Out with the old, in with the new

Sunday's cup final marked the final time I will wear my pictured 'white tracks' Muangthong shirt. Most football fans feel a little sentimental when changing from an old strip to a new one, but in this case I must confess I'm delighted to get rid of it.

I bought the shirt at my very first Muangthong United match. It was an impulse buy spurned by my excitement at attending a real game of football in a real atmosphere for the first time in over a year. The shirt was a new design that had gone on sale just two hours before, despite the fact it was halfway through the season. The club were, understandably, looking to cash in on the surge of interest in Thai football.

So out came my eight hundred baht and on went the new shirt, a basic clone of the South China FC shirt with only the badge being different. By the time I got home, I'd realised that I wasn't so keen on the design. A couple of weeks later, Jakarta Casual took one look and described it as 'awful'. And that was from an Arsenal fan.

But at least I had the latest shirt, right? Wrong. MTU wore the shirt about three times then reverted to the old style. Next season (the one just finished),  they launched another new kit. I was slightly perturbed at this and promised myself I would stick with the 'white tracks' all season on principle. Somehow I've shocked myself by managing to do it. While I succumbed and purchased new kits at Rajpracha and Nonthaburi, my willpower has somehow pushed me through every single game of the championship quest in the ugly old 'white tracks' kit.

So goodbye, old shirt. Your usage is now relegated to jogging and wearing around the home. Bring on a new kit with a new sponsor next season.