UD Almería’s patience with Castore wears thin after the latest mishap in the campaign to launch the new shirts for next season. Specifically, the second official kit has caused the most problems.
Almería had planned to announce the new kits this week for the 2024-25 campaign, but Castore asked the club to delay the date because it didn’t have enough shirts to supply the official store in the stadium. A small consignment was received, which was deemed insufficient to begin selling them.
However, Castore forgot to inform the only store in Almería (Deportes Blanes) that supplies official kits of the rojiblanco team about the delay, and the shirt went on sale on the originally scheduled date without being officially announced. A fan stumbled upon the new clothing and uploaded a photo to social media, which quickly spread.
The club, unable to ignore the situation, asked for the clothing to be removed from sale to the public.
Within UD Almería, there is a significant disagreement with Castore due to this latest episode in a long saga of disappointments. The leaked shirt has received negative reviews from fans who did not like it at all. The club explains that this shirt was going to be announced through an explanation that reveals what it was inspired by, something related to the capital of Almeria, but that after everything that has happened, it will be of little use.
The problems with Castore since the signing
Almería left Puma behind and signed with Castore before the start of the 22/23 season. The English brand already had sponsorships in the Premier with Newcastle and Wolverhampton and decided to fully enter LaLiga through agreements with Almería and Sevilla. The contract signed with the people of Almeria was five years, a formula of three fixed plus two optional. That is, this next season, which begins the weekend of August 17, will be the last fixed year, and the rojiblancos will think very hard about staying linked for those next two optional years after the problems they have experienced since the beginning with the English firm.
In the first year, the UD Almería squad had to do a large part of the preseason without the official kits not for playing or even training. In fact, the players had to play a couple of friendlies with white label shirts with which they trained for about a month. The subsidiary even had to develop its preseason with the old sports brand. Castore’s clothes didn’t fully arrive until well into October.
In the second season, things improved, but it still existed stock problems to the point that players have had to recycle sweatpants, but, unlike the first year, the club’s workers have been able to enjoy official clothing. For the club, it is difficult to understand how these logistical problems can exist when kit designs are agreed every two years. That is to say, they have known each other for about 8 or 10 months, not only the shirts for this new season, but also for the next one (25/26).
Athletic Club is the third team that Castore wears in the Spanish League. He did it a year after Almería and Sevilla and, precisely, those responsible for the Basque team called both clubs after the sponsorship agreement to gather the feelings of both teams, which they admitted were not good at all.