Bochum's cup shirt

[DangerousSausage]

"Cup shirts" are yet another scourge of modern football, but perennial Bundesliga strugglers VfL Bochum have managed to take them to a new level.

This summer, Bochum unveiled a special light blue cup shirt with "HG 4630 Bochum" printed on the arm. This was part of a sponsorship with the famous singer Herbert Grönemeyer, who comes from the city. About 4,000 fans ordered the shirts, only to be told they would have to wait until October for delivery.

Last weekend, Bochum played in the first round of the German Cup. As you guessed, they lost. And they weren't even allowed to wear the shirts due to a colour clash...

[Robbie]

It's like a lot of things that have developed in football is the yearly change of football shirts x 3

Then you now have up to three football shirts, now Cup shirts?

It's all about making money, but you can't blame clubs, especially the lower league clubs for trying to make money primarily on the shirts.

But Cup shirts? I think that's a step to far. Will Bochum have 4000 cancelled orders now?

[OoooooTommy]

Would it be fair to assume they didn’t place the order and wanted the money paid beforehand, so they could guarantee the shirts were sold and no money was lost?

[liampie]

ea sports have been doing a special kit as a means to get extra money from their fans, I think its sad. i think its just that a lot of clubs see fans as cash cows and its wrong.  

[Chris]

I recall a time when Notts County sold their cup shirts to enthusiastic fans through an exciting auction. I am not sure if it was worth it and I don't remember if it did, but I would much rather the money have gone to charity.

I'm struggling to remember who we had played, but I do know one player got into trouble by a certain person for refusing to give the shirt for sale. Much like when Francois Zoko got fined by the club for giving his shirt away. I am not in favour of clubs selling extra shirts, what I am in favour of is teams like Luton Town who respect their fans, by saying their supporters' money for a season by skipping a new shirt.

 

[Blake]

I don't mind the idea of cup shirts, but it needs careful planning. That can be difficult, but making people wait for the shirts is just silly.

[DangerousSausage]

The teams that sell cup shirts tend to be in the Champions League. Having an alternative home shirt for cup games is unnecessary, but at least they're used for a set number of games as there's a group stage. The German cup, on the other hand, is a straight knockout competition, meaning that Bochum's cup campaigns for the season ended in August...

 

[CliftonMagpie]

I don't understand why fans would be bothered about a one-off shirt. If this happened with an English team right now, with the cost of living, I think it would cause a media storm.

[TheSkipper]

I'm not in favour of this kind of thing. I don't see the point. Some clubs do put patterns on their regular season shirts and have them for bigger games, but there's no reason to try and make more money from your supporters for a shirt that will be difficult to buy in the first place.