OPINION
We’re a long, long way past the days of a side keeping the same kit for anything longer than a season, and as this time of year rolls around, fans wait with baited breath to see what kind of minor variation their manufacturer can come up with to tempt them into forking out £50-plus on the latest design. When things are good, this can be a decent change, a chance to ditch the questionable clobber of the last year and step out in something you don’t mind being seen in. When a brand gets it wrong, however, it can be an absolute nightmare for fans. It would seem, on the basis of Newcastle United fans’ reactions to a supposed leak of their new home shirt, as reported in the Chronicle, that Puma have got it very, very wrong. To be fair to the Toon Army, it’s a bit of a shocker. The stripes are wide and look almost amateurish, while the logo is massive and garish, and the badge is centralised like something out of the mid 2000s. It looks dated and a real step back on this season’s shirt. Puma aren’t particularly popular on Tyneside, and many Magpies long for a return of the halcyon days of their mid-90s Adidas strips. No such look this time, however.
Nothing but Newcastle have gathered some of the best tweets below:
Shocking. 50 years ago we won our last trophy it should have been this one pic.twitter.com/BuodVPUNrk
— OldToonFan (@old_toon) March 31, 2019
Horrific. Seems to be getting rid of the stripes. Before long we'll just be in black or white. Always hated puma as a make. Should go back to adidas
— Barrie Shilling (@fatgeordiemessi) March 31, 2019
Looks like something you’d buy in SD for your five aside team.
Not good enough and once again Puma seem happy to just give us whatever they want in the knowledge it’ll sell anyway.
Club makes no stance against it. No surprise.— Steve Wallwork (@stevewallwork) March 31, 2019
Woefull, looks cheap and nasty so will fit right in with the Ashley ethos
— Ralph Holmes (@slatyford) March 31, 2019
https://twitter.com/jenkinho7/status/1112294455590170624
that is terrible
— Alex Marley (@marleynufc96) March 31, 2019
It’s so bad it can’t be real 🥵 think this is a early April fools
— Minsh (@PaulMinshaw) March 31, 2019
Absolutely disgusting! If it is actually our new kit whoever signed that off wants sacked! #awful
— Carl McAdam (@Cadamlaaad) March 31, 2019
