Lincoln City dropped the new away kit yesterday, and it landed with a mixed reaction. Part of the problem was that it was a kit being announced, and not a 6ft 5in Romanian defender.
That’s a problem for me, but some fans had whipped themselves up into a frenzy expecting we’d announce a player now, rather than 48 hours closer to our next pre-season friendly. When the Dortmund-style away kit dropped, it did so with a whiff of disappointment across some supporters.
I am a kit lover, someone who buys almost every shirt and rarely wears them. I’m not a huge lover of away kits, but I can appreciate a nice kit. However, what I think is nice, others might not. With kits, like fashion and art, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and therefore you might think something is nasty, and others love it. To underline my case, some people bought the white ‘paint splatter’ kit a couple of seasons ago. Urgh.
There is a story behind the kit, which is as follows.
“It combines a powerful anthracite base with vibrant flashes of yellow, bringing together two contrasting elements to create a kit that reflects the character of the city, the club and its supporters.
“Inspired by anthracite – the kit represents the foundations on which Lincoln City has been built. Strong, resilient and uncompromising, it pays tribute to the determination that has defined generations of Imps supporters through every challenge and every triumph.
“Bold, energetic and impossible to ignore, the yellow accents symbolise the passion, ambition and intensity that ignite the club on matchdays. The Yellowbellies of Lincolnshire will, quite literally, have yellow bellies as they represent the county around the country.
“From the first whistle to the final moments, it reflects the energy generated by players on the pitch and supporters in the stands.”
I take my hat off to the club for trying to tell a story every season but, honestly, at some point you just have to put your hands up and say ‘we made a kit that’s different from previous seasons that looks good to us’. Three (or four) shirts a season just cannot all tell a story; it’s that simple. Some might say ‘it matches the stands’ and that be enough of a story.
So, narrative aside, what does this shirt look like? If you like yellow on black, Dortmund style, then you’re lucky. I do. I get vibes of ‘night match’ with the floodlights (yellow) and the shadows left in the dark. It’s striking, and the sponsor looks decent as well. People moaning about the sponsor should remember the function. A football shirt, as much as you and I want it to be, is not art and it’s not fashion. It’s so we can tell which players are ours on a field, and it’s to bring in revenue. If it looks decent in the meantime, great.
Some people will buy it, some won’t. Some people will moan ours is low quality, when not actually owning one from another club; others will laud us having the cheapest shirt in the Championship. Like everything these days, it divides; we debate, some buy it, some don’t, life goes on.
Me? I think this could be one of the best ever, but I love a black away kit. I liked the 2022/23 season, with the thin red pinstripe, and the 2020/21 season, the Peregrine black. Hell, I even like the Eric Cantona-era black Man Utd shirt, and I don’t like Man Utd.
I do wonder if some might think Oxen got a good deal of the dyes and material, given the Leeds Rhinos away kit for the upcoming season, but of course, that would just be the cynic in me.
If you’re inclined to buy a Lincoln City away shirt, you can do so here.
Comments Welcome!