Sir, – I have noted in recent seasons a growing number of county GAA teams taking the field wearing other than their traditional colours. This is understandable if there is a genuine clash of colours between the opposing teams.
But even in such an instance I would expect that the “enforced change” would in some way be symbolic of and identify with the traditional strip and the colours worn by supporters.
This, unfortunately, is frequently not the case – witness the kit worn by the Kerry footballers and the Tipperary hurlers last weekend.
Somewhat more concerning is the growing instances of teams changing colours when no clash of colours with the opposition is obvious. This can hardly be put down to an epidemic of colour blindness among referees and match officials. I certainly hope that this is not the thin end of the wedge in introducing a second strip for counties in order to exploit merchandising, as is the case in many other sporting codes. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
Kilkenny.