The Good, The Bad, The WTF **UPDATE**

Just four weeks ago, I introduced you to the Dundee shirt with the names of season ticket holders all over it. At the time I thought it was a one-off. Nope. It seems Xara marketed those abominations to anyone that wanted one. We'll get to that in a minute, but first I want to tell you how I found that out.

One of my local youth clubs took its U13 and U14 squads to Ireland and England this summer. I've put the link in before, but for refreshers sake, here is the blog they set up to document the trip. I was perusing the site last night when I clicked the link to the Picasa album of their trip.

They have uploaded thousands of photos of the trip. There are sightseeing photos as well as photos of the matches. Some of the highlights include taking in the sights at Anfield, hanging on Bill Shankly (I think, I'm not a Scouser), and a tour of Old Trafford. Probably as exciting for them as my trip to Pittodrie a couple of years ago, but that's their loss for thinking the middle of England is exciting.

Anyway, it was looking through that Manchester day's gallery that I came across pictures of CESA taking on some lads from Tranmere Rovers. I noticed that the shirts that Tranmere were wearing looked interesting, and somewhat familiar. No way. It couldn't have happened again, could it?

It most certainly had. The twist on this shirt is that, instead of being open to only season ticket holders, anyone with a tenner could have their name on the shirt. I don't know about our readership (though I have a good idea), but I would pony up twenty bucks to get "Ben Dover" or "Mike Hunt" on there in a minute.

There is something different about this shirt, though. Unlike the Dundee model, this one is well done. The coloration looks good, and when you see a close up, as you do here
you see that the manufacturer took the time to use both capital and lower-case letters. The end result is that the shirt just plain looks good. Which is more than one can say for the club's previous attempt, which looks just like that Dundee one from before. Good job, Xara. Though, I would be really bothered if I put up my cash only to find my name buried behind the sponsor. How would the world ever know the greatness of Harry Butz if all you can see is Ha▌▌▌▌▌ut▌?

UPDATE: Bigus let me know the Norwich did a similar name shirt for their centenary last season. Is there no end to the madness?
The result? The Norwich shirt just looks dirty at a distance.