Dons chairman addresses ‘down and dirty’ new kit designs after criticism

Whether you love it or you hate it, MK Dons’ new home shirt this season certainly has the supporters talking.

The new design, brought out this season by new kit partners Castore, features a smokey design pattern on the shirt, but from afar, give the impression it it has actually been used to clean the car (editorial opinion!).

Dons chairman Pete Winkelman though has come out in defence of th shirt, which is splitting opinion amongst the supporters, and says he should shoulder the responsibility for the design, which he remains a fan of.

The change red strip has been revealed with a similar design, and fans are still waiting on the third kit to break cover.

Castore have taken charge of the club shop at Stadium MK, which opened on Thursday, where fans can get their hands on the new shirts as well as other club merchandise.

Winkelman though addressed the criticisms of the new kits, saying: “I get so much criticism about this shirt, people asking me why we've got a dirty shirt. It's not all Castore - we approved all the designs. I want to take responsibilityfor why the shirt looks the way it does. I really like our shirt.

“We're 18-years-old, we've had white shirts more or less every year, virgin white, like we're the new boys. No we're not - we're down and dirty, we're ready to go again and we wanted to put a bit of something else into that.

“Whether it works is a matter of judgement - it's a bit like Marmite, but it's a great shirt when you see them all together. The only criticism I'll take is that the shorts should have been the same. We made a mistake in keeping the shorts white with our dirty shirts.

“But a lot of our younger fans like it, and it's a much cooler vibe. We're kicking off with something we've worked together on, it's our idea and it's for this year only. Rest asured, we'll probably be back to a silky white next year.

“Our kits are exclusive to us, unique and change every year so we haven't got too long to be upset about it. If you don't like it, you can buy a new one next year, but don't blame our new partners Castore. You'll have to blame me.

“We're not scared of dividing opinions.”