Email gone to the commercial dept:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write this email a little bewildered as to how the new home shirt has been deemed fit for release with a plain white back.
We changed to stripes before everybody's lifetime, in 1894 and in that time have NEVER had a plain white back. We have had two shirts with a plain red back.
Sheffield United play in RED and WHITE, we're the Red and White Wizards, if you ask a neutral what colour we play in the answer is Red, or Red & White. Red is always the first colour associated with our team and it is the most dominant colour. If you speak to folk in different cities, they say "are you Blades or Owls"? or "red or blue?" It's not "Are you White or Blue".
What has happened is we now have a shirt that is WHITE and RED. The main colour is white. This now means we can't wear our traditional kit at places like Leeds United, Derby County or Preston NE, we will be forced to change into our away shirt.
From the front, the green sponsor aside, the shirt looks really nice, the white sleeves are a welcome and unique change to our kit. It's something fresh and new. The stripes are a perfect width and look like a proper blades kit from 50s, 60s and 80s (the 70s were thicker with black introduced). But then you see the back and it's like looking at the back of an away shirt.
I would like you to please answer as to why this was sanctioned by the club without first consulting the Fans? After all, who is the shirt for, other than the fans? They are the ones that you want to market this for aren't they?
If it is Adidas who are calling the shots on a plain back, why isn't it RED, our MAIN colour? Why didn't you consult the fans if they wanted a Red or White back?
If Adidas aren't calling the shots and SUFC had a choice in the matter, why aren't the stripes continued onto the back? The identity of the club has been torn away. Next season we are a team that play in solid white, with 5 red stripes on the front.
Soon after the release, a vote was put up on the blades forum S24SU, as I type this (20:43, 29/06/18) the current voting is as follows:
- Striped back 161 votes (93%)
- Red back 7 votes (4%)
- White back 5 votes (3%)
The voting has been open just 4 hours. Here's the thread -
https://s24su.com/forum/index.php?threads/kit-vote.64652/
Read the comments under the official tweet from the club. For every 1 person who likes it, there are 5 questioning the back, or the green sponsor -
Then, compare the comments with last seasons release, hardly any negative comments :
In today's era of social media, It is truly baffling as to how/why, you didn't consult the fans before releasing a plain white back.
Please reconsider changing the back of the kit to stripes, or even a solid red back, if it must be solid.
It's not too late, please do it for the fans, without us, there is no club.
I would appreciate a response as to your thoughts on this matter.
Yours Faithfully
Roger Nilsen
