said:

Will come out in time I’m sure but IMO we have had a last minute change of heart due to the backlash of the third kit and have now decided against using the splat robin and/or the blue rumoured colour

Can’t imagine it’s an O’Neills cock up, whatever we think of their brand/quality, we can at least give them credit for turning over two kits in February when we needed them promptly 

Hate to say but the above is just a case of 2+2=5

[Henry]

10 minutes ago, petehinton said:

very weak and pathetic statement/‘explanation’, that, from whoever gave it

We tried to get away with it, now how do we ‘apologise’ by saying as little as possible.

It’s not ‘design element’ if you’ve used it instead of the badge and plastered it everywhere.

Pathetic.

[Spike]

32 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

They made some fantastic kits for the Bears. However there must be a very good commercial reason as to why the Bears have moved from Umbro to O'Neills. 

I guess it's probably something to do with the financials. Whilst Umbro made some fantastic kits for them, if the Bears were barely making any money from the sales then from a commercial perspective it's not ideal is it? 

I'd imagine the profit margin is bigger with someone like O'Neills than it is with a big brand like Umbro. Especially if the whole Bristol Sport group has done a collective deal with O'Neills. 

I mean this is fair but in order to make the profits you need to sell the kits, I am not buying anything this season for the first time in 25 years and I'm a big fan of football kits, I mean I even worked in designing them and have produced some for teams IRL, if you can't sell something to me you're getting a lot wrong. Of course, this is just my personal opinion but I would say the awful Robin, quality issues and the general reception towards O'Neills in general so far would suggest I'm not alone.

[cider hoss rules]

12 hours ago, ollywhyte said:

Will come out in time I’m sure but IMO we have had a last minute change of heart due to the backlash of the third kit and have now decided against using the splat robin and/or the blue rumoured colour

Can’t imagine it’s an O’Neills cock up, whatever we think of their brand/quality, we can at least give them credit for turning over two kits in February when we needed them promptly 

I’m sure I read somewhere that the ‘image’ used on the third kit was a one off with regards to shirt badges?

[Ian M]

By designating the upcoming shirt as “the away shirt,” we have placed greater emphasis on the fact that it has not yet been released. In reality, we have already been provided with a home strip and a change strip, and it is only the club’s designation of these kits that has created this sense of anticipation. If the kit we were waiting for had been designated as the “third” kit, its release in September would not have garnered as much attention. In my opinion, this approach was taken to increase the importance (and potentially sales) of the September release, as this will be a one-season shirt, compared to the other strips being 1.5 season strips following the collapse of Hummel UK.

It's also my hope that our kits with O'Neills will improve over time. If you consider that kit releases are normally a 12-18month process and O'Neills provided the two we have already on very short notice, allied to the fact they don't have a long history of providing football kits, it stands to reason that in time they will improve.

[W-S-M Seagull]

18 minutes ago, phantom said:

Hate to say but the above is just a case of 2+2=5

It's almost as if some people don't understand that football kits actually have to be made, in a factory, which takes time. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

23 minutes ago, Spike said:

I mean this is fair but in order to make the profits you need to sell the kits, I am not buying anything this season for the first time in 25 years and I'm a big fan of football kits, I mean I even worked in designing them and have produced some for teams IRL, if you can't sell something to me you're getting a lot wrong. Of course, this is just my personal opinion but I would say the awful Robin, quality issues and the general reception towards O'Neills in general so far would suggest I'm not alone.

I'm not going to pretend to know the financials of kit supplier deals, all I know is that from a big brand like Umbro(Nike) a club gets a very small cut. 

You could potentially sell half the amount of shirts with O'Neills but make more money plus have less administrative costs. 

I think there is a lot of snobbery around the O’Neills brand.

[Norn Iron]

43 minutes ago, soultrader said:

Aren't Umbro owned by Nike nowadays?

Didn't Nike buy them cos of Wayne Rooney sponsorship deal?

 

42 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

They are, and Umbro don’t actually make anything. It’s literally a brand.  If this model differs from the other big guys, I don’t know. 

Nope. Not any more. Nike no longer own Umbro. It is a brand based in the UK but owned by an American company....not Nike.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Norn Iron

[ExiledAjax]

44 minutes ago, petehinton said:

very weak and pathetic statement/‘explanation’, that, from whoever gave it

It's a better explanation than the last one but it frustrates me that there's nothing about why these issues occur.

Why is the away kit delayed until September?

Why are we using a "motif" or "design element" instead of our Club crest?

Why did they proceed with using/selling home shirts with clearly defective collars?

There's also nothing concrete about how these issues will be avoided in the future. So it's better, but it's still pretty lightweight and non-committal.

[WarksRobin]

For all the progress off the field, our performance on kits and merchandising is so poor it beggars belief. Surely somebody at the club recognises this, and the resulting loss of revenue. 

[Not Banksy]

At least they’ve acknowledged it… but you’re right.. fine saying that things are delayed and stock was defected… but why? Seems like a box tick more than anything else