People were always going to have misgivings about the club going with a relatively unknown brand after spells with adidas, Umbro and Kappa. I know that, you know that, and the club are well aware of it too. However that’s covered in the Feeling Bullish About Oxen article which is HERE. Now we move onto their first piece of work for us…

Whatever your opinions on the Oxen deal, it’s hard to argue that from an aesthetic standpoint at least (we can talk about build quality later when it’s on sale), Oxen have done a wonderful job with their first Hull City primary kit.

White shorts might come as a bit of a shock to anyone who’s City supporting life began after the 1970s, but given that the predominant demographic of our home games is follicularly challenged, beer bellied white men in their Fifties (a group I’m about to join), a lot of regular match-goers will know exactly what this kit is referencing…

The 1975-78 home ensemble by Europa (another little-known brand making their first Tigers kits, as it happens).

That kit, the first to feature a maker’s mark, is fondly remembered and recalls memories of Billy Bremner’s arrival, the swan-song of Ken Wagstaff, the ‘Smash and Grab’ pairing of Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys, and John Hawley pulling the cuffs of his long sleeve shirts over his knuckles. City referenced it in 2016/17, with a white Kiwi-collared shirt, but Umbro didn’t have the balls to go all-in with white shorts.

Oxen though, despite being named after castrated cattle, have shown the testicular fortitude to commit to recreating that Seventies white shorted look.

It’s not a 1:1 remake of the Europa kit of course, brands don’t like to totally copy the homework of their predecessors, they want to put their own fingerprints on it. So, the order of the fat amber and black stripes is switched, having a black central stripe increases how much amber is on display.

This puts the oblique HCAFC monogram in white on an amber stripe, but it still stands out. Using the club initials further heals the memory of being told ‘City’ and ‘AFC’ are meaningless, so it has a modern era resonance as well as being a throwback to the Seventies.

The white polo-collar looks great, less flappy than in the era of Raleigh Tomahawk bikes and punk rock, in line with current kit trends.

The bold, wide stripes have the effect of making this shirt look remarkably clean, unfussy but nonetheless impactful. You may be suspicious of the upstart brand, but how can you not admire the elegance of restrained design evident in this shirt.

Oh, and long sleeves! Darko Gyabi is modelling long sleeves in the launch images, and that’s a cause for great excitement. That’s the kind of thing a smaller brand can give you, as well as truly bespoke designs, whereas an adidas or Umbro would say “Nope!”

I’m a little surprised the shorts don’t have any contrast flourishes, the Seventies kit had two stripes, one black, one amber, but that could be because they’ll need to be interchangeable with a change or third kit given how many teams in English football usually have white shorts, and simple shorts goes with the overall clean and minimalist aesthetic.

On the launch… The use of the Shane Rhodes poem ‘The City Speaks’, commissioned for the opening ceremony of the 2017 City of Culture year (and etched into the paving around the Queen Victoria Square fountains) in the marketing for this kit is marvellous, I wonder if we’ll see that as part of the releases of the change and third kits too. How can I not love the use of one of the HCK collection matchworns, as seen on the narrator (Hullensian thesp Matt Sutton), too?

I loved the low-key trolling of Twitter-meffs in the marketing by placing Lewie Coyle in a pub (the splendid Ye Olde White Harte, which serves the best pint of Old Peculier in the city), other city venues include the rooftops of the Monocle building (which was Europa House before the refurb, a subtle, probably accidental nod to Europa Sports who made the 1975-80 kits).

I think this is a fine inaugural kit by Oxen: simple but bold, history referencing but ballsy. Maybe it will quell some of the disdain shown in some quarters.

I understand fans wanting adidas, we want to borrow some of that brand’s coolness by association even if they give us templates also used by West Brom and Stoke, but here we’re the one’s lending credibility and this local and ambitious brand is going to be seen on the global stage. That means they’ll be receptive to anything we request, and there are people at the club who know how to exploit that opportunity and give us truly bespoke items.

On this evidence, I’m looking forward to seeing more kits from the set.