Almost Weekly Blog – 13th April

Well, computer problems (hopefully) over I’ve been able to get back to the site. By now I hope you’ve seen the work I’ve been doing with Danbury Mint on the Liverpool badges. I am so pleased with these, they really have done a great job on them. Plans for more books have hit a bit of a stumbling block over copyright issues and exclusive book deals that clubs have. I’m hoping to solve some of these problems and get some more publications out – I’ll keep you posted on how this is progressing.

I’ve been working on QPR’s kits for the past few weeks and I have to say they are now firmly among my favourite teams in terms of the designs and ethos behind their strips. They’ve had so many great kits that its been fascinating tracing what they have worn. Whats been interesting as well is how many anomalies exist around their designs – for example in the late 80s/early 90s the replica versions seemed to be quite different in many ways to the match worn versions – especially the badge detailing. Plus the hoop arrangements vary considerably. Its good stuff though and I hope to be posting some examples soon.

I’m also thinking of posting entire club sets from my books onto the site and I’d really appreciate your views as to whether its a good idea or not. There’s been so many updates and new kits since the books came out I thought it would be good to see them all complete online.

Some early 09-10 designs are coming out already and apart from the England top and the leaks of the forthcoming adidas kits nothing too much has caught my eye although I am looking forward to seeing what Canterbury come up with their new kits. I really rate Canterbury as a clothing manufacturer – it can be expensive but its always great quality.

Sorry to see Luton go out of the league today. Anyone of my age (pushing 40, crikey, how did that happen?) may still consider them a top-flight side – its a real shame to see how far they’ve dropped. They have had some really classy kits in the past as well so I aim to post a small selection as a tribute to them. I was also sorry to hear about Southampton’s difficulties. Again, such a big club – they deserve to be in the Premiership and I really hope they are back there soon. Perhaps if every Premiership player donated a small percentage of their salaries these clubs might avoid administration and at least there would be a level playing field points-wise…

10 Replies to “Almost Weekly Blog – 13th April

  1. I’d certainly welcome updates to the book, at least in hi-res PDF’s. I bought both books but the gap between the end of period covered in the book and your 08-09 updates is quite big.

  2. I agree Luton will be missed as a league club. Great kits in the late 70’s and early eighties.

    Is there a way you can sell the images as posters? Or do you only have permission to reproduce them in a book?

  3. love to see each club section online including updates,i’ve wrote a few e-mails to ‘historical football kits’ in the past regarding updates.I remember luton town with the stein brothers and the adidas replicas they wore ,playing at old trafford in the mid 80’s,they had a good little side back then but i suppose most will remember them for banning away fans and the plastic pitch.

  4. It’d be great to see it all online but hopefully that won’t stop people buying the books also, for me you can’t beat having the book in front of you.

  5. As far as posting entire updated club sets on the site, obviously this would be great from our point of view. For you though this would surely mean losing revenue from potential book sales. How about a patron scheme where regulars to the site pay a set amount per month to make this worth your while. I for one would be happy to do this in recognition of the hard work you put in. What do others think?

    Re the QPR kits, I particularly remember the ‘Influence’ kits. Never a major kit maker but they always seemed to add a bit of originality to their designs. Looking forward to seeing these on the site.

    By the way what happened to the Melchester Rovers section?

  6. Many thanks for your responses, I really appreciate them. I think getting my archive online may take some time but is something I will probably look at starting in the summer – so watch this space.

    Andrew, copyright permissions are tricky things and are getting trickier believe me!! Basically if you produce anything that relates specifically to just one club you have to pay a royalty/license fee. Some clubs require advances on this as well which can make ventures like this very expensive and risky. I hope to have some news relating to this soon.

    Mark…the Rovers kits are coming…I promise!!!

    Andy…the Palace kits are also coming…I promise!!

  7. Well one Canterbury kit for next season has been revealed already – for Preston North End. It’s al alright kit but, it’s the same design that Portsmouth were wearing LAST SEASON! So in effect the design would be a couple of seasons out of date!!

    Looking forward to the QPR section they’ve had some interesting kits over the years, particularly away strips – who could ever forget their infamous “Dennis the Menace” style shirts which have been used on several occasions? I remember they did have one away kit in white about 99/00 which wasn’t functional, due to the home shirt being about 70% white!

  8. I do like the Preston kit but take your point about it being a year out of date. Its not as if Preston are a lower league side – they may even swap places with Pompey this season!

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