The team with two home kits
The strange story of Bristol City changing technical sponsors mid-season
February 27th, 2023
We talked last November about the problems Hummel faced in England this season. The reason was the bankruptcy of the British distribution company Elite Sports Group, which was put into receivership. And while in the Premier League the teams supplied by Hummel, Everton and Southampton, have no problems, this situation has led to a curious case in the Championship: Bristol City had to change the sponsor of its home shirt. Two days ago, the English team released a new jersey with a new sponsor that will accompany them until the end of the season. The jersey is sponsored by O'Neills, an Irish sports company that works mainly with domestic football and rugby clubs and has already made its debut in the second English league.
Compared to the jersey produced by Hummel at the start of the season, which was red with white sleeves, O'Neills return to vertical stripes, with the white ones narrower than the red ones, and a red and white woven collar reminiscent of the design of the jerseys the club used in the late 1980s. Together, the O'Neills have also released two goalkeeper jerseys with feather patterns, one multicoloured on a black background and one all pink. While the jerseys on offer so far are hardly revolutionary, the mid-season change of sponsor and kit is quite remarkable, given that the Robins themselves recently renewed their contract with Hummel and Coventry instead signed a deal with the Danish company's new UK distributor only yesterday.