Phil Gartside: Friend of the playground bully
Tuesday June 9th, 2009
Bolton Wanderers new kit
Bolton Wanderers new kit
The hidden danger of Bolton Wanderers’ new sponsor
There’s been much talk about 188bet.com since they were announced as Bolton Wanderers’ new sponsor.
The main areas for discussion appear to be…
1. That having the same sponsor as Wigan goes against the grain somewhat.
2. That having a gambling website on your shirt is a bit tacky.
3. That the accompanying new shirt is pretty minging and – unthinkably – almost as bad as last year’s sports-bra themed effort (I still say they should have had a competition for the new shirt design).
Reading through some promotional literature for said new shirt on bwfc.co.uk the other day, I noticed something in the small print that is a bigger scandal than any of the above.
Buried away underneath the tosh about “lucrative deals”, “European markets” and “playdry technology” (I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t buy an item of clothing that didn’t have playdry technology) was this bombshell:
Please note: all junior-sized kits will not display the 188BET logo.
Now, you may think this is fair enough. You can’t get kids to advertise an activity that it’s illegal for them to actually do themselves, right?
Well, as someone with a fairly recent – albeit rapidly fading – memory of what it’s like to be 12, I can tell you that it’s not as simple as that.
You see, the most important thing about playground fashion is authenticity. If your Adidas trainers have four stripes on them or your Nike tick is back-to-front, you might as well give up studying for your GCSEs now and start saving up for the shrink sessions you’ll be splashing out on once you hit your 2os, where you’ll be pouring your heart out about how the school bullies gave you hell because your mum couldn’t afford genuine designer threads.
Personally, I’d love to be able to buy a Bolton Wanderers shirt without paying for the pleasure of advertising some gambling website, but not having the sponsor’s logo on your shirt says only one thing to a bunch of shool ground bullies. They may as well have filled in the white space with the message: ‘This shirt isn’t real, please come and pick on me.’
I only hope Phil Gartside can sleep at night knowing the upper hand he has given to playground bullies all over Bolton.
What do you think about the new kit and sponsor? Have your say in the comment box below…
BWFC News, BWFC People, Phil Gartside
7 Comments to Phil Gartside: Friend of the playground bully
hmmm, not sure about that. You seem to be over looking the fact that so called ‘bullies’ would also fall into the age range that meant that they too would be wearing the sponser-less shirt (either that or they would surely be wearing a shirt that would be absurdley oversized). Good idea about getting fans to design the shirt and badge, as a side note though I actually quiet like the new shirt it looks smart and the white is better than the sort of cream we had last year.
what a load of crude. do something more constructive with your time.
PaulJune 10, 2009
I agree, Gartside hasnt looked at the bigger picture of the lost revenue which could have been generated from the younger market. Kids want to look like their idols and if the shirt is not the same as what they are wearing then its a no no. There must have been a better deal elsewhere on the table?
JanetJune 16, 2009
the shirt is much better than the dirty looking shirt from last year. as long as the players do well and we win more than a few games will be happy to be in the top half of te league.
Howard CromptonJuly 2, 2009
We as fans have all been betting Megson will be out of a job before too long . Garslime has been gambling with the future of our beloved club for a long long time now ………….so actually the sponsorship is appropriate and befits the clubs mangement philosophy !!
So why get shirty about it !
matt watsonJuly 19, 2009
well im 23 and i will not be buying this seasons shirt. i think it looks tacky, and i refuse to wear something that advertise’s gambling.
simple as!
I agree with Matt. If I was a bit smaller (read, thinner!?), I’d get the kids’ version myself so as not to have to advertise a gambling company. Having said that, you’re still stuck with the wierd barcodes. Has anyone put one under a supermarket scanner to see how much it’s really worth? My guess is 99p on a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
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June 9, 2009