Paddy Power’s Huddersfield shirt sponsor troll

by Luke Andrews, 23 July 2019

In one of the most satirical and daring new kit reveals we’ve witnessed in football, Paddy Power trolled the football world with an elaborate marketing ploy. The Irish bookmaker has announced a kit sponsorship deal last week with Huddersfield Town FC, and the initial photos released of the kit showed the logo emblazoned diagonally across the shirt. It later turned out to be a joke and the real kit is shown to have no sponsorship logos present at all!

After the initial reveal of the Championship club’s shirt, the entire football world fell into a state of pandemonium. The FA contacted Huddersfield Town FC demanding an explanation of their thoughts behind the proposed kit. Football fan pages on social-media were openly calling this the worst kit ever designed, and shirt sponsorship gone crazy. Of course, this was the plan all along from the notoriously unorthodox marketing department of Paddy Power.

Football fans around the world were shocked at the new shirt. © Pexels.

The whole ordeal lasted approximately 48-hours with Paddy Power refusing to comment on the initial launch. As the criticism grew and intensified the purpose and genius of this campaign can truly be appreciated. See Paddy Power did not seek to just bring global attention to their brand, they intended for this to be the catalyst for a conversation around the deteriorating levels of credible shirt sponsors. With over 60% of football clubs in the top UK leagues now using betting brands as their primary shirt sponsor, this sentiment is completely understandable. They wound up everyone for 48-hours remaining suspiciously silent, many suspected this would be another gem from the marketing team at Paddy Power. As you can see from the players facial expressions in both sets of kit release photos, it’s not just the fans that were relieved.

A statement from the operator said:

As a sponsor, we know our place, and it’s not on your shirt. So today we are calling on other sponsors to join the Save Our Shirt campaign, and give something back to the fans.–Statement, Paddy Power

The campaign was launched with the hashtag #SaveOurShirt in response to growing criticisms from football fans around the UK. It is admittedly a nice touch from one of the biggest brands in an industry that seems motivated purely by profit at the expense of the longevity and welfare of the sport and its fans. Huddersfield Town FC fans will no doubt be relieved by the latest revelation from Paddy Power, and with a smart and clean looking shirt going into the new campaign, their hopes for promotion will be revitalised and sky-high.

Have you enjoyed this article? Then share it with your friends.

Share on Pinterest