More plans for the last game at the Boleyn have emerged.
KUMB.com has learnt that the team are to wear special commemorative shirts for their final game at the Boleyn.Although the shirts will be largely the same as the current home kit. in addition to the current “Boleyn Ground 1904-2016” branding below the club crest, the team will run out for the match against Manchester United in May in shirts bearing LETTERS on their backs rather than numbers.
A spokesman for kit suppliers Umbro told us: "There’s no historical reason for this - we just thought it would be something different for the final game.
"We got the idea from watching an old DVD featuring Leicester Rugby Club. In the pre-professional era the Tigers traditionally eschewed numbers for letters and we thought that would be different".
Each player will wear the letter relating to their squad number in the alphabet so that Adrian (no.13) will wear “M” whilst captain Mark Noble will have “P” on the back of his shirt.
Players whose squad numbers are higher than 26 will have a combination of letters so that Dimitri Payet will wear the coveted no. BG (27) shirt whilst Manuel Lanzini will wear BH. The letters F (6) and CH (38) will not be used as is the current tradition.
Supporters will be able to purchase shirts with their favourite letters on the back – at a cost. The spokesman told us: "We’ll be limiting production of the commemorative shirts and they will only be sold to supporters who can prove that they were there on the final night. That way we hope that the shirts will be an investment for years to come."
No pricing details have been released but with the current commemorative shirts currently retailing at £49.99 before printing costs the new kit is unlikely to be kind to the wallet, especially for families who have already stumped up for this season’s commemorative kit.
If the kit is a success, the use of letters rather than numbers has not been ruled out for next season when, although details have not been released, it is believed that transfers will be made of a transparent material visible only under the ultra-violet floodlights that will be in use at the Olympic Stadium.
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