Derby County Forced to Wear Training Kits in 22-23 Pre-Season?
Derby County “might have to wear the training kit” in pre-season ahead of the start of the 22-23 campaign, according to manager Wayne Rooney, because of a delay with their match kits for next season. All quotes in this article come from Rooney.
Derby County Face Kit Dilemma
Derby County went into administration six months ago and are still trying to find a new owner, so they are facing quite a few administrative and financial problems, one of which apparently being their kits and training gear for next season.
"The kit has finally been ordered, but that will be late, so we might have to wear the training kit in pre-season."
Derby’s current deal with Umbro is in place since the 14-15 season, and an extension in 2019 means it is set to run until the end of the 23-24 season, so unless there has been an unannounced change behind the scenes, next season’s kits will be provided by Umbro.
"It will be here on time to start the season, but for pre-season, we don't know. Sponsors, we don't know."
The above quote from Rooney suggests that we could see a change of shirt sponsors when their new kits finally arrive, or potentially sponsorless shirts. Derby are currently sponsored by online betting site 32red.com, who partially financed Rooney’s move to the club in January 2020, leading to controversy over him wearing the number 32 shirt for the Rams.
A Simple Solution
Why wear training gear when you already have match kits?
Derby's current home, away and third shirts
The seemingly obvious option would be to wear the current 21-22 jerseys in pre-season rather than the training wear, but that does not seem to have been taken into consideration by Rooney judging by his comments. All three kits are still available from the club’s online store at half price, with each shirt available in every size from small to 4XL, so current stock is not a problem. Putting a few aside for pre-season sounds more like the way to go than waiting for new training tops.
Do you think Derby County should wear training gear or “old” kits in pre-season? Let us know your take in the comments.
