Whilst I’ve been off getting married, the Imps have been releasing news.
It’s mainly kit based, with the first major announcement being the end of our deal with Italian shirt manufacturer Errea. We’ve partnered with Errea for several seasons now, but it’s time for a new name to come onto the scene. Adidas? Hummel? Umbro? Nope. Oxen.
Oxen appear to be part of the Elite Pro Sports group, which suggests a strengthening of our existing relationship, rather than a wholly new one. I’ve seen all sorts of comments about the move on social media; why can’t we go with a big supplier? Ultimately, a larger supplier, such as Adidas, will give the club little to no flexibility in terms of design, supply and the like. Do you know those little touches, like the cathedral in the collar of recent shirts? You wouldn’t get those with a major sports brand. That’s partly why you’ll not see us going with Adidas, Umbro, or whoever else you think might look cool.
As for EPS, the club have had a good relationship with them for a few seasons now, and whilst we haven’t seen them do a full kit for us, they have had some success with the formation range. They try to cover as many bases as possible, I think, which is why you’ll see some of their stuff and think, ‘that’s awful’. Kits are like art – the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why I won’t get excited, or upset over this announcement. My gut feeling is that the club rarely enters into a partnership that is not beneficial, and my team could play in bin bags (or worse, the 2018/19 kit) and if we won, I wouldn’t give a hoot.
What I do hope from Oxen is a little better quality than the last couple of seasons. I’ve had multiple reports of badges dropping off after a couple of washes, and the wonderful blue ‘Lincolnshire’ kit would snag when you walked within 100 feet of a nail, which is a shame. We’ve had some really great designs of late, the black away kit last season being a prime example, but they were let down, to a degree, by their longevity.
What I did notice was the announcement that Branston were going to feature on the shirts once again. They’re a good local company supporting the Imps, with a logo that I think looks good on the shirts. It’s not too garish, and either way, to have a commercial partner at all, given the economic climate, is a good thing.
That wasn’t the news – I think they’ve teased the new shirt. Now, I know we won’t reinvent the wheel as such, but look at the tweet above. We’ve had Branston on the shirt for two seasons – they featured briefly at the end of the 2021/22 season, but that was when the sponsor was printed on the shirt retrospectively. That hasn’t happened in the photo above, the sponsor is part of the shirt. It isn’t last season’s shirt either – that came with the black stripes on either side of the red. That means we’ve been given a small taste of the new shirt, in my opinion.
It’s red and white, it’s striped and judging by the thickness of those lines, it is going to be closer to 2006/07 in terms of the actual design. Of course, there’s no indication of what the little touches will be, such as collar and cuffs, nor what Oxen’s logo will look like. I wonder if there’s also a question about the club badge. I’ve noticed the old GMVC Imp (as I refer to it) featuring in the Legend’s Lounge. Could it be making a comeback?
Still lots of questions to answer, but we have begun to be teased when it comes to next season, one I am looking forward too immensely.
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