Most clubs will release three shirts each season including home, away and third, with each bearing a new design for the season ahead. For dedicated football fans, getting their hands on these shirts is a top priority. Each shirt has the memories of the season embedded, both the good and the bad. However, many Premier League clubs used to keep their kit for two seasons before new kits were introduced every season.
Football shirts are often made from polyester, which means these creations often contribute to large amounts of CO2.
The rise in this greenhouse gas elevates the temperature of the planet leading to global warming issues. With clubs overproducing the amounts of all shirts each year, this leads to excess waste which further adds to the problem.
Brentford have acted on this situation by agreeing to wear their current season shirt in the following year - although they will still produce a new away and third kit. Not only will this cut the number of shirts being produced, but it is also a good way to help fans.
Brentford Chief Executive Jon Varney stated when the idea was discussed “everyone at the club was fully behind it”. He also went on further to say that the club “will continue to work with Umbro to make sure the production of our kit is as sustainable as possible”.
Many fans may feel as though in order to fully support their club, they need to be sporting the shirts of every season and be up to date. Shirts on average can be £50-£70, with authentic shirts being around the £100 mark. There will be fans who won’t be able to pay this every year for one shirt. Brentford fans can now rejoice in the fact they won’t need to splash out on a new shirt next season (unless the player on the back of their shirt leaves!).
There have been many opinions surrounding this change, with fans expressing how they appreciate the shirt for each season because of the memories it holds.
For Brentford, this season is already memorable for them so no doubt their current shirt will happily be worn again.
This is not the first environmentally friendly change to happen within football, many clubs have contributed in different ways. League Two club Forest Green Rovers wore their shirt which was created using coffee beans and recycled plastic, in a bid to be more eco-friendly. Clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur have also brought in a range of interventions to boost their sustainability, some being no single-use plastics and encouraging fans not to travel to games via cars.
Changes within the sport to support fans and the planet are highly welcomed. Brentford’s new action may encourage other clubs to do the same – or implement more measures of their own.