First of all, don’t start thinking it’s some crappy Photoshop job because of the quality of the photo. That’s all my PC’s fault. Go onto FSC (link at the bottom of the post) to see the pic in better resolution. Make sure to come back though…

The jersey is a remake of United’s 1909 jersey, it is to commemorate United’s first major trophy; the FA Cup win against Bristol City in 1909. It was designed by former United player Billy Meredith, who ran a sports shop while he played for United. I can’t be arsed to go into it, so read it all here. It’s pretty damn sweet I think, it’s a bit unusual but that’s what I like about it. I especially like the laces on the collar, it’s old-fashioned but pretty kick-ass. I also like the logo under Nike sign.

This leads me nicely onto my next point. In the link in the first line of this post, I talked about possibilities for United’s new sponsor, seeing as AIG are pulling out. After seeing this (allegedly) new kit, Saudi Telecom look set to be the new sponsor. If you remember, I talked about it before on the blog. Some folks didn’t like the thought of how the logo would appear on the jersey, but I think it’s turned out alright.

So, what do you think of this? If I was a betting man, which I would be if I ever had any money, I’d say that this is our new away jersey.

Do you like the jersey or do you think it’s shit? You know the drill…

(Originally spotted at Football Shirt Culture)

Perhaps the title of this post is a bit too grand for this post given that it’s no more than an update but hey, who cares? So the EPL lawyers (possibly, but probably not the nasty and peculiarly fuzzy looking ones pictured) weren’t too happy with The Offside’s use of EPL crests as a way to navigate through these pages. We needed to contact each club individually about being allowed to use the crest. In our case, that meant sending an email to Old Trafford.

As Taylor stated yesterday in this post, we both contacted Man Utd with regards to using the crest for this page. Today, I got a reply from the Enquiries Dept. at Old Trafford that went like this;

Dear Wayne

Thank you for your email, your request has already been forwarded to our Trademarks Department who will be in touch in due course.

Kind Regards

John Doe*
Customer Care Team
Manchester United Limited

So at least things are going in the right direction. The fact that they didn’t immediately dismiss it means, to me at least, that there’s a chance we could be getting somewhere.

That’s all we have on it for now, but we’ll update you as soon as we get a reply from Trademarks Department, fingers crossed.

*Obviously, name was changed.

This time, it’s over the new nature of the club’s season ticket policy, specifically the divisive scheme of forcibly requiring all ticket holders for the 19 Premiership matches to purchase tickets for Cup matches too — even if its a Tuesday night Carling Cup match against Grimsby Town. No disrespect to Grimsby Town.

It seems somewhat unfair to me, and I am in no way affected by the plan. Some who are have bravely decided enough is enough, and have started a campaign to try to fight the injustice they feel. Best of luck to them.

But, it’s certain to be an uphill battle — as in my opinion, the divide between profit hungry ownership and loyal (fleeced?) supporter grows wider every day. Evidenced by the image below (rolls eyes).

*Carlos Queirós gets all warm and fuzzy about the future of United’s young Red Devils…

*Taking a look at just where the money goes at Manchester United…

*Are United coming along to help Aberdeen celebrate their big anniversary?

*Klaas Jan Huntelaar doesn’t know anything about all those pesky transfer rumors linking him to United…

*Are Spurs about to pip United for the services of promising teenager Gareth Bale?

*Mark Viduka to United? I didn’t realize the Aussies had such a twisted sense of humor…

*Ji-Sung Park’s injured knee and his future are his sole concerns right now…

*Liverpool fans have something to thank United for…

While certain fans rightly grumble about yet more fleecing by the club, others will gladly choose to grudgingly accept their fate. The reality is that for every fan unwilling to pay a higher price to watch the team — there are likely five others waiting and willing to do so. The Glazers know this, hence the hefty price increase. Such is the popularity of the club today (sigh).

This doesn’t make it right however. But sadly, the club’s large debt requires sacrifice. Albeit fan sacrifice. Then there’s Ronaldo’s pay raise to finance…

Seems this piece of news has stoked the flames of discontent amongst the hardcore United fan anew. And as is customary – led to the inevitable rebuttal from within the club. In the wise words of Rodney King – “Can’t We All Get Along?”

I doubt it. These types of leaks and speculation will continue as long as an American family controls a British icon. Some will never accept it, others grudgingly so, while there are likely fans out there who simply don’t give a damn.

Therein lies the crux of the matter. Whilst the Glazer purchase pained some enough, that they formed their own club in response, many simply shrugged their shoulders and continued to stream to the megastore to buy the various pieces of crap.

I just have a slight niggle with the timing of this “revelation”. What – was it written by an envious Chelsea/Arsenal/Liverpool fan? It’s just that things have been going pretty well of late – but inevitably the United soap opera needed a new chapter I suppose. Let the drama continue…