O'Neills - New Kit Supplier (Confirmed)

[Agard Days Night]

1 hour ago, nickolas said:

Asked the chap there. Said blimey its empty, saturday is gunna be fun. Any new deliveries? He said ‘dont think so’.

But nobody likes it or wants to buy it so they’re just ordering in as much as meets demand. Clever stock control practice at play, credit where it’s due BCFC. 

[Not Banksy]

Just a thought .. Thinking about it.. have they pulled the kit as it had the splat on it.. surely releasing in September was never the plan… they must have seen how much people hated it after the third kit came out… seems a bit of a mad situation to not have an away kit this long after the deal was made with oneills 

[W-S-M Seagull]

4 hours ago, sticks 1969 said:

Who ever is in charge should be sacked 

I think that's a bit harsh. We've only been with O'Neills for 5/6 months. There was no time for them to prepare for a ramp up in production etc. It was straight in at the deep end and I genuinely believe O'Neills have done the best they could do. The away kit not being released until Sept was probably agreed before hand. Could even be a marketing reason for it. 

However who ever thought the splat was a good idea should be sacked. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

Could be worse, could still be with Hummel.

[Selred]

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

Could be worse, could still be with Hummel.

 

Is it worse? We are saying literally the same thing.

[MarcusX]

9 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I think that's a bit harsh. We've only been with O'Neills for 5/6 months. There was no time for them to prepare for a ramp up in production etc. It was straight in at the deep end and I genuinely believe O'Neills have done the best they could do. The away kit not being released until Sept was probably agreed before hand. Could even be a marketing reason for it. 

However who ever thought the splat was a good idea should be sacked. 

Do you work for O'Neills? 

[BCFCAL]

18 hours ago, phantom said:

Old Hummel UK Bankrupt: Bristol City Switch Kit Makers During Season & Release 23-24 Home Kit - Footy Headlines

Club Chairman Jon Lansdown has expressed his delight in the new partnership, stating that O'Neills' products are manufactured within the UK, a rarity in the industry, which benefits the sustainability point of view, and ensures a strong supply chain of products for both the squad and supporters throughout the year.

Strong supply chain of products don't look that strong at the minute!

[BCFCAL]

19 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

We literally ran out of kits to use. So what else were we to do? 

Elite Sports didn't just go bust over night. They were in big trouble for a long time before that. Maybe watch the Hashtag United video that was posted which may give an insight as to why it wasn't restocked! 

I haven't seen that video, I'll give it a watch. I just think if all the other clubs managed, why couldn't we? - Beforehand obviously, not once they were bust and we couldn't receive any more kits, maybe a contingency plan like I'm guessing the other clubs had. Agree with the point of companies don't go bust overnight, could City not have looked into it and spoken to Hummel perhaps before going into what I think was a 6 year deal? Maybe the video will give me them answers I suppose, interesting to find out though and hopefully both of these situations City learn from. Multiple people/organizations at fault I think personally

[phantom]

11 hours ago, Not Banksy said:

Just a thought .. Thinking about it.. have they pulled the kit as it had the splat on it.. surely releasing in September was never the plan… they must have seen how much people hated it after the third kit came out… seems a bit of a mad situation to not have an away kit this long after the deal was made with oneills 

No, kit wasn't "pulled" because of the "splat" 

September was never the plan - but sometimes things are outside the clubs control

[Sir Geoff]

11 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I think that's a bit harsh. We've only been with O'Neills for 5/6 months. There was no time for them to prepare for a ramp up in production etc. It was straight in at the deep end and I genuinely believe O'Neills have done the best they could do. The away kit not being released until Sept was probably agreed before hand. Could even be a marketing reason for it. 

However who ever thought the splat was a good idea should be sacked. 

Surely any contract with them would stipulate that x number of shirts would be available for retail by x date. Also that the Away kit would be available to both the club and fans before x date.

If they were unable to agree to that then we should have moved on to the next kit manufacturer. 

All seems pretty amateur to me and looks like we jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.

[RedRock]

45 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Surely any contract with them would stipulate that x number of shirts would be available for retail by x date. Also that the Away kit would be available to both the club and fans before x date.

If they were unable to agree to that then we should have moved on to the next kit manufacturer. 

All seems pretty amateur to me and looks like we jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.

Any decent contract would have penalty clauses relating to failure to meet specified requirements, timings, quantities and quality being critical performance measures. 
 
Suspect the Club won’t lose out financially on their supplier’s performance, or lack of it.

The ‘loss’, aside from O’Neills likely financial and reputational damage, is for the fans. The Club should’ve understood this, and should’ve been far more open and apologetic with us about the situation. Think fans would have been far less critical of the situation if that had taken place. Most of us understand the position that Hummel left us (although that’s largely due to Hash Tags video, nothing that our Club has done ) and the need for patience/tolerance while the mess was sorted out. 

‘Splat’, however, would appear exclusively of our own making, which is unfortunate. 

Time for a Nigel-type person to move in to oversee our commercial, design and communications teams and get some of the basics sorted.

[Henry]

1 hour ago, phantom said:

No, kit wasn't "pulled" because of the "splat" 

September was never the plan - but sometimes things are outside the clubs control

Did you ask why there was a delay?

[lenred]

1 hour ago, phantom said:

No, kit wasn't "pulled" because of the "splat" 

September was never the plan - but sometimes things are outside the clubs control

What things though?  
Not sure what that huge secret around it is - especially if it’s not the clubs fault? If it is supply line issues why the secret squirrel approach.   Club should just come out and say it surely? Surely honesty is the best policy?  
Or are they embarrassed that they left a high quality kit producer due to apparent supply issues and so feel they cannot go public with that excuse? Just seems odd that it’s so shrouded in secrecy and as such is probably being made into something that it really doesn’t have to be made into.    

[SecretSam]

On 02/08/2023 at 13:15, BCFCAL said:

I didn't want to blame it all on City. There was about 20 clubs in the UK that were using Hummel and therefore being distributed by Elite Sports, I'm pretty sure that City were the only ones to change kit mid-season.

Away kits last year also weren't replenished prior to Elite Sports going bust, it was because it's all done off of statistics and due to a lower selling away kit the year before, that's why it wasn't restocked prior to Elite Sports going bust. And that was actually a lovely kit, and I wish I had managed to get my hands on it before it going out of stock. Hopefully this season's away kit is similar to make up for it.

Last year's away kit under Hummel was indeed a thing of beauty. Sigh.

[SecretSam]

20 hours ago, barno73 said:

Just came across this offering from Salford City-

Bit of charity

Bit of pop culture 

Easy on the eye……

Sorry, but that's crap. Looks like a JD Sports special with a badge and sponsor. Pretty naff. TBH, I never liked any of the Adidas designs when we had them, especially not the hated Star Trek kit. Template hell.

[CyderInACan]

3 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

Last year's away kit under Hummel was indeed a thing of beauty. Sigh.

The Orange & Grey 3rd kit was an absolute work of art. One of the best f'rages. 

[Bris Red]

33 minutes ago, RedRock said:

 

Time for a Nigel-type person to move in to oversee our commercial, design and communications teams and get some of the basics sorted.

Indeed. It’s something that i thought the club was getting better at but clearly not.

The club shop is also something that needs a complete overhaul/re-think. Not fit for purpose and is far too small. We have a sizeable modern 27,000 seater stadium with a tiny understocked shop, it’s an embarrassment that needs sorting.

[SecretSam]

Still, there's always the alternatives from other Championship clubs...the Boro home kit is truly nasty, ditto all Watfords.

Plymouth's, though, are very smart.

Championship kits

[Clevedon Red]

14 minutes ago, Bris Red said:

Indeed. It’s something that i thought the club was getting better at but clearly not.

The club shop is also something that needs a complete overhaul/re-think. Not fit for purpose and is far too small. We have a sizeable modern 27,000 seater stadium with a tiny understocked shop, it’s an embarrassment that needs sorting.

Isn’t there going to be a new shop when the sports quarter is developed?

[MarcusX]

40 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

Still, there's always the alternatives from other Championship clubs...the Boro home kit is truly nasty, ditto all Watfords.

Plymouth's, though, are very smart.

Championship kits

Southampton's are my favourite I think there

[CyderInACan]

1 hour ago, Clevedon Red said:

Isn’t there going to be a new shop when the sports quarter is developed?

Yes. But they've not even started demolishing Wickes etc yet so that will be a good while yet. 

[Spike]

Completely off subject but I was interested to see what our kits could look like if supplied by another company so I made some:

Adidas:
 

Errea:

 

Macron:

 

 

New Balance: 

 

 

Nike:

 

 

Puma:

 

 

Umbro:

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Spike

[Pickle Rick]

That Leeds kit

https://www.footballkitarchive.com/leeds-united-2023-24-away-kit/

[phantom]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Completely off subject but I was interested to see what our kits could look like if supplied by another company so I made some:

Adidas:
 

Errea:

 

Macron:

 

 

New Balance: 

 

 

Nike:

 

 

Puma:

 

 

Umbro:

 

You need a hobby mate 

[SouthStand Sandwich]

2 hours ago, Spike said:

Completely off subject but I was interested to see what our kits could look like if supplied by another company so I made some:

Adidas:
 

Errea:

 

Macron:

 

 

New Balance: 

 

 

Nike:

 

 

Puma:

 

 

Umbro:

 

 

[SouthStand Sandwich]

Nice. It’s between the Umbro and new balance for me. Great work. Begs the question how talentless is JL and his design goons in coming up with this seasons clusterfk of O’Neill monstrosities…

[Agard Days Night]

2 hours ago, Spike said:

Completely off subject but I was interested to see what our kits could look like if supplied by another company so I made some:

Adidas:
 

Errea:

 

Macron:

 

 

New Balance: 

 

 

Nike:

 

 

Puma:

 

 

Umbro:

 

Goes to show it’s not that easy!

[Spike]

1 hour ago, phantom said:

You need a hobby mate 

The irony.... 

I make kits as a hobby, I have even had some of mine put into production so I guess I have a hobby?

6 minutes ago, Agard Days Night said:

Goes to show it’s not that easy!

I restricted the designs to templates from each company. So essentially they are each company templates recoloured with our colours. My idea was to test which companies' templates look good and which don't. When it comes to designing a good kit for us, I'd personally keep it simple and look at the bespoke stuff like Hummel and Bristol Sport did, which is one of the reasons I'm so confused that we've got it that wrong this season as Bristol Sport got a lot right.

[RedRock]

1 hour ago, Agard Days Night said:

Goes to show it’s not that easy!

Well, personally, I think they’re a lot better than our third shirt effort. Goes to show it is easy, particularly with such a low bar having been set by our Club.

[Agard Days Night]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

The irony.... 

I make kits as a hobby, I have even had some of mine put into production so I guess I have a hobby?

I restricted the designs to templates from each company. So essentially they are each company templates recoloured with our colours. My idea was to test which companies' templates look good and which don't. When it comes to designing a good kit for us, I'd personally keep it simple and look at the bespoke stuff like Hummel and Bristol Sport did, which is one of the reasons I'm so confused that we've got it that wrong this season as Bristol Sport got a lot right.

Follow a template but make it bespoke. Right.