New future, New kit

[Jimski]

Anyone else think the home shirt doesn't look nearly so classy now that the blue stripe has been broken up by the new sponsor's logo?

[joepoolman]

Anyone else think the home shirt doesn't look nearly so classy now that the blue stripe has been broken up by the new sponsor's logo?

Yes. I wonder if/ how much money is coming into the club from this partnership.

[Kernow Yellow]

Anyone else think the home shirt doesn't look nearly so classy now that the blue stripe has been broken up by the new sponsor's logo?

When the first image was published of the shirt hanging on a peg I thought it looked very cheap, but in the later player pics (viewed from the middle distance when being worn) I think it looks quite good actually.

I don't like the lack of transparency about the company though - Eales is a director, as is Tom Grunwald, about whom I know nothing but he was evidently at the OxVox 'meet the new board' meeting the other night. Some acknowledgement of the connection would have been nice - we at least got that with Animalates.

Fine if we get a reasonable sum accounted for (even if it just means us owing less to Ensco), but I was hoping for a bit clearer communication from the new people tbh. Having seen the notes from that OxVox meeting, which were very light on meaningful answers to any of the questions, I'm not holding my breath.

[Myles Francis]

When it was announced that there were deals with new sponsors, Mark Asthon said:

One of the big things Darryl helps us do is open commercial doors for Tony (Davison, commercial director) and his team.

“These are three companies that we hadn’t met before, but the deals have all been done very quickly.”

To my mind, that was being somewhat economical with the truth.

[GodalmingYellow]

Anyone else think the home shirt doesn't look nearly so classy now that the blue stripe has been broken up by the new sponsor's logo?

When the first image was published of the shirt hanging on a peg I thought it looked very cheap, but in the later player pics (viewed from the middle distance when being worn) I think it looks quite good actually.

I don't like the lack of transparency about the company though - Eales is a director, as is Tom Grunwald, about whom I know nothing but he was evidently at the OxVox 'meet the new board' meeting the other night. Some acknowledgement of the connection would have been nice - we at least got that with Animalates.

Fine if we get a reasonable sum accounted for (even if it just means us owing less to Ensco), but I was hoping for a bit clearer communication from the new people tbh. Having seen the notes from that OxVox meeting, which were very light on meaningful answers to any of the questions, I'm not holding my breath.

I agree with KY here. The lack of transparency is very disappointing, but fully expect that to be the ongoing position with the present board. Smoke and mirrors doesn't do it justice and OxVox are going to need to be cute and persistent to get relevant meaningful answers.

[SmileyMan]

Well that looks like a well-established local firm keen to get their brand in front of the punters, and not a tax vehicle whatsoever, nosireee.

[slappy]

Well that looks like a well-established local firm keen to get their brand in front of the punters, and not a tax vehicle whatsoever, nosireee.

Tax vehicle?
There's scepticism, and outright paranoia.
Surely this is just the same sort of deal as Animalates: a decent paying sponsor couldn't be found so a company with connections to the owner was given the free advertising.

[Myles Francis]

As I understand it B'n'R are paying about £30k for this sponsorship deal. This is around half the figure which had been agreed with another party before IL got sidetracked and stopped answering his phone.

[Kairdiff Exile]

As I understand it B'n'R are paying about £30k for this sponsorship deal. This is around half the figure which had been agreed with another party before IL got sidetracked and stopped answering his phone.

If that's true, I'd love to see the Oxford Mail do some digging and ask some serious questions. I won't hold my breath though - they're too busy covering Bicester's 'best back garden' competition and writing "[Name of new signing] says he wants to do well at Oxford United" stories which are so generic I reckon I could do them in my lunch hour.

Oh for the days of a genuinely inquisitive local media.

[slappy]

Seeing as the Oxford Mail publish TAG's stories at Oxford City without the slightest hesitation, why would an aborted sponsorship deal at United be of any interest?

[joepoolman]

Sponsorship on the back of the shirt unveiled: http://www.oufc.co.uk/news/article/0004 ... 99345.aspx

[SmileyMan]

Well that looks like a well-established local firm keen to get their brand in front of the punters, and not a tax vehicle whatsoever, nosireee.

Tax vehicle?
There's scepticism, and outright paranoia.
Surely this is just the same sort of deal as Animalates: a decent paying sponsor couldn't be found so a company with connections to the owner was given the free advertising.

You sure?

Tyre companies can be classified as 'vehicle repair' and if their turnover is low enough they can register for the flat rate VAT scheme at a nice 8.5%, compared to the headline rate of 20%. So you can sell tyres to your mates at near wholesale prices, and make a decent profit out of HMRC while you're at it.

[Myles Francis]

Sponsorship on the back of the shirt unveiled: http://www.oufc.co.uk/news/article/0004 ... 99345.aspx

And their parent company have Darryl Eales as a Director.

[Kernow Yellow]

As I understand it B'n'R are paying about £30k for this sponsorship deal.

That's £30k more than we were getting last season then!

[Kernow Yellow]

Another shirt sponsor, another Alycidon subsidiary!

Nice colour matching though. In fact these back-of-shirt sponsors look much less tacky than I feared they might.