Or I suppose you could call it the good and the bad/ugly. Yes, I’m talking about the kits for next season. Sunday afternoon was the Barnet FC Community Day, which traditionally sees the unveiling of the kits for the coming season. Like many others, I was unable to attend the event, so had to rely on social media to catch a glimpse of what the boys are going to be wearing for the next year. In all fairness, I never get overly excited about the prospect of a new kit: it’s been years since I last bought one and none of the designs of late have really wowed me. That said, none of them could be much worse than what I next witnessed. I was casually walking around Sainsbury’s doing the weekly shop when I refreshed Twitter and saw: “And here is the #BarnetFC away kit for next season, modelled by the legends side” – yes, I made the terrible mistake of seeing the away kit first!
Away
My initial reaction was “what the hell is that?” before showing my mum who agreed: “that’s not very nice at all, is it?”. I mean we’ve played in purple and white in the past, in fact historically, we’ve played in purple. I’m not sure if it’s because we aren’t used to predominantly purple, or if it’s because of the shade (which to be honest, looks rather pink), but looking at it just makes me want to throw up – it is SO ugly. Did someone seriously believe it would be a good idea? I can’t even envisage many people buying it! We’ve become the butt of jokes on Twitter – people complaining about their own kits have stopped, because in comparison, theirs aren’t even that bad!
AFC Wimbledon – “Wow. Barnet's new away kit. Not made for anyone over 8 stone.”
Notts County – “wow Barnet's away kit is pink with a white stripe? If it is, it is vile”
Hereford – “Barnet's Away Kit for next season. Oh dear.”
Derby – “#dcfcfans you think our away kit is bad?”
Oxford – “HAHAHA the Barnet away kit!”
It’s just absolutely horrendous, and even days – and numerous glances – later, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t think I will any time soon, either.
Home
After seeing the away kit, at least I knew the home couldn’t be any worse; particularly given it’s our last season at Underhill – we are due a decent looking shirt to show off at home. Unfortunately, having just viewed that monstrosity, I wasn’t immediately blown away. If anything, I was relieved it looks half-decent. Since that first glance, I think we can be reasonably happy with the home shirt; for starters, stripes are back – no more of that standard block colour like the majority of other teams’ shirts. More importantly, the amber is back! No more of that horrible sicky orange colour (for a season, at least) that seems to have become accustomed to our club – we are supposed to be black and amber, after all!
Up close as well, it looks pretty good, and just seems apt for the final year at our old home. In 2007, a gold and black commemorative kit was brought out to celebrate 100 years at Underhill, so it seems like a nice idea for out 125th anniversary of the club’s existence to bring out a home shirt like this. It’s got a bit of a retro feel to it.
I just hope we get a sponsor sorted so we don’t have a repeat of last year when we had to wait until October before the shirt was released for sale. I suppose the next thing we have to look forward to are the signings the club is going to make – particularly given our small numbers at current.
And this is why I love the close season!
