We had 35 replies to the shirts story. Here are some of your emails :
From: Kevin Smyth
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Emirates logo
Myles, this is not a new problem. I brought my nephew over from Ireland for the first home game of the season against Villa. He got the new strip and within a week the Emirates logo was coming off. I contacted Arsenal and they said no problem, just return it and we’ll replace it, which they did. I have friends who bought the shirt in Ireland last August and they had the same problem from day one. If Arsenal got Nike staff to face the customers on Sat then they must be very unhappy about the situation.
From: Rob Childs
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: What’s the crack at Emirates ?
Hi Myles,
I got the new shirt as a Christmas present, and the ‘E’ and ‘M’ from the Emirates both have cracks in. I always wash my shirts by hand inside out since 1986! I’d be very grateful for any update on the situation.
From: Rob Fisher
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Faulty Shirts
Brought a shirt for my son’s 5th birthday from SportsWorld. A few months later I noticed the lettering was coming off. Looked like a cheap imitation. Eventually got round to taking it back, where I got my money back no problem. My son is very upset that he hasn’t got one for the time being.
From: Samantha Durrant
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Fly Emirates Flew Off !
My son’s latest Arsenal shirt looks a mess as the lettering on the front, “Fly Emirates”, has peeled off over the last few months of washing. It isn’t worn all of the time and so it isn’t constantly washed – eliminating the question of “wear and tear” In addition, he has had 2 Arsenal shirts a year for the last 10 years and this problem has never occurred before. We are really upset about it as we save each shirt as a memento.
From: Kelvin
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Emirates logo peels off.
I’m from Singapore, and yes, I have the exact problem. Any idea if they’re going to do anything about it?
From: Nicholas Austin
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Faulty Shirts
Hi Myles,
I too have had the problem with the Fly Emirates peeling/cracking not once but twice. I bought my first on the opening day of the season, and swapped it in the World of Sport at the next home game as I lost a letter after one game and one wash. The second has lasted much better and although all letters are intact, they still cracked with time. I resigned myself to accepting they will always have some faults.
Up the arse!
From: Mandip Bhachoo
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Arsenal peeling Emirates logo
Hi Myles,
Wife bought me a shirt at the start of the season (August) & the Emirates logo is peeling off. Previous home shirt had the logo, Nike sign & O2 logo stitched onto the shirt – more expensive but lasted years. BTW – Agree with you, Henry should be sold at the end of the season. Swap with Eto’o – if only !
From: Andrew
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: Shirt logo
Bought my son a shirt in July. The logo peeled off after several washes back in September.
From : Trystan
Date: 20 Feb 2007
Subject: ‘Emirates’ shirt
Myself and my mate Sam had the problem with the logos peeling off our home shirts. We took them back to the World of Sport in Finsbury Park before the Man Utd home game and they were exchanged with no hassle for identical (including name, number and Premier League patches) products. Touch wood, but the same hasn’t happened to the new ones yet…
Myles replies : We’ve received many emails in this vein. It seems that loyal Gooners often give the club the benefit of the doubt.
Eleven months ago, after touring the stadium when it had no pitch and no seats, I wrote a piece titled Emirates Stadium has that Wow! factor, and noted that Arsenal has a history of treating their core supporters better than most football clubs.
I wrote this : Arsenal will be rich and powerful and successful. They will be giants, I think. And the bigger you are, the more you bully people. So that is a big danger. That is, in fact, the biggest test for the club now. They can play stylish football, draw big crowds, win trophies and make money. All that will come.
ARSENAL FC has done pretty well over the decades, treating fans quite well, better than Spurs or Chelsea. It’s been a better club than Spurs or Chelsea because the people who run it have been better people than those who run Spurs or Chelsea. I hope that continues. It is clear to me that, in future, Arsenal could bully a lot of people and get away with it. But I hope they treat people decently. We’ll see.
Mar 14, 2006
I hoped that the club would treat people decently. It now looks as if Arsenal and Nike knew about the faulty shirts as early as August 2006. But they carried on selling goods of sub-standard quality.
Maybe all football clubs do the same. The punters, if this sample is representative, are remarkably tolerant and forgiving.
However, for the club to continue to sell defective £40 shirts for six months, there must have been a decision by someone within Arsenal’s retail organisation.
I’m wondering : What do fans think of that decision?