Another year, another kit and Adidas have provided a fashionable design in plain white with off the shoulder stripes. But still no collar!? Is it just me who wanted a collar?

With every year that passes, the release of a new kit seems to create more and more debate amongst fans regarding the need for a new shirt every year and whether fans should run out and buy one.

The kit launch was held on Friday in Derby at the Market Place and a good crowd witnessed its unveiling. RamZone forum member 'martinb1884' was there and kindly posted a link to his fantastic blog 'Ramballs'.

There are some great snaps including the one used for this article. All of them were taken first hand at the launch by Martin and definitely worth checking out!

'Ramballs' Kit Launch Pics

This year we will have the new home kit and a new away strip to be revealed once the season begins. The now traditional third strip (using 'traditional' with much sarcasm) will continue to be the light blue and white striped ‘Rams 76 away / Argentina’ design.

The kit launch has fast become as important a day to many fans as the release of the fixtures. Some might say that this fact alone points to the corporate machine and its huge influence on the game and on that point they would be pretty much correct.

It may be the case that you want to be seen in the latest kit when stepping onto the terraces at Pride Park or instead take a stand against the neverending shirt releases and don your favourite kit from years gone by.

Whatever your opinion the fact is that modern football relies on a steady turnover of income, a big part of that is making sure those willing to hand over their hard earned on the latest kit, have a new one (or three) to purchase each and every year.

Corporate machine aside, I am one of those fans who loves wearing a Rams kit. Being a bit of a collector I have a tendency to purchase most of the kits eventually even if I have, from time to time, filled the gaps from end of season sales or a classic kit at a bargain price on eBay.

The fact I am so far from the main action also makes the kit a way of feeling involved and have people give you a “what flipping team is that” look as you walk past them on the street. Sadly my biggest problem with the kit is no matter how it looks, the players always seem to wear it so much better than me!

The new home kit has a similar style design to last seasons ‘slime green’ away kit but definitely better, if only for the fact that it is not green. It seems though that green is in at Derby with the goalkeepers kit using a more 'pond' like green (as seen in the picture with this article). Easier on the eye perhaps but using 'slime' green would have been an effective way of blinding oncoming strikers.

Adidas kits seem to have a similar feel for most clubs that they produce for except the Rams seem to not get the plain style home shirt they produce for Liverpool and Chelsea which is just collared plain red and blue respectively, with the Adidas three stripe on the sleeve.

I may be the only one who cares but I really like the collared shirt as I think it looks a bit smarter or perhaps that is just the fair skinned, red headed Aussie that I am speaking.

I always found playing football in a collar handy, turning up your collar in the hot sun means one less place to cover with sun block. The fact I am near albino, the milkiness of my skin meant that I either had to get to the game hours early or start on the bench just to have time to oil up and be ready for the game....but i seem to have wandered off topic.

Whether you choose to kit up or not in 09/10 that is your perogative but one thing the release of the new shirt means is that the new season is just around the corner.

I am sure we can agree that is something we all want!!

For those who are interested in pre-ordering the new kit, you can do so at the official DCFC site:

Shop DCFC

Photo: Action Images

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