Avoiding the Drop

No, not that Mr. Burns, this one-

The best-laid plans o’ mice an ‘men Gan aft agley…

An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

For promis’d joy!

Thank you, Bobby, that was rather apt for this week’s topic.

One of the best things about writing this series is that it has given me a chance to once again look into the “histories” of the items profiled so that I can tell you as much as possible about them- beyond any mildly interesting personal story I may have regarding the piece of kit in question! Sometimes that means finding out that I was wrong about an item’s background and sometimes it means finding concrete confirmation that I was correct. In the case of these two shirts- purchased together on a trip to Scotland in March of 2003- I’ve been able to to clear up a number of mysteries…and uncover a few others. Join me after the jump for the details.

On May 8, 2000 Dundee United announced a new kit sponsorship deal with TFG Sports (based in Wishaw near Glasgow) worth approximately £500,000 over three years (the 2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003 seasons- this will be important later in the story). The press release announcing this new deal also contained the following:

“The Club is also pleased to unveil a new suite of home and away kits for season 2000/2001 as part of a new Dundee United Centenary Collection. The Centenary Collection builds towards the Club’s 100th birthday in 2009. Every second season, the away kits will be redesigned and themed on specific aspects of the Club’s heritage.”

So, according to the club, there would be a new away kit every other year reflecting important eras in the club’s history. Doing the math, this meant that two of these kits would be produced during the new deal with TFG, leaving three more kits to be made by TFG/another kit sponsor to bring the club up to its 2009-2010 centenary year. The press release continues-

“The new Centenary Collection away kit – which promises to turn heads – reflects the Club’s origins as Dundee Hibernian.” This is the first away kit in the Centenary Collection:

2000-2001 Centenary Collection Shirt

Oddly enough this shirt- before it became United’s away kit for the 2001-2002 season- was debuted for the opening match of the season, a 2-1 home loss to Celtic. For those of you who may be wondering, Celtic’s away kit that year was featured a yellow shirt, which I own! (link)

Based on the pattern set forth in the press release the next away kit in the “Centenary Connection” should have debuted at the end of the 2001-2002. This was indeed the case. United unveiled their this kit on May 12, 2002 in an 2-2 draw at Kilmarnock. The top (below), which was worn with white shorts and white or black socks was designed to pay homage to the club’s kit from the early 1960s when they began a run of top flight football that has only been interrupted by one relegation. This is the first of the two Dundee United tops that I own.

2002-2003 Centenary Collection Shirt

Just after the end of the season the 2002-2003 kits were unveiled (er, sort of) at a team dinner. Other than a tweak to the sponsor’s logo the home kit remained unchanged (the “tangerine” color that the club has worn at home since the 1969-1970 season), the black shirt remained as the “Centenary Collection” away shirt, and a new “regular” away shirt was debuted- green with tangerine and white trim (worn with green shorts and white socks). This is the second Dundee United shirt that I own.

2002-2003 Away Shirt

It is at this point that things begin to get very hazy. You’ll remember from above that the 2002-2003 season marked the third and final year of United’s deal with TFG Sports. It appears that United signed a new deal with TFG which lasted through the 2005-2006 season (more on that in a moment), which should have resulted in the third shirt in the “Centenary Collection” being worn during the 2004-2005 season- I can find no evidence that this happened. There was a new away shirt that year- white with an orange sash- but that was neither a color combination nor a template ever worn by the club so it seems unlikely that this was, in addition to being the away kit, also the new third iteration of the “Centenary Collection” kit. The fourth kit in the collection was slated for the 2006-2007 season, but this became a moot point when United and TFG parted ways after the 2005-2006 season. This might have been the end of the second contract between the two parties, or it could have been that TFG was in the midst of going out of business. I can find no evidence of any the 19 clubs in Scotland and England that wore TFG kits were wearing them after the 2006-2007 and every internet link currently available for TFG Sports eventually “dead ends.”

Dundee United then moved onto a kit sponsorship deal with Hummel that lasted for three seasons beginning in 2006-2007 during which no further “Centenary Collection” kits appear to have been released. After Hummel United moved on to its current kit sponsor, Nike. Little was done to any of the club’s kits during the club’s actually centenary year, 2009-2010, other than a slightly redesigned club badge. Well, except for this-

This was worn once for a friendly (celebrating United’s new floodlights!) with across-the-street rivals Dundee F.C. on November 10, 2009 and is meant to represent a combination of all of the club’s previous kits.

Yikes.