By Chris Wright
This is a mock-up, before anyone gets too excited
Liverpool have announced this morning that, as of next season, their kit suppliers will no longer be Adidas (after eight years of service) and, as of this summer, will be American bods Warrior Sports.
The deal, worth £25-million a year to the club (the biggest wodge in the Premier League, bumping Man Utd’s £23.5-million deal with Nike into second spot), comes into play from June 1st 2012 and will see Warrior design and produce the Liverpool home, away and third kits, as well as their training clobber for the next six years.
As a happy coincidence, the company are a subsidiary of Boston-based New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc who happen to supply the kit for baseball side Boston Red Sox – a franchise owned by current Liverpool owners Fenway Sports.
Incidentally, Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer has confirmed the reason that his company decided to waiver on a renewal with Liverpool – they’re a bit too shit:
“We thought what Liverpool were asking and what they were delivering was not in the right balance. There was a gap between their performance on the field and what the numbers should be.
“It all depends on the success and the effort and the popularity, the exposure on TV and revenue you can generate by merchandising.’This all has to be brought in line between what you offer and what you get.
“We thought what Liverpool were asking was not… right, then we said we will not do it – that’s the end of the story.”
Given that Warrior are mainly associated with Ice Hockey and Lacrosse strips in the US, we’re going to boldly predict that the new Liverpool kit is going to be a) red and b) ‘baggy’.