Perspective….

I’ve taken my time putting this post together, as I’m sure some folks will take umbrage with its content…

Recently, we had the launch of the 2013/14 playing jerseys. Always a popular event amongst Phoenix fans, you can be sure that it will promote some form of debate amongst the Faithful in its aftermath.

And it has.

It would seem that this seasons design and colour choices have upset a proportion of the Phoenix fanbase rather more than usual. As per usual, the designs selected are somewhat ‘busy’, featuring multiple colours and patterns. The selected colour schemes are as follows:

League: Home – Red/White/Black, Away – Black/Blue/White, Warm Up – Black/Red

Cup: Home/Away – Purple/White/Black.

It should be noted that on the league home and away jerseys, the surnames of all early bird season ticket holders will be incorporated into the design (this can be seen on the launch jersey photos on the official website). This appears to be one bone of contention. Some fans don’t like it. As it stands, the font used is a little large (something that the club has noted will be changed), and the names are probably a little more pronounced than expected, being in a quite bright shade of grey.

The cup shirts seem to have drawn the most ire, however, due to their similarity in design and colour scheme, with both of them employing the purple as the predominant shade. It has been confirmed that the ‘home’ cup jersey will be altered to be predominantly white after discussions with the league.

Whilst people disliking the jerseys is not a new phenomenon (shit, every Phoenix jersey since the originals back in 2003 has drawn criticism from someone), the level of vitriol this time is far beyond anything we have seen before. OK, so people don’t like the colours and/or design choices. That’s fine, it really is. But calling up the office and being nasty to Mags and the other staff is bang out of order. Seriously, Mags, Pete, and the rest have nothing to do with the jersey designs.  These decisions are taken by Neil Morris, in conjunction with the designers he chooses to work with. And ultimately, if he likes the designs, then that’s the designs we will get. Sure, feedback after jersey launches has lead to minor alterations being made in the past, but the kind of wholesale major chages some folks seem to be demanding are simply not on the cards.

Using the colour scheme as a marketing tool seems to have been picked up as a rallying call by some. They are implying that the Phoenix has no consistency in its colours, therefore has no ‘identity’. This is bollocks. No, it really is. The Phoenix core colour scheme (which is used on the home jerseys) has always been a combination of Red, White, and Black. This is the jersey most commonly seen in the local media, who take most, if not all, of their photos from home games. We might change up the colours used on the ‘away’ jerseys (although Black is the predominant colour), but the home colours are largely left untouched. Interestingly, the Red/White/Black combo was rejected way back when the Storm was formed as it was held to be ‘divisive’, being the colours used by Manchester United.

Yes, we seem to experiment with our Cup jerseys. It did seem that Yellow/Black/White was the agreed upon scheme for these, but obviously, something about the new designs made Neil change his mind (and don’t forget, Yellow/Black/White were Neils Motocross colours, so he has a personal attachment to them).

The bare fact is, though, if you don’t like them, don’t buy them. You could see this as denying the club money it could use, but if you were going to spend £60 on a jersey but don’t like the designs enough to buy one now, spend the money on something else. Join the 200 club, buy an extra raffle ticket each week, buy a couple of t shirts, or donate to the supporters club. Don’t do what one idiot (yes, that’s right I’m calling them an idiot, because that is that they are) on the forum suggest and go get someone to make you a custom jersey using the Phoenix logo etc. That’s not custom jersey. That’s a pirate jersey, and technically theft.

One final point. I know it is a bone of contention amongst quite a few fans that we haver a full set of new jerseys each season. Yes, it can be bloody expensive if you choose to buy all 5 each year (£300 or thereabouts), but it is an important revenue stream for the club. It was suggested that we do a ‘Guildford’ and keep the same jersey for multiple seasons. From a revenue standpoint this is a no go. Sales would decrease each season, right down to barely a trickle. And adding new sponsors likely would not convince people to shell out for essentially the same jersey season after season. New season, new designs is a business decision, like it or not.