How(e) To Get It Wrong!

The horrific images that have accompanied the launch of ‘the Visitors’ new Adidas home shirt serve as a salutary reminder of just how much Sunderland AFC are getting right in so many areas of the club.

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On the pitch, things could not have gone any better – a talented and committed squad (many of whom have now joined up with their national teams for the World Cup), Premier League status comfortably secured, and a first European campaign in more than 50 years to look forward to.

Off the field, there continues to be significant investment in the Stadium of Light and the fan experience, the online ticketing service has moved to SeatGeek, and the club shop was relocated to a much larger space in Black Cat House. Central to that retail operation is the market for replica kits.

As soon as the contract with Nike, with their off-the-shelf identikits, had expired (a deal which had been inherited from the previous administration), Kyril Louis-Dreyfus wasted no time in bringing back a supplier with a strong and valued association with our club. hummel had supplied some of our most iconic kits in recent history, and their return certainly did not disappoint. Gone were the generic products of the past decade and a half from Adidas and Nike, to be replaced by bespoke designs which truly reflected our heritage.

The hummel 24/25 Championship shirts were such a refreshing change from what had preceded them. The home kit, with the scenes of the bridges and shipyards inside the back panel, the song lyrics in the seam, the Stadium of Light coordinates on the rear, and the ship silhouette embedded in the red stripes, was outstanding enough.

However, it was totally eclipsed by the away kit – a throwback to the 1992 FA Cup Final shirt. Bearing the classic ship badge and the unique blue and green pattern on the sleeves, it was a thing of beauty. And that shirt will be forever associated with Wembley, 24th May 2025, the day that Tommy Watson sealed our return to the Premier League.

Looking back, I am rather glad that it was Sheffield United who got to wear their traditional stripes that day – that white hummel shirt will always have a special place in our memories.

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The blue third kit, designed around the colliery wheel image, was certainly a bold concept but was one of those innovations which, to my mind, didn’t quite come off.

If there was one criticism of the 2024/25 kit range, it was that the club didn’t properly predict the demand that a new hummel partnership would drive, and initial stocks couldn’t satisfy the appetite of those of us all too keen to part with our hard-earned cash!

This time last year, we were eagerly awaiting our new Premier League offerings. For me, again, the away kit surpassed the home kit. The red and white option, with a proper woven crest moved to the centre of the chest, kept the theme of incorporating bespoke references to the city, with the various bridges subtly featuring.

But the blue away shirt was truly a work of art. The traditional ship badge with the blue background sat perfectly on the Roker Lighthouse-inspired pattern in the material. The ‘City by the Sea’ theme appeared inside and outside of the rear panel. It is simply brilliant!

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If the home and away kits were superb, more than fitting to grace the stadiums in the highest echelons of English football, I found the black third kit a little underwhelming, to be honest (as were some of the performances in it). The inclusion of the ‘Til the End’ cat’s eyes motif on the rear was an idea which didn’t quite translate into practice.

This time last season the club pretty much did get it right in terms of predicting demand, and these are shirts which will be proudly associated forever with what has been an absolutely outstanding achievement in qualifying for European football.

I may be nit-picking about the two third kits that hummel have so far produced, but fans pay good money for replica shirts and we deserve a good product. That said, I would sooner have an original concept that didn’t quite work than something which could barely be distinguished from dozens of other brands.

If hummel haven’t quite nailed the third kits (yet), they have delivered significantly in other areas – the training wear products are excellent, and they have continued to funnel money from our pockets into the club coffers with some carefully resurrected designs from their previous association with Sunderland AFC.

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Looking at the noisy neighbours, and the response to their new kit from a large section of their fans, reminded me very much of the appalling 2017/18 candy-striped monstrosity inflicted on us by Adidas for our first campaign in League One. The parallels between where we were then and where they are now are significant – an ownership not fully appreciative of the heritage of the institution of which they have custody, and a big manufacturer not bothering to buy into the culture of the club.

Thankfully those days are far behind us now. I don’t know if a sixty-something bloke should be looking forward to this year’s kit release as much as I am – but, if loving hummel is wrong, then I don’t want to be.