As is customary with the summer, Everton wait to see what their new kits will look like for the upcoming Premier League season.
Whereas other sides learn of theirs months in advance, the Toffees have inexplicably always left it late, thus missing out on so much time where they could have been marketing and selling.
Naturally, this time it is different because of the changeover from Hummel to Castore, but the deal with the latter had seemingly been in place for months before it was actually announced.
Something could have been drawn up to speed up the process.
Regardless, we finally have some leaked photos of the proposed home kit, and unsurprisingly, many fans are not happy.
Everton fans react to leaked 2024/24 home kit
It is a thankless task, designing kits, but one that can be supremely rewarding should it be done right.
Hummel, for all their flaws, were largely inventive and colourful in their attempts to revamp a tired kit which had kind of lost its sparkle under Umbro.
But, with this proposed new home kit, the first under Castore as Everton enters its final year in Goodison Park, has underwhelmed.
A thick, round, striped neckline gives way to an almost shiny royal blue, with the main sponsor once again huge, and the badge looking drab.
Fans are not happy.
One supporter in particular was incensed with the lack of effort put in: ‘Neck worst I’ve ever seen, badge looks like an afterthought, sponsor far too large. Our last season at Goodison and Castore have got it all wrong. So little thought given to it.’
Another questioned where the Goodison Park motifs were, given the poignancy of this season: ‘I think we should have a top that has goodison involved like a special for 1 year’.
Castore need to make a Goodison Park-inspired kit
As that final Evertonian outlines, there should be some kind of Goodison Park inspiration interwoven within the design.
After all, after 131 years since its grand opening, the Old Lady will play host to the Toffees for just one more season before they move to the Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
The 18th of May is the official final game following the announcement of Everton’s 2024/25 Premier League fixtures, where they will host Southampton, and there was hope that the club might have produced the kind of kit similar to the 2017 one produced to celebrate 125 years of the stadium.
It was plain, understated, and well-received by the fanbase.
Clearly not planning to incorporate that into the official home shirt, hopefully they can at least conjure up some kind of similar plan to properly commemorate the grand old arena.