As many of you are aware we've developed and produced an alternative shirt that can be worn with pride.
It's a shirt that lets the owners know how we feel about their tenure and it ticks all the right boxes -
- It helps us to spread the word about the disgraceful management of our club
- It provides a real alternative to the vastly overpriced "official" shirt and were enough supporters to boycott the official merchandise in favour of our protest shirt, it would reduce income for the current owners
- It looks great
- Its less than half the price of an official shirt
- Any / all profits from the shirt will be donated to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and to the Spirit of Shankly supporter group
With thousands of shirts sold in the 6 weeks since it was launched, our "Standards Corrupted" protest shirt has proved to be massively popular with Liverpool supporters who understand that the real fight for the clubs success (unfortunately) lies off the pitch. These supporters, want to support the team but who are disillusioned with the systematic destruction of the values of the club that were understood and instilled by Shankly, and then reinforced by subsequent managers and boards of Liverpool football club. As supporters we've enjoyed a unique relationship with the club - our support is regularly acknowledged as a vital part in our history and success, yet the current owners see only revenue where previous boards recognised our true value.
Our challenge hasn't been to convince those fellow reds who understand the real impact of these owners. It's in getting the message out to other supporters who genuinely believe that they're "helping to support the club" by buying the latest shirts and merchandise through the official outlets.
So for those supporters, or anyone interested, here are the reasons the shirt came about and the reasons all true supporters should buy this rather than the official shirt.
* All revenue earned by the club appears to be used to reduce the owners debt - there is NO evidence of any reinvestment in the club (players, stadium, community regeneration)
* Boycotts of official merchandise are difficult to deliver without a credible alternative option - our protest shirt is less than half the price of an official shirt and looks great
* At £20 for adult sizes and £15 for kids, they represent great value and as they've been developed by Liverpool supporters for Liverpool supporters you can be assured that I have gone to every length to get the best possible design, the best possible manufacturer and that the production is taking place within audited factories, so there is no risk of any 'guilt' associated with your purchase
* For every shirt sold we aim to donate more than 10% of the retail price to HJC and SoS - ALL PROFITS that we would have earned will be donated directly to these two incredibly worthwhile organisations
* Its a really easy way to get involved and to spread the word and help to bring about a change in ownership. Our campaign slogan "Out of the R£D and into the BLACK" neatly captures our intent and will continue until Our Club has proper owners or until we have a Black Kop.
The reasons for the design itself are pretty straightforward -
We're wearing black because we're effectively in mourning for the club we follow.
The standards corrupted logo is an excellent interpretation of the way we feel about the way in which the values of our club have been destroyed by the continued shabby dealings of Messrs Gillette and Hicks who we truly believe are unfit to run any business. It's desperately unfortunate that we have had to incorporate the logo of our new sponsor (Standard Chartered) within the design of the protest shirt, as we are delighted that they have chosen to support the club commercially for the next 5 years, and we look forward to happier times when we both enjoy success through the association; the shirt in no way reflects our view of them.
So, if you feel that the current ownership is bad for the future of the club that you support, please follow the link to:
WWW.VIGA.CO.UK/LSU and complete the order process to support this massive effort and to register your frustration.
Remember, if you stand for nothing, then you'll fall for anything.
YNWA
Jonny.
