Industry expert delivers Leeds United Red Bull kit verdict with shirt leak theory and club heritage argument — YEP 5/7/24
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United have released their new home kit for the
upcoming 2024/25 season - but what do industry experts make of it and the
decision to have a large Red Bull logo adorning the front?
United released their new home kit, manufactured by Adidas,
on Friday, July 5 to a mixed reception from supporters. While some applauded
the classic design with 'smart' three-stripe trim in blue and a yellow streak
around the collar, others were less pleased by the nature of the front-of-shirt
sponsorship.
In truth, many had already seen the kit, particularly those
who had been active on social media in the run-up to Friday's release as
various images of what turned out to be the design, were leaked ahead of the
official unveiling, as is often the case in the modern era.
Dr Alessia Grassi, senior lecturer in fashion marketing at
the University of Leeds, told the YEP she could sympathise with supporters who
expressed their disappointment towards the kit on the virtual battleground of
social media forums and networking sites.
"You have to remember who you are selling that jersey
to: supporters, the people that want to be there with the team, that want to
show their support for the team. So, I think that needs to be communicated
through that jersey.
"It's a set of values, represents something for the
city. It has a long history.
"It's not something that you want to play too much
with," Dr Grassi added, describing the theory behind what a football kit
should encompass.
Leeds' 24/25 shirt is similar to many recent designs, with
one crucial difference - Red Bull sponsorship. Given the white base colour and
strength of feeling among supporters, there is not an awful lot of wiggle-room
for manufacturers to play around with when it comes to potential designs.
Perhaps the reason why the Red Bull logo is so contentious among certain
sections of fans - the obvious link to the club's biggest rivals aside - is
because there is such a limit on what a manufacturer can produce for such an
historic club.
"It's a very difficult balance. But surely if we're
talking about the game-day kit, it needs to be a 30-70 [split] with 70 the club
heritage and history," Dr Grassi adds.
"There is the jersey manufacturer - Adidas, Nike,
Asics, Puma, it depends - and then you have the sponsors, you have to have them
somewhere. So, you have to also think about those elements, they have to work
[together] somehow on the jersey.
"Let's say you're gonna have like a sponsor that is
huge and then also have a very heavy graphic jersey, it's going to be like an
eyesore, on TV as well. So, it's a very difficult balance.
"I don't think that [Red Bull] needed that huge logo to
be recognised. Also Red Bull has other colours, and that was suggested as well
in those forums, that could have been used that work better for Leeds
United."
Dr Grassi says that nostalgic themes can often chime with
supporters in the modern age, particularly those of the younger generation,
seen through the growing popularity of more 'retro' football shirts with unique
designs or patterns, now dubbed 'bloke-core'. However, she says it is much
easier for clubs and shirt manufacturers to experiment with secondary and
tertiary strips as opposed to home kits, whose colour schemes tend to be viewed
as sacrosanct by supporters.
The University of Leeds' senior fashion marketing lecturer
also opines that sometimes organisations can be behind 'leaks' or 'drops' which
can serve as late-stage market research to gauge consumer feeling. While this
appears not to have been the case in the release of Leeds' home kit for the
coming season, it is a tactic which could very easily be employed by clubs and
manufacturers for a more controversial or left-field design in future.
Dr Grassi acknowledges it is difficult to satisfy
everybody's individual desires when it comes to something as subjective as a
football shirt design, but as mentioned previously, clubs and manufacturers
should not stray too far from the core values attached to and embodied by their
supporter base.