Newcastle United unveiled their 2013-14 away kits on Wednesday, and as speculated, the club will be sporting all blue. This is, of course, the first kit to be unveiled with the new Wonga sponsor logo, and it appears that Puma has chosen hues to complement the company's default color scheme. The bright blue Wonga speech bubble sits against a darker field of blue that could be described as navy or midnight, and the now-familiar two-stripe pattern copies the Wonga color as an accent. A curious choice has been made to add a third in-between blue on the side paneling, because having one solid color just isn't enough. (It's possible this has something to do with the "Dry Cell technology" mentioned in the press release.) I support the inclusion of blue into the regular rotation of Newcastle shirts - my favorite alternate strip continues to be the blue and black striped version utilized during the Championship season - but the Wonga-ized color scheme likely means the shade used on the club crest won't be seeing the light of day anytime soon.
The goalkeeper shirt released in conjunction with the navy blue kit is a bit garish. That bright Wonga blue screams "Watch out for pedestrians," and the bib reminds me of 17th century Puritan garb. If we find ourselves in a situation where a religious revolution (or perhaps just a quick witch-burning ritual) is necessary, Rob Elliot is our man. Perhaps it's a thinly-veiled shot across the bow at those who would refuse to wear Wonga merch?