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Kieran Maguire reveals fan fury as Aston Villa consider ripping up £4m deal
Aston Villa fans are being charged ‘premium prices’ by Castore for a kit that has failed to meet minimum standards.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Castore’s ‘poor track record’ as a kit manufacturer.
Villa have reportedly faced complaints this season from both the men’s and the women’s team about their kits weighing players down due to poor design.
The Premier League side partnered with UK-based manufacturer Castore in a multi-year deal starting in the 2022/23 season.
However, Football Insider exclusively revealed on Thursday (28 September) that Villa are looking for an exit route in their Castore agreement following complaints.
The agreement between Villa and Castore is understood to be worth around £4million per season.
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Maguire explained that Castore have now faced complaints from a number of their customer clubs including Rangers, Newcastle United and Wolves.
“Football fans in the main are not very fussy when it comes to their football shirts,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“They know that they’re going to effectively have a shelf life of one year.
“As long as the badge is there and the main colours are there, they’re not really looking for much else but are being charged premium prices.
“Castore sadly have a poor track record when it comes to the quality of their products.
“It has gone from Rangers to Newcastle and there were also issues with Wolves as well.
“I think fans have turned around and said ‘we’re not happy and we are being taken for a ride’.
“They also expect better from the club that there will be a minimum standard expected which seems to have been ignored.
“To be fair, the Villa fan shirts aren’t as impacted by this particular problem because you don’t tend to get sweaty in a football shirt on a Saturday afternoon, but it reflects very poorly on Castore.
“The minimum you expect from an elite Athlete’s performance kit is that it performs and they have failed to do that.“
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