OK, guys, Rick has blessed me on this, so right now I need some ideas from you on what elements you consider important. I originally suggested "www.arsenalamerica.com" along the shoulders in the back, directly below the collar. What feed back I have gotten seems that people seem to like that. It won't be in huge letters, so no one will com up and ask "What team does www.arsenalamerica.com play for?". Trust me, with the group of guys I hang out with, that joke would get beaten into the ground. Rick suggested both the US and Canadian flags, with "Arsenal" over the top and "America" directly below the flags. Left breast placement or a sleeve seems to be where we would want this. As far as colors go, red and white is a natural, and I was thinking we could work a VERY SMALL yellow stripe and blue stripe in unobtrusively as a tribute to the away strip. So, post some ideas on what you would want, and I'll see what the feasability is to incorporate the design into a shirt. Rick has pointed out that, since this will be a first rate product, we are probably looking at $60 - $70 per shirt. I'll try to keep costs down as much as possible, and we will wait until after Januray 1 to order because I know everyone has much expenses coming up. I also think we should go with Barbarian as the mfg. on these. I own several of their shirts, and they are extremely heavy duty and don't shrink in the slightest in the was, plus they are based here rather than in New Zealand. The poll above is just to see how many people want shirts. If 18 of us don't, then we can shelve the project for now.
I'm all about another piece of Arsenal related clothing but I'd prefer it be a footy strip, not a rugby shirt. Why exactly is the rugby shirt what were considering? Why not a polo shirt? Sweatshirt? Long-sleeve T? He'p me out here...
Gooner, fair question. Here's my take. Coach is a rugby guy so he thought an ArseAm rugby would be cool. I think it might be as well. Would some other type of apparel be just as, if not more appropriate? Probably. I'm still having a bit of trouble getting my head around the "soccer supporters wearing a rugby shirt" idea. Again, I don't have a problem with a rugby shirt, but perhaps it's worth having a poll that asks what type of apparel we'd like to go with. For example: 1. Rugby 2. Hoody-style sweatshirt 3. Polo 4. Long-sleeve T 5. Pro-style (fitted) baseball cap Once that is determined, then we can work with what the chosen style offers. Rugbys offer a cool, Euro style, heavy duty top that would be different and cool; Polo would be more all-purpose; Long sleeve T would be cheaper, etc. As always, I welcome members comments and input. I think arguments can be made for all of the above. My one recommendation is that we don't let Coach handle the spelling. Deux not deaux (see thread title).
Gooner, Imagine a heavy duty polo shirt that you could wear to play american football in. That sums up a rugby jersey. I sent Coach 2 basic designs that we could use and will be avaible to see when we do the poll on Arsenal America. Now you mentioned another idea-An Arsenal America fotboll jersey. Not a bad idea. I like it.
Shirts yea I think the idea of a "ArsenalAmerica" shirt is great. The rugby shirt sounds very unique indeed. It all sounds like a great idea, but a polo shirt I think would be just as unique. A last it gives us guys here in North America an identity of our passion for the Gooners instead of just wearing a replica.
I love the idea of an Arsenal rugby shirt, although I'm not necessarily keen about fitting blue and gold in there somehow, as I don't know if it would look all that great without making it almost invisible. Maybe we could even offer home and away versions so that people could pick out whichever one they prefer or both. I'm also very intrigued by the idea of an ArseAm fitted baseball cap, as I currently wear my Steelers' hat with the my Arsenal kit (there's red, white, blue and gold in there!). Just don't forget about those of us with large craniums!
My thought is that the style of shirt is less important than the content of the shirt. Personally I would like to see a simple design such as a cannon on the left breast (pointing towards the right arm) with the words: Arsenal America under it (with a hard return after Arsenal) Lettering could be the old style like the Arsenal crest of 1998... Simple design and perhaps put www.arsenal.com across the lower back (like the 1997 double winning jersey...)
Here was my reasoning behind the whole project: 1. A polo is great, but I see 10 red polos on guys every day. It's not something that would get a second glance. 2. A shirt rather than a footy strip because the shirt could be worn out more often that a strip could. 3. Since a rugby shirt is a type of jersey, logos and other things can go in more spaces on the shirt. If we got a polo, would you want anything on the back? 4. Originality. How many footy fans have a cool rugby shirt to hang out in. And if another Arsenal fan is behind you, he might see the web address, realize you're an Arsenal supporter, and ask what ArseAm is all about. 5. I just really like big, heavy duty rugby shirts. Anyways, this is an ongoing thing. Nothing is set in stone, nothing has been committed to. And excuse my French, Rick *L*