Have Brighton waved goodbye to green?
It appears as though Brighton and Hove Albion have binned off their green away kit after just three months and five outings.
The Seagulls first green jersey since the 1970s was launched amidst much fanfare in the summer.
The club said at the time that it paid homage to the colours worn by Brighton United, the city’s first professional team who wore green in the 1898-99 season before they were wound up to be replaced by Brighton and Hove Rangers who eventually became the Albion we know today.
Green was also the colour worn away from home in the the 1975/76 season under the first Peter Taylor, with Peter Ward famously donning it for his goal scoring debut away at Hereford United in March 1976.
The new version didn’t prove overly popular with supporters when it was first released, with many complaining that it looked like the sort of generic Nike goalkeeper’s kit you’d see a 16-stone Sunday League goalkeeper wearing at Waterhall.
Rumours soon abounded that the players weren’t keen either as the dark shade made it difficult for them to pick each other out, which might go some of the way to explaining some of the ghastly performances on the road in which it was worn.
The Albion took to the field in it for the away games at Southampton (terrible first 70 minutes), Manchester City, Newcastle United, Everton (dire all round) and Cardiff City (losing to Cardiff, enough said) and it hasn’t been seen since that 2-1 defeat in the Welsh capital back in November.
Since then, the Albion have worn last season’s superior yellow away kit in the 2-1 win at Huddersfield Town, the 1-0 defeat to Burnley and the 2-2 draw at West Ham United. The blue and white home strip was used in both the Premier League and FA Cup games away at Plucky Little Bournemouth and the defeat at Manchester United.
Most Premier League sides wear their away kits on the road even if there is no clash with the home side, probably in order to try and maximise sales due to the fact most of them want to fleece supporters for every last penny we have going. In 2017-18, the Albion wore yellow in every away game bar Watford, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Brighton’s decision to avoid wearing green for the past five games in a row suggests that the kit might have been quietly dropped. That probably won’t sit well with those who forked out £50 for a replica shirt, only for it to be worn for just 450 minutes of competitive football.
It wouldn’t be the first Brighton away kit to hit trouble. The beautiful Inter Milan number of the 1994-95 season had to be replaced only a few games in by a new red shirt with white sleeves and nobody needs reminding of the season in which Dick Knight designed three kits which were all blue, necessitating a fourth white kit and then the farcical situation of having to borrow Leicester’s away kit for the trip to the King Power Stadium.
If the green kit has been binned already, then hopefully it will persuade the Albion to part ways with Nike when their contract is up. While a couple of the home kits from the American sportswear giant have been passable, the standard away numbers that they supply to every single team in their portfolio have been a real disappointment – especially compared to the quality merchandise Errea used to come up with.
