Post by Mediolanum Shrew on Sept 13, 2004 15:22:29 GMT 1
Following some comments on the board recently and in the ALS section of Blue and Amber 2, I just wanted to comment on the points raised and hopefully make sure people understand the situation.
Firstly the idea for the retro shirt came about as at an Umbrella Group Commerical Working Group meeting as an attempt to raise money for the club and have some merchandise the club could sell from season end till the Open Day when the new away shirt would have been launched.
The Commercial Group accepted my idea to do a 70's retro shirt which would be the missing link between all the retro shirts so far produced by Toffs and of course Shakey.
People might not be aware that the Toffs shirts earn STFC not a bean. Yes some of the fault of the football club past it has to be said, but we thought this would be a good way to redress that and have a shirt that Town fans would want.
We did market research and initially asked the B and A community via this messagebaord whether they would buy such a shirt. The response was very encouraging and via Sib we decided to go with the project.
In the spring we sourced photos - Matt Ashjton and Chris Smith helped here, and then we really struck lucky when Penny Brown of STWFC loaned us her tracksuit top from that era which had the proper 70's loggerheads badge!
Sib sourced a maunfacturer. Unfortunately Toffs required a considerable upfront payment, which made using them a non starter. Because of Sib's good working relationship with MG Sportswear, it was dedcided to try them.
Initially the first prototype ended up being with the colours thye wrong way round, but apart from this the quality was excellent, and the badge just perfect. This was first shown to Town fans that went to the Telford v Chester game, including people such as myself, ThrobsBlackHat, Jeevsey etc, and all said how good it was.
The next point was to get the colours right. Although the blue was fine getting the right shade of amber historically right was proving difficult. Sib had got Ian to promote on website and in programme at the end of last season,and just under 50 orders were received.
It was hoped that the shirts would be available at the end of last season, but the first trial batch that came back had the wrong colour amber, and the colour of the badge wasnt right.
Sib consulted with me and we discussed the shirt. We both agreed that it wasnt right and they would have to go back. This meant that with all the play off stuff coming in, and MG working on the new away shirt to be available for the play off games, the retro shirt wouldnt be available till then new season.
This then gave us an oppoprtunity to maybe do something similar to what Shakey did in promoting his retro shirt, but unfortunately my college course got in the way, and my time became very limited.
So the new retro shirt came in with a whimper rather than a bang.
Ian e mailed all those that ordered via the website via e mail. However to this date there are still over half those ordered awaiting to collect.
People have stated that - oh the club fliped up, why didnt they promote etc, etc. Well firstly the whole idea was a fanone, driven by the fans. Secondly yes, we could have gone to town on the publicity more, and this is something I want to do ceratinly if we have any remaning, and also if as it seems the demand is there to order more. But as I said in my case certainly time was a factor
Obviously time is a problem but ths is something I will be asking members of the Umbrella Groups, and you guys in the B and A community to help us with this in the near future - so keep tuned.
I was a little struck dumn by some of the criticism, and I personally only have two pairs of hands one brain, and 24 hours in a day, but I will take on board some of the things that have been said and make sure that if we do fully launch the retro shirt for generally sale that we do things like have old players back, photo opportunities etc.
The club shop is the best it has ever been, and Sib deserves so much credit for all the apare time she devotes and for nowt as well. What we all need to do is continue to work together, realise that we have to work in the clubs limitations - ie small runs, or very little stock, which in turn limits suppliers etc.
Regards
Ade Plimmer
Organiser - Shrewsbury Town Supporters Umbrella Group
Firstly the idea for the retro shirt came about as at an Umbrella Group Commerical Working Group meeting as an attempt to raise money for the club and have some merchandise the club could sell from season end till the Open Day when the new away shirt would have been launched.
The Commercial Group accepted my idea to do a 70's retro shirt which would be the missing link between all the retro shirts so far produced by Toffs and of course Shakey.
People might not be aware that the Toffs shirts earn STFC not a bean. Yes some of the fault of the football club past it has to be said, but we thought this would be a good way to redress that and have a shirt that Town fans would want.
We did market research and initially asked the B and A community via this messagebaord whether they would buy such a shirt. The response was very encouraging and via Sib we decided to go with the project.
In the spring we sourced photos - Matt Ashjton and Chris Smith helped here, and then we really struck lucky when Penny Brown of STWFC loaned us her tracksuit top from that era which had the proper 70's loggerheads badge!
Sib sourced a maunfacturer. Unfortunately Toffs required a considerable upfront payment, which made using them a non starter. Because of Sib's good working relationship with MG Sportswear, it was dedcided to try them.
Initially the first prototype ended up being with the colours thye wrong way round, but apart from this the quality was excellent, and the badge just perfect. This was first shown to Town fans that went to the Telford v Chester game, including people such as myself, ThrobsBlackHat, Jeevsey etc, and all said how good it was.
The next point was to get the colours right. Although the blue was fine getting the right shade of amber historically right was proving difficult. Sib had got Ian to promote on website and in programme at the end of last season,and just under 50 orders were received.
It was hoped that the shirts would be available at the end of last season, but the first trial batch that came back had the wrong colour amber, and the colour of the badge wasnt right.
Sib consulted with me and we discussed the shirt. We both agreed that it wasnt right and they would have to go back. This meant that with all the play off stuff coming in, and MG working on the new away shirt to be available for the play off games, the retro shirt wouldnt be available till then new season.
This then gave us an oppoprtunity to maybe do something similar to what Shakey did in promoting his retro shirt, but unfortunately my college course got in the way, and my time became very limited.
So the new retro shirt came in with a whimper rather than a bang.
Ian e mailed all those that ordered via the website via e mail. However to this date there are still over half those ordered awaiting to collect.
People have stated that - oh the club fliped up, why didnt they promote etc, etc. Well firstly the whole idea was a fanone, driven by the fans. Secondly yes, we could have gone to town on the publicity more, and this is something I want to do ceratinly if we have any remaning, and also if as it seems the demand is there to order more. But as I said in my case certainly time was a factor
Obviously time is a problem but ths is something I will be asking members of the Umbrella Groups, and you guys in the B and A community to help us with this in the near future - so keep tuned.
I was a little struck dumn by some of the criticism, and I personally only have two pairs of hands one brain, and 24 hours in a day, but I will take on board some of the things that have been said and make sure that if we do fully launch the retro shirt for generally sale that we do things like have old players back, photo opportunities etc.
The club shop is the best it has ever been, and Sib deserves so much credit for all the apare time she devotes and for nowt as well. What we all need to do is continue to work together, realise that we have to work in the clubs limitations - ie small runs, or very little stock, which in turn limits suppliers etc.
Regards
Ade Plimmer
Organiser - Shrewsbury Town Supporters Umbrella Group