Comments

Surely FX Pro Will want part of their sponsorship back? Embarassing this is for club and fans although it may have been out of the clubs hands - I cant see anyone buying the new shirt this year in November.

FYI - It was Nike’s fault, not Aston Villa’s

@aVillaFan the club’s statement certainly seems to be laying the blame at Nike’s door.

However, Nike haven’t had any trouble with any other kits and surely the material can’t differ that drastically between clubs, so it seems an odd situation to be in.

They are an experienced manufacturer who supplies kits all over the world without any difficulty, so surely there is accountability on the half of the club as well.

Why not just print the kit on existing Nike material? Why has the problem taken over three months to rectify?

The club’s statement feels a bit like finger pointing to me.

“A bit like finger pointing” I haven’t seen any statements from NIKE refuting the claims, have you? How do you know they haven’t had any problems with other kits? Do you keep a track of every kit NIKE make? Are you in touch with all the clubs they supply? Your questions re accountability should be aimed at NIKE, yet you seem determined to lay the blame at Villa’s door, I find that strange and wonder at your motives.

Steff you are clearly a very proud Villa proud and that is commendable.

However I don’t feel the problem is entirely to be laid at the door of Nike, as by the clubs own admission in their statement, part of the delay was due to a late deal with FX Pro.

Now in relation to the problem of the material, it just seems to me to be a strange excuse, as surely they could just roll it out on last season’s material. Would fans be bothered by this? Or even notice? And after trawling through sports shops online, it appears that all other Nike made kits in the Premier League seem to available to the best of my knowledge.

It just strikes me as strange that such a small problem should cause such a big headache to such a huge company with infinite resources and suggests that the club has contributed to the delay.

With regards to my motives, they are that of an observer and fan of football and I’m not quite sure what you mean. Are you worried I’m a fan with dual loyalties?

The delayed deal meant the kits were going to be produced and released in mid-september. Villa are only responsible for the delay up until that date. The rest of the delay is due to Nike.

Actually both Man Utd and Celtic have had returns from Nike, it is suggested that 25% of Celtic kits have been returned since July. ManUre have suffered approx 10%. The issue is that the shirts are known to snag very easily and this was found only a week before they were due to ship by a curious warehouseman in Belgium who called Villa to let them know. The problem for Villa is that they have Nike as a club partner as well as kit supplier so thay are unlikely to take them to task in the public domain. Despite what is being implied here Aston Villa are an extremely well run club which I have witnessed at first hand since Randy Lerner got his feet under the table. I suggest that fans will find quite a difference in price on the day of the first sale.

Good contribution Max. You are seemingly very well informed and clearly have an involvement with Nike and/or Villa if you are aware of the day-to-day running of the club.

If though the curious warehouseman in Belgium spotted the snag pre-season, wouldn’t it have made economical sense to print on last season’s material? So that a shirt would be available for sale, as in my experience I had no trouble with snags.

Maybe first day sales will prove to be worth the wait, thanks Max.

Actually Dan we have a very good director who through fans forums keeps the issues that concern the fans upto date.
The issue is with Nike and Celtic’s return of shirts is now running at over 25%.
Nike don’t care they will be able to sell shirts wherever and whenever, it’s the club that will suffer. The majority of fans want their shirt as soon as, not a third of the way into the season this is why the sales will suffer for the club and not Nike.
I have e-mailed Nike regarding this and supprise supprise still waiting for a reply.

@Robert Dunbar interesting information about the return of Celtic shirts, but I’d be interested to know where you’re getting this information from for future reference.

Like you, I’m a fan frustrated with the whole situation and the club will suffer financially as a result, but won’t part of that be passed onto Nike as they’ve failed to release the shirt on time?

If Nike do eventually respond to your mail I’d be very interested to know their thoughts on the issue.

There was an article on the web about 2-3 weeks ago regarding the Celtic kit, it was there for all too see. I also have family who are Celtic supporters and have this years shirt.
6 shirts bought 3 returned as faulty. If Nike do respond I will let you know.

As Robert indicates the Director, General Krulak, has been posting on the fans forums to provide background to the manufacturing issues experienced by Nike. The problems are also linked to the desire of the club to use new manufacturers outside of Asia and closer to the UK.

I have to admire that the club are prepared to forgo revenue by not selling faulty shirts.

@ David Ireland. Thanks for your comment and to a certain extent I agree with your sentiments. The fact that Villa have refused to accept an inferior product is admirable, even if that is to the detriment of the clubs profit margin.

However, do you not feel that a company as large as Nike and a club of such domestic influence as Aston Villa could speed the process along a little bit quicker? Three months after the start of the season is an unprecedented amount of time of time in my memory to wait for a club shirt. (Apologies to any fans of another club who have possibly waited a similar amount of time).

Thanks for your contribution.