'Personality was lost' - Pundit rails against Aston Villa Champions League kit decision

Aston Villa had a brilliant return to major European competition but not everyone was happy

Leading national football writer Martin Samuel was not impressed by Aston Villa's kit decision as the club returned to elite European competition.

Villa roared to a superb 3-0 away win at Young Boys in Bern last week and are now preparing for what Samuel dubbed in today's Sunday Times as a the "Champions League tie of the week" on Wednesday at home against Bayern Munich and "an echo of their European Cup final win in 1982".

But Samuel had been stirred by this week's Subbuteo World Cup to take up a complaint with Villa over their call to wear a change kit rather than claret and blue.

He said: "Looking back, it was probably Subbuteo that gave me my enduring fascination with traditional football colours... I didn’t have the Dukla Prague away kit that Half Man Half Biscuit sang about, but to this day I remember their first one was quite similar to Aston Villa.

"And Villa have got the Champions League tie of the week on Wednesday, at home to Bayern Munich, an echo of their European Cup final win in 1982. If you’re a Villa fan, just being in the competition is thrilling, and the first result of the group stage, a 3-0 away win against Young Boys in Bern was outstanding. Yet, as it unfolded, the Subbuteo kid in me couldn’t stop thinking: what are they wearing? Look, the result is the important thing, I know, but if a club have waited 41 years to be back in elite European competition, and they have the chance to play in their colours, the famous shirt that has been with them across centuries, they should take it.

"Young Boys wear yellow and black — Subbuteo No 424 — so there was no need for Villa to change at all. They should have played in claret and blue. With odd exceptions — a red shirt 'to deflect the glare of the sun' against Small Heath in 1901 — this has been Villa’s identity since 1885, and that tradition should have been honoured. Instead, they wore one of those black everykits popular with all clubs. Their personality was lost. It could have been anyone."

Villa have won praise for wearing the name of hospice Acorns on their shirts for Champions League games.

The club say their principal partners Betano donated the prime front-of-shirt space back to the club to benefit a long-standing relationship with the hospice.

Chris Heck, president of business operations at Villa, said: “We are delighted that Betano came to us to offer up the opportunity and ask who are the best beneficiaries of the space. It was an absolute no-brainer to bring Acorns back onto the front of shirt, an organisation close to the hearts of everyone involved with Aston Villa."

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