SHIRTY Ipswich Town supporters are threatening to launch a Portman Road protest…because of the clubs' new shorts!Fans were asked to express their artistic abilities earlier this year and design the team's new shirt, before thousands voted on which one took their fancy.

SHIRTY Ipswich Town supporters are threatening to launch a Portman Road protest…because of the clubs' new shorts!

Fans were asked to express their artistic abilities earlier this year and design the team's new shirt, before thousands voted on which one took their fancy.

However, the kit's shorts featuring a blue wave were not part of the vote and only revealed this month.

Now supporters are getting hot under the collar at the prospect of their team being the league's laughing stock next season.

An on-line debate has been launched on the Those Were The Days fanzine website with hundreds of posts all agreeing the shorts should go.

One person wrote: "The shorts are an utter joke! I'm not sure whether they are more like a bad Americanism, or a throwback to the sort of kits worn by lower league clubs in the early 90s."

Another mused: "If we wear those monstrosities we will be a laughing stock. Novelty kits are never a good idea."

Phil Ham, Those Were The Days editor, said some fans were annoyed because the shorts shown to the crowd last month were not those that now appear with the shirt.

He said: "The shorts which were paraded were a plain design and not the ones on show at the launch.

"Four years ago fans voted on a kit which subsequently changed colour to a lighter blue which would never have won a vote and there are concerns that a similar thing has happened again."

The problem is not the first time the club has come in for kit criticism. In the promotion season of 1999/2000, the team were all set to break tradition and wear blue shorts until an angry reaction from fans forced the club to reconsider.

North Stand season ticket holder Peter Finch described the shorts as "hideous".

He said: "I'm sure Norwich fans are in on this - if we are wearing them next season, it will be embarrassing."

Fellow Town fan Christopher Musgrave-Brown added: "Oh dear, oh dear! Instead of Vivienne Westwood designing our glorious strip, we only had enough money to pay her for crafting our splendid top. They look so silly."

Debenture holder James Holland said: "They look like they were designed by someone having a very bad day at the office."

A spokesman from Ipswich Town said: "For the new kit we allowed supporters to go a stage further than usual and involved them in the design process. Not only was the kit selected by supporters but it was designed by them too.

"The shorts and socks were designed to be in keeping with the shirt theme."

The new kit will be available to buy from May 14.

Weblink: www.twtd.co.uk

www.itfc.co.uk

n. What do you think of the kit? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk