Curious Orange

Norwich City 3-2 Wigan Athletic

The last of the friendlies and it means Norwich City have come through the pre-season unbeaten. Isn't it amazing how three letters can take the gloss off a sentence? It would feel so much better to write the opening of this entry again minus the 'pre'.

This was a good way to finish against Premier League opposition. Wigan led twice, Chris Martin equalised twice and Simon Whaley got the winner to raise the levels of optimism among Norwich fans to dangerously high levels.

There's no doubt about what stood out from this game though: Wigan's kit.

For some reason they had forsaken their usual blue and white stripes for this game in favour of a brand new bright orange away kit.

Wigan are not the only ones. After a few sensible years, kit manufacturers seem to have really gone for it this summer. While not claiming to be a member of the fashionista I have noticed a certain 'creative freedom' reminiscent of the mid-90's which brought us Norwich's paint-splattered look, David Seaman's tube-of-refreshers England shirt and Hull City's tiger skinned top.

As well as Wigan we've seen Newcastle and Everton coming out with designs which will test the loyalty of those fans who like to buy the latest replica shirt each summer.

Mind you, football shirts are not supposed to be high fashion are they? A grown man in a modern replica shirt on a non-matchday is never a good look. Fair enough if you are going to watch your team play or are under the age of about 15 but in any other circumstances they are difficult to justify.

As for Wigan, their new manager Roberto Martinez has a hard-earned reputation for being amongst the most stylish in the game. At Carrow Road even the Spaniard's crisp white shirt, smart trousers and polished brown shoes couldn't rescue his team in the fashion stakes.

They looked to me like a team of stewards, so fluorescent were their tops. Wigan will certainly be alright if they suffer floodlight failure during the up-coming season.

I wonder whether Martinez would even have taken the Wigan job if they had showed him these retina-punishing outfits at the interview?