Town’s new adidas away kit has been leaked online and as previously reported is a return to the orange worn on several occasions in the past.
The club put out a Twitter teaser for the new strip, which is due to be officially released on Monday, this morning but a number of fans found their way to other photos of it in full, including one where it is worn by Blues legend Frans Thijssen, who was back in Suffolk this week for an Evening With… event.
Town's director of retail operations, Lee Hyde, later explained the thinking behind the return to orange, initially worn late in the Sir Bobby Robson era and also during the 1991/92 and 1999/00 promotion campaigns amongst others.
"To be fair, we have been offered the choice of orange for the last three years but with the club joining up again with adidas for the first time in 25 years and the Dutch connection of those glory days with Arnold and Frans, it clicked into place," he told the official site.
"Whenever we speak to fans and gauge their opinions of what colours they like, orange comes out on top so we knew it would be a popular choice with the supporters.
"We have enjoyed some good seasons when we have worn the orange kit as our away colours and the club has had a fair few Dutch players down the years, some of them very popular, players like Martijn Reuser and Fabian Wilnis, as well as Arnold and Frans obviously.
"I also knew that with all due respect to the other brands, no one would do orange like adidas so with all that in mind and the history element of working again with adidas, it fitted perfectly.”
It’s not the first time Town kit has been leaked ahead of schedule. Last year, the Football League published both the Blues’ new kits on its official app ahead of Town’s planned release date.
There is a guide to pre-ordering both new kits on the club site here.
Photo: ITFC