Stoke City and The White Stripes: A Match Not Made In Heaven

Stoke City announced this morning that Adidas will be their official kit supplier for the next four years. In normal circumstances, that would be good news but many Stoke City supporters are upset at the speculation (which has now been confirmed by Stoke City) that the backs of the shirts will feature a solid back instead of the typical design that features stripes.

For most football supporters, that may not seem like a big deal. But for Stoke City supporters, it’s a break against tradition and a poor decision by Stoke City and Adidas.

In fairness to Stoke, they haven’t ignored the issue and have instead tackled it head on. “Working closely with adidas, the Club have the option to incorporate the stripes in future designs,” said a statement from Stoke City. “The Club thought long and hard about the move away from the more traditional look to the shirts and when the partnership was agreed, adidas kit designs had already been developed for the 2010-11 season. As such, and after weighing up all the benefits of the deal, the Club decided that this exciting opportunity to be associated with the leading brand in world football was one not to be missed and the Club trusts that their supporters will feel they have made the right decision.”

It’s ironic that Adidas is known as the brand that has the famous “Three Stripes.” Yet the back of the Stoke City shirt will not have them. Stoke City plans on unveiling the new kits Sunday night during the club’s player of the year awards competition. It’ll be interesting to see what the reaction is from the Stoke City faithful and whether they’ll understand the circumstances which led to the decision by Stoke City and Adidas.

What do you think of the decision made by Stoke and Adidas? Are Stoke City supporter overreacting or do they have a sound argument?