Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tradition or Innovation
A big debate has been appearing on various Arsenal message boards ever since the club announced the new second kit would be a white shirt with redcurrant trimmings. The traditional fans hate it. For them, and me, our away shirt should be yellow and yellow alone. Over the years we have had various forms of blue as well as a one season wonder that saw green shirts with blue sleeves. But the traditional fans’ view is that white shirts are associated with that lot from the other end of the Seven Sisters and we should have nothing in common with them. We don’t of course. We win trophies, they don’t. We qualify for the Champions League, they don’t. We sign Dennis Bergkamp, they sign Chris Armstrong. No, we have nothing in common with them. The white shirt? Well, if you know you’re history then back in the 1960’s, before TV, we often wore an all white kit when we played at places like Old Trafford or Anfield. So you could argue the white shirt is as much a part of our tradition as the yellow, it’s just there are not so many people round who remember it.
The club are selling the shirt as a continuation of Herbert Chapman’s role of successful manager and innovator Younger fans may not know who he was or what he did so check this link: . http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=465487. it would be interesting to know what people thought when Arsenal first started wearing white sleeves on their previous all red shirts? Were ‘traditional’ fans outraged at this change? The point is of course is that any tradition starts off as an innovation. Back in the early days of football there was no blanket coverage across the media and introducing hoped socks would have probably slipped through without so much as a by your leave. People have accepted the blue second kit at Arsenal, at least I imagine they have or they wouldn’t keep regurgitating them in different designs. I don’t doubt the white, with its 40 year vintage, similarly will find acceptance among the buying public and that ‘traditional’ fans will be left to grumble on about the loss of tradition at their club.
The club are selling the shirt as a continuation of Herbert Chapman’s role of successful manager and innovator Younger fans may not know who he was or what he did so check this link: . http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=465487. it would be interesting to know what people thought when Arsenal first started wearing white sleeves on their previous all red shirts? Were ‘traditional’ fans outraged at this change? The point is of course is that any tradition starts off as an innovation. Back in the early days of football there was no blanket coverage across the media and introducing hoped socks would have probably slipped through without so much as a by your leave. People have accepted the blue second kit at Arsenal, at least I imagine they have or they wouldn’t keep regurgitating them in different designs. I don’t doubt the white, with its 40 year vintage, similarly will find acceptance among the buying public and that ‘traditional’ fans will be left to grumble on about the loss of tradition at their club.
# posted by Me @ 4:17 PM 
