For the 2013/14 Premier League campaign, a full year after the Saints made their return to the Premier League in Umbro kits, Southampton signed a new deal with adidas. That season, they were handed a solid red home kit that used one of adidas’ least popular templates and angered fans at the same time due to the lack of the club’s famous vertical white stripes.
adidas and Southampton rekindle commercial kit romance on Valentine’s Day
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The controversy forced Soton to step away from the adidas deal and for the current Premier League season, Southampton are wearing kits without any manufacturer logos on them. Before the start of this season, a statement from the club’s site said:
”Following months of discussions at the end of last year, the decision was made at the start of December 2013 that the Club would terminate its contract with its Official Technical Supplier, adidas.
“In February and March of this year, the Club worked hard to repair the relationship with adidas but, despite these healthy discussions, it has become clear that, due to the short lead times involved, adidas were unable to produce a Southampton kit in time for next season.”
At that point, it sounded as the Southampton's decision to part ways with adidas was a permanent one but it turns out that wasn't the case. In a brand new statement released on Saturday, it seems that the Saints and adidas have rekindled their relationship in the true (commercial) spirit of Valentine's Day.
In that new statement, Saints CEO Gareth Rogers said:
”We are very grateful to adidas for the support and understanding they have offered over the past 12 months while we took an enforced hiatus from our affiliation.
“adidas has a global reputation for quality and innovation, making them the perfect partner for the club. We are looking forward to activating our working relationship for the third and final year of our contract.”
It’s a Valentine’s Day miracle.
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