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Celtic’s Awful Strip Clash Yesterday Is Another Sign Of The League’s Basic Incompetence.

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As the teams were standing on either side of the centre circle yesterday, I saw immediately what one of the problems of watching the game was going to be. That strip clash was abysmal.

At first some of the folk I was watching it with doubted it would be an issue … I have the advantage of being both a FIFA player and a Football Manager super-fan. I’ve seen how such similar looking strips are hard to tell apart in the heat of a match, but that’s knowledge acquired through experience.

I can understand how it might not be readily apparent.

To a layperson anyway.

But my God, how did the officials not see that?

They aren’t laypersons, they are supposed to be professionals.

The TV people must – they absolutely must – have highlighted the issue, from years of their own experience.

So how in God’s name did that fiasco happen?

How could the officials have allowed that to go ahead yesterday with both sides lined up almost the same?

The strip manufacturer who gave us a shirt which is, on the colour side, similar to our first shirt is equally stupid because our second strip – the black – would have been ever less suited to that game.

St Mirren, as the home team, were entitled to wear their home strip … but surely there’s a time when common sense over-rules that type of parochial thinking?

I’ve got to think they would have worn the away strip had the officials asked them to … and they should have.

That was just so stupid and short-sighted yesterday.

It speaks to the chronic unprofessionalism of the league that they didn’t spot that a mile away and rectify it. Sky must have been pulling their hair out, knowing that a lot of neutrals would have switched that off, unable to properly distinguish the two sides.

It speaks volumes about the game here, in a way that clapping against the monarchy never will. We obsess over such petty stuff and whilst moaning about a strip clash seems petty it’s actually a sign of a much larger malaise.

If a national football body can’t get this stuff right, you have to wonder what it does do.

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  • John Copeland says:

    In the name of the small gentleman ! The strip colour caused the defeat ? If the strip was pink with black polkadots ,Celtic FC should have more than enough to take care of St Mirren !Please ,please stop with the psychobabble. Tactical circumstances caused the defeat ! Not the grey strip .What’s next ? Jockstraps too tight ?

  • Up the Republic says:

    Agree. I thought at the time Celtic would pull on their white shorts. It may have played a small part in our lack of speed as we had to make sure who we were passing the ball to.

  • Johnny Green says:

    I agree that, amongst other factors, the strips were possibly also a contributory factor to our lethargic performance. Should Celtic themselves though not have pointed this out to the officials?

  • John says:

    Surely, Celtic would have known what kit St Mirren were playing. Black and White. Their home kit. We would have had to submit our kit colours prior to the match. Celtic should have realised the potential for the colour clash them a should have asked for a solution. If none could be found, the hopes or last years green kit should have been used.

    Yes someone should have pointed this out on sunday. But Celtic FC are to blame firstly.

  • Seppington says:

    Ever the conspiracy theorist, may I suggest that perhaps it WAS obvious to the SPFL reps and they thought that there might just be the possibility of a Man U grey strip debacle that might result in us dropping points? Given how desperate the hun are to see us falter would it surprise you if that was the truth?

    Just a theory…

  • SSMPM says:

    What kind of Miss Nancy excuse is this, strips don’t play football, both sets of players have eyes but somehow our eyes were deceived. We put out the wrong team, with the wrong changes, put shit all effort in and lost to the better team on the day

    • Dora says:

      Exactly SSMPM, if the game played till midnight-there’d still b no goal from Celtic.
      Nightmare day and 2 chances-2 goals from St Mirren with 20% possession!
      Do hope Ange & players learn from this 1/7 to win and most of us were focused on the next game…3 points a gimme, or so we thought..!!

  • Bob (original) says:

    We were just rank rotten yesterday.

    I also immediiately thought that the strips were too similar.

    Initially, that mistake must sit with CFC as the away team?

    But, ultimately is it not the referee’s decision to have one strip changed if there is a clash?

    The referee must have missed that too… 🙁

  • Anthony McKeirnan says:

    Surely our home strip doesn’t clash enough with theirs that we needed to change it? I know both have a fair amount of white but we’re hooped with green and they’re striped with black also we would then have had white shorts

  • David Miller says:

    It was Celtic to blame for the kit clash. We should have wo en the Hoops.

  • Thomas Daly says:

    The peepl r trying anything to prevent us getn a result,HEYHOONWEGOMONTHEHOOPS

  • William Mccann says:

    Alex Ferguson once did the right thing, strip in the bin never to be worn again, take note of prob the greatest manager in our game,

  • Stephen McAdam says:

    Said it straight off as a kid remember we never changed with st.mirren only went to green socks that even happened with hibs tho they got a purple change in 77 one my first games actually 3-1to Celtic

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