Castore has launched its second attempt at an Everton home kit for the club’s historic first season at Bramley Moore Stadium – now called Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The kit is very similar to last season’s understated design. There’s a tweak to the collar that is justified by comparing it to the 1987 kit, while the background pattern is less abstract and instead features a less-than-subtle wave pattern.
It still features the shiny wet-look material used last year and still features Stake and Christopher Ward as front and sleeve sponsors respectively. Castore does mix it up with some blue socks but the kit is very safe.
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Going safe is fine. It needs to be blue and it needs to have the badge on (more on that later) but anybody who spent time outside Goodison Park for the final game against Southampton had a unique chance to see a huge range of kits past and present as Everton fans came out in their tens of thousands to celebrate the end of the men’s team’s time at the historic stadium.
In the bright sun of L4 it was clear the Hummel kit from 2023/24 is a far superior design to Castore’s efforts. The Archibald Leach patterns were subtle enough not to dominate but added a nice touch to celebrate the stadium’s history. It doesn’t punch you in the face with a message in the same way clipart-style waves do on the new home shirt.
I think that is the main criticism of Castore. The kits are bland and any meaning or design touches seems to be tacked on later. Last season’s black third kit apparently honoured the Goodison Park floodlights and I still have no idea how or why that is – especially for a shirt that was destined to never actually be worn at Goodison Park.
That seeming lack of effort is evident in the fact Everton will launch a cream away kit (just like 2024/25) and a black third shirt (just like 2024/25), albeit this one does add some blue and yellow squiggles to represent the River’s famous Dazzle Ship.
The third shirt should have been yellow. Everton fans have been crying out for a traditional amber away shirt for years and inverting the colours would also make it easier to play in without blending into the crowd.
But back to Castore. While the designs are uninspiring at least the marketing is more Everton-centric. Castore recently released the England rugby kit featuring the players sporting huge Castore wings. The brand has forced in some sort of ‘flying’ tagline to justify it but it was clear Castore was more interested in marketing itself than actually designing a campaign to suit the national side.
It was a feature spotted on Everton training gear last season, where giant angel wings adorned t-shirts and jumpers and you could just about make out a tiny ‘Everton’ underneath. It is the cost of accepting a very impressive £10m a year to sport Castore designs but no doubt impacts sales.
But I thought the headline here was that Castore is actually quite good?
Well, sort of. The money is essential and the quality of the Castore geat, while often mocked, is actually very good. Yes, the iron-on badges are crap, but the training gear is actually top quality and easily outperforms the likes of Hummel and Umbro in terms of durability and comfort.
It is also more available. Castore sells quite a big range of Everton gear on its website and does offer regular sales and reductions. You can get some of last year’s kits for £25, while training gear is cheaper on the Castore website.
Compare that to disasters in the past with previous suppliers. It was impossible to get anything made by Umbro after the Christmas rush, where the club store was a wasteland of XXL and XXS sizes. Under Puma the club infamously didn’t release socks with the shirt until several months into the season, while the official Everton app once directed people to the Manchester City store during a kit launch.
Puma in particular could not have been more clear that Everton was an afterthough. Insipid kit designs, supply problems and late kit launches became the norm. A change to Nike did very little to change that as that deal was put together by Kitbag, who Everton worked with for six years.
The Kitbag deal was a disaster. The kit was often launched late, while it prevented Everton kits from being sold in high street stores such as JD, and key retail destinations such as Liverpool John Lennon Airport. It became almost impossible to buy Everton kits outside of the city under the disastrous partnership.
Castore are rapidly expanding their brick and mortar stores and have eyes on the US market and an IPO too, something the founders have been vocal about. It has 25 stores across the UK and Ireland and plans another 10 new openings this year.
Tom Beahon, co-founder of Castore, said: “Our strategy will remain focussed on omnichannel, combining the best of digital, physical stores and third party retail partners to maximise the reach of the Castore brand.
Backed by people like Andy Murray, Castore is at least ambitious and Everton are now its flagship shirt partnership. It means the club will be front and centre of any expansion and that means more availability outside of the city for shirts and training gear.
The cries for Adidas should be considered too. While the merchandise and quality is leagues above other kit suppliers Everton would probably not get a full range. Instead it would be the tier below ‘Elite’ Adidas brands such as Liverpool and Manchester United, which means it would not have global distribution and would not have retro ranges and expanded merchandise such as trainers available to fans. Kits would be templated too, meaning Everton and the likes of Leeds would be taking to the field in identical kits with the colours switched up.
What I’m trying to say is while Castore has many flaws it does not have more issues than the likes of Hummel, Puma and Umbro. In fact, for £10m a season in revenue and the ability to actually buy the shirt and associated training gear if you want them, it is probably the best deal Everton can get right now.
It is ‘ok’. Not bad, not great. It’s just an acceptable kit supplier who do standard designs and release a few bits of training kit throughout the season.
I would take bad design over supply issues and a complete lack of availability outside of two city stores.
And of course, you can always buy the vastly superior fan designed t-shirts, hoodies, caps and hats at Everton The Gear if you want something that looks better than the official club merchandise.