Portsmouth's Theoretical 2009-10 Kit
Portsmouth has not had the best of offseasons. They don’t have a manager, their player of the year went off to Liverpool, the takeover bid that’s supposed to go through has yet to pass the FA’s “fit and proper” test, and their captain has yet to re-sign with the club.
And yet, when it’s all said and done, the club may end up being most noticeably affected by something completely outside of their control: their kit manufacturer, Canterbury Europe, was placed in administration yesterday.
In a story that may sound familiar if you’re a frequent visitor to the site, the first sign of a problem came when the Scottish Ruby Union cancelled the unveiling of a new kit design today. Canterbury is a huge manufacturer of rugby kits; twelve national teams (including Australia, Scotland, and the U.S.), as well as numerous clubs, were clients of the apparel corporation. On the soccer side, Pompey in the Premier League, Lille in Ligue 1, and Deportivo La Coruña in La Liga were their top clients. Preston North End in the Championship were about to embark on their first season under the CCC logo.
As part of the administration deal, all sponsorship contracts were terminated. In Preston, the Lilywhites have already received their shipments of replica shirts, and they say they have plenty to sell to last the season. They’re still owed their sponsorship money (rumored to be a “five figure a year deal”), though, and they may see a drop-off in sales; would you buy a shirt for £44.99 if you knew the team would be replacing the entire shirt next season?
Compared to Portsmouth, though, Preston North End is ahead of the game. Pompey, you see, has paid in advance for their as yet undelivered replica kits, which they still haven’t received. They also haven’t seen their own strip; only about 10% of their yearly apparel has come in. That includes their training gear, their warmups, and (presumably) their actual gameday shirts. They’ve been reassured that the kits have been manufactured, but their whereabouts are unknown at the moment…and if they can’t secure the shirts, than they’ve got less than a month to line up a new sponsor before the new season starts. Plus, should Canterbury not deliver on the replica shirts, Pompey fans won’t be able to spend their money on them; clubs rely on merchandising sales to supplement their income. So Portsmouth could be without their sponsorship money AND with a lower revenue stream from shirt sales.
While the embarassment potential for North End and Pompey is huge, the financial ramifications for Motherwell could ultimately be the saddest part about this fiasco. Motherwell, who finished 7th in the Scottish Premier League last season, were about to enter the first year of a four year deal worth £100,000 a season. With the Setanta money drying up, they’re already hurting financially; not receiving their kit sponsorship money is a blow that could have serious ramifications to them unless they happen to line up someone else. That money could pay for a couple of players or a couple of coaches for a team the size of Motherwell.
The administration of Canterbury Europe does not affect Canterbury of New Zealand, Canterbury Europe’s parent company. Whether or not Canterbury of New Zealand will step up and take ownership of Canterbury Europe’s debts has yet to be seen.
Pompey Get Shirty [The Mirror]
Pompey shirtless as maker goes under [The Daily Echo]
SRU cancels strip launch as £4m deal with Canterbury Europe ‘terminated’ [sport.scotsman.com]
PNE fans reassured they will get new kit [lep.co.uk]
(Special thanks to thefuseproject for the initial link!)
