New Kit unveiled.

[VillaSpen]

Just buy the retro shirts, they are cheaper, they last longer and they never go out of fashion!

This.

They also look infinitely better. Except the 1993-95 mess that the club have released recently, obviously.

[VillaSpen]

Disregard.

[VillaSpen]

Look at the teams who have Nike kits:

Clubs - Arsenal, Man United, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan

National teams - Brazil, France, Holland, Portugal, Serbia, USA, Korea, Australia

It is good for Aston Villa to be associated with those teams.

Is it? Oh, little Aston Villa should be so fucking grateful that Nike has time to give us a shoddy kit, a bit late, and not a full range of the stuff, but it's okay! Because they work with United and Barca.

Macron work with Napoli and Mallorca. Napoli is a club with much higher ambitions than us right now. Should they run off to Nike because Macron dare work with smaller clubs too?

It's better than having Macron.

Seriously who has ever heard of Macron?

Everyone has heard of Nike.

so what? If the product is naff then what does it matter? You're being completed swayed by little swoosh in the corner of the kit. It means nothing at all if the quality isn't there. Honestly, what has Nike done for us that Macron can't?

Having Nike as kit manufacturer reflects very well on your club - big clubs have big brands such as Nike and Adidas.

Having Macron reflects very badly on your club - crappy kit manufacturer = small/unimportant club.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nike_sponsorships#Association_Football

Have a look at some of the clubs on that list. Not exclusively a brand for the giants of world football, are they?

[Brend'Watkins]

Why people hold such reverence with our club linked to such an organization is beyond me.  Do you really believe all the adverts, the hype surrounding Nike?  Why the need to be associated with the biggest brand in sport?  What hold does this tic have over people? 

Nike screwed up with their supply to us a few seasons ago, enough reason in itself for us to pull out of a deal with their failure to meet our demands and now Nike feel we don't fit with their business model?  Well, here's news, we don't.  We don't sell as many shirts as other teams, we are therefore not viewed in the same light as Man U and others who they will bend over backwards to fulfill their needs at the expense of ours.  So Nike, we'll take our business elsewhere if you don't mind so shove your tic..

I'm glad we are now with some unknown manufacturer, maybe they will treat us with a bit more respect and provide a design we can be truly proud off.

[PaulTheVillan]

I don't see the big deal with who ever it is.

I liked Macron West Ham kit from last year

[Rico]

Yep, that's a nice kit! Proper claret & blue. Can we have a proper Villa badge too? With a claret lion please?

[E I Adio]

It's no surprise that we are no longer attractive to Nike. Their business model relies upon and has always been to be associated with the very best and coolest sports men, women and teams in the world, so that association will transfer to the fan who buys the kit who will then feel cool by wearing the kit. The reality is that Aston Villa no longer occupies that position. We no longer fit their model and in reality, haven't done so for the last two seasons.

[Rick_avfc]

I just went on Macron's site and their kits are not that nice to be honest.  They make napoli's kit which doesn't look that nice at all.  Puma would be a good option or even umbro i guess.

[Summers]

Look at the teams who have Nike kits:

Clubs - Arsenal, Man United, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan

National teams - Brazil, France, Holland, Portugal, Serbia, USA, Korea, Australia

It is good for Aston Villa to be associated with those teams.

Is it? Oh, little Aston Villa should be so fucking grateful that Nike has time to give us a shoddy kit, a bit late, and not a full range of the stuff, but it's okay! Because they work with United and Barca.

Macron work with Napoli and Mallorca. Napoli is a club with much higher ambitions than us right now. Should they run off to Nike because Macron dare work with smaller clubs too?

It's better than having Macron.

Seriously who has ever heard of Macron?

Everyone has heard of Nike.

so what? If the product is naff then what does it matter? You're being completed swayed by little swoosh in the corner of the kit. It means nothing at all if the quality isn't there. Honestly, what has Nike done for us that Macron can't?

Having Nike as kit manufacturer reflects very well on your club - big clubs have big brands such as Nike and Adidas.

Having Macron reflects very badly on your club - crappy kit manufacturer = small/unimportant club.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nike_sponsorships#Association_Football

Have a look at some of the clubs on that list. Not exclusively a brand for the giants of world football, are they?
[/quote

Say it isn't so! Nike make kits for small teams? Impossible! They only work with the football elite. I mean, so what if they couldn't care less about our club? They're Nike!

[mal]

It's no surprise that we are no longer attractive to Nike. Their business model relies upon and has always been to be associated with the very best and coolest sports men, women and teams in the world, so that association will transfer to the fan who buys the kit who will then feel cool by wearing the kit. The reality is that Aston Villa no longer occupies that position. We no longer fit their model and in reality, haven't done so for the last two seasons.

Aha! now I understand a business model that relies upon and has always assumed its customers are morons... explains everything.

[Brend'Watkins]

It's no surprise that we are no longer attractive to Nike. Their business model relies upon and has always been to be associated with the very best and coolest sports men, women and teams in the world, so that association will transfer to the fan who buys the kit who will then feel cool by wearing the kit. The reality is that Aston Villa no longer occupies that position. We no longer fit their model and in reality, haven't done so for the last two seasons.

Aha! now I understand a business model that relies upon and has always assumed its customers are morons... explains everything.

Morons is a bit strong.  Maybe, gullible, easily lead, seduced by subliminal messages, lovers of the Brazil team, sports fashion victims, wannabees, suckers.

[big 1st serve]

 Just had a look at the team photo from Rotterdam, I think most of the team wore Nike boots at a time
 when Nike were a new supplier to the football market trying to get exposure, where addidas & Puma were the established brands.
  A pity that a better relationship didnt develop over the years, however with regard to the next
 kit supplier, imagine those skintight Kappa shirts on some of our lot.

[TimTheVillain]

Nike have a long list of clubs wearing their kits, some are very small clubs.

I think they just take the 'big' clubs seriously and we're probably dealt with by an Account Executive ( like Kiddy Harriers) rather than a Nike board member.

It's just the way it is at the moment.

First step - being dumped.

Second step - replace with less arrogant company who deal with us properly and pay us more money or give better cost per shirt to the club.

With Liverpool dropping Adidas, surely we can replace a great deal of that lost revenue?

[pauliewalnuts]

Just had a look at the team photo from Rotterdam, I think most of the team wore Nike boots at a time
 when Nike were a new supplier to the football market trying to get exposure, where addidas & Puma were the established brands.
  A pity that a better relationship didnt develop over the years, however with regard to the next
 kit supplier, imagine those skintight Kappa shirts on some of our lot.

A few years ago, someone on here posted a scan of a magnificent Nike advert from 1981/2, which (memory going fuzzy now) had the Villa team, and the slogan "Villa Park, Birmingham" on it.

I took a copy of it and squirrelled it away somewhere, but have lost it. Would love to see it again.

EDIT - actually, think it may have been "Villa Park, England".

[Marlon From Bearwood]

It's no surprise that we are no longer attractive to Nike. Their business model relies upon and has always been to be associated with the very best and coolest sports men, women and teams in the world, so that association will transfer to the fan who buys the kit who will then feel cool by wearing the kit. The reality is that Aston Villa no longer occupies that position. We no longer fit their model and in reality, haven't done so for the last two seasons.

Didn't Walsall recently have a Nike kit? And don't Crystal Palace currently?