Newy
I agree the home shirt is a strange red (almost Spanish) in the photos and is not a typical Boro kit, maybe the sponsor made the decision on their own logo.
The reason for the polka dots on the away strip is historic and to many long term fans that historic tradition is important in an anniversary year. Many Boro fans had older now gone generations who followed the Boro before Ayresome Park. That makes us different to some other clubs whose fan bases shift with the sands. The top is already one of my favourite away tops and it will sell well.
The dots don't dominate the strip. I haven't seen the shorts and socks but how many adult fans buy the shirts and socks?
I remember the complaints in 1996/97 about the home and away kits - they are not Boro kits the fans said, where is the white band! the away kits why did they get rid of the blue and black strips! why are they so expensive (upgrade in material), why are they so plasticky - now many fans say the 1996/7 kits are their most favourite kits ever!
Redwurzel
I understand why the polka dots feature on the panels of the preston shirt. I know which shirt it came from and I don’t think it does that shirt the justice it deserves. I very much understand historic tradition and the language that design can create and the story that it can tell. I understand our club’s identity and where design elements place in our history and what they mean.
Trying to tell me what makes us different from other clubs when we have anniversary year shirts nigh on identical to other clubs in our division (or lower) is a little bit misguided to say the least. I’m frustrated because I feel like we have been sold short and a fantastic opportunity has been wasted.
I remember the 20 years of complaints regarding the crest.. many of which could have been resolved with a simple tweak of how the crest was presented. Yes butt ugly shirts do sometime become cult favourites in years to come through nostalgia.. but many more shirt become iconic through strong design and they reverberate through the wider football community. The opportunity to be seen for what we are and what we can be has been lost.. we’ve made ourselves small and quiet. A longstanding punchline of cutting corners and cheap fixes.
There is a plethora of design language available to us that we have once again failed to communicate. Our identity of who we are, where we have come from and what we are capable of being. Instead it’s the vertical pier, the demolished dorman long tower.. the plastic ALDI supermarket where the Infirmary once stood.. we’re a car park in place of an art deco theatre or a gothic gem from 1864.
It doesn’t matter tho.
The home kit resembles a McDonalds giveaway shirt, it’s ketchup and mustard, it’s fast food. the dark red maroon from 1885 would have given the shirt an elegance and richness befitting of a 150 year old club with a genuine history, back from the dead in 86 and into a European cup final only 20 years later. The first instance of this configuration was in 1969.. the god was a bold move.. but it just doesn’t follow through. (Unless we’re talking shart) The away kit is a Preston kit.. nigh on identical bar a few tipped spots on the panels.. not even on the collar (which made the 1886 kit so unique) it also had navy shorts and socks btw. Maybe we are paying homage to the white clad EUFA final victors Seville in our 4-0 defeat? The theme continues with our yellow Oxford kit.. again a tip of the hat to European defeat.. losing 2–0 away to Villareal in the group stage on 2 December 2004.
Finally our 150th Anniversary kit the golden thread would have made this kit pop. This one is actually my favourite.. but the lack of care and attention to the others have taken the shine away from it. Consigned to a home game against Wolves at the Riverside and giving off a heavy whiff of Millwall and Rangers.
Anyway, I’m not even bothered. To quote a fine man “it is what it is”
