Sheffield FC

£55 for a shirt.

Imagine they're trying to capitalise on collectors who like obscure shirts, but that's just greed.

 

And it's actually cheaper to buy abroad

 

I play 5 a side with a few lads who have decided to follow Sheffield FC this year. A few of them have bought shirts and were discussing a season ticket (£85).

If people are willing to pay it, I honestly don't see the harm.

 

Hope they sell zero and I am glad we aren't sponsored by a vaping company.

 

First thing I thought. Betting & vape companies should be banned from sponsoring sports.

 

I understand your view on vape but I am not sure why betting companies get so much stick .

 

Taking advantage of the oldest club in the world. So I reckon they’d sell more than if they were just a normal run of the mill non league side. The numbers buying with no connection will far outnumber those who do and refuse to pay.

 

It’s expensive. Maybe the supplier isn’t the cheapest, and there will be no bulk order discount either that league clubs fail to pass on

when you factor in the fact that there is very little money at that level every penny counts. I’d hope they did some sort of special offer for season ticket holders but it appears not.

 

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind vape companies being inappropriate? Helped a lot of people I know quit smoking. Yes there's an issue with marketing towards young people, but from a public health perspective the population health gains outweigh the potential harm in my opinion. Or am I missing something?

 

Not really something that should be pushed on impressionable minors really, is it?

 

As you say, the marketing of them is appalling and in my view it's still a really antisocial act. Vaping in many places, such as football grounds is generally not allowed, so why would a football club be happy to be sponsored by a vaping company?

 

Not sure that anything is pushed on anyone, especially miners as they are accompanied to football by adults & cannot bet until they are 18 unless of course you buy a lottery ticket where I think 16 is the legal age , I do think there is a link with vaping & smoking where there are potential health issues but I see nothing wrong at all with betting companies getting involved with sport.

 

You raise good points but I don't think it's that black and white to be honest. Yes, there is an issue with some companies advertising strategies. However, I'm not sure that criticism can be automatically aimed at every vape company. And there is strong evidence to suggest that they do increase chances of quitting tobacco smoking. It also raises the question about where we draw the line. They still sell pukka pies, bottles of coke, sweets and pints of lager at oakwell. All of which contribute to ill health in the UK. I'll admit I am playing devil's advocate slightly here.

 

I quite like the kits, to be fair.

 

Are all the people against betting and vaping companies being on shirts comfortable with having a shirt sponsored by a company who are doing their bit to ensure most of our kids and grandkids will never get on the housing ladder?

Not to mention what they’re already doing to may working families.

 

Yes they stop people physically drawing on cigarettes, but they replace one thing with another. They also contain nicotine, which is said to be as addictive as heroin. They also cause those ridiculous giant plumes of smoke to blow in people's faces. I also think with a cigarette you start it and stub it out - with vapes i've seen people attached to them all day, which isn't healthy. People also vape having never smoked, and this could lead to smoking down the line.

As someone who has just quit smoking (4 weeks tomorrow), I think the only way is cold turkey (I quit previously for 7 years using this method and I'm determined to make it last this time), or patches could be used for a very limited time under the guidance of a nurse. Vaping can go on for months and years and, though not as harmful as smoking, granted, can become an addiction in itself (and still contains nicotine!). I don't think vaping should be promoted, particularly when little is still known of the long-term consequences.

 

I agree that going cold turkey is more desirable, however, I also take a pragmatic view on a lot of public health issues and realise that it's not one size fits all with regards to addiction. And harm reduction strategies can be very effective in reducing health risks (e.g. needle exchange programmes for heroin users). In some instances an individual may be replacing one addiction with another, however, in doing so it could massively reduce risks associated with smoking. And not all individuals will use vaping as a replacement, but instead, use it as a method of reducing intake with the eventual goal of becoming nicotine free. Much in the same way a nicotine patch could be used. Perhaps there is an argument for not having them advertised at football matches, particularly if advertising is aimed towards children and young people. And I also think there is an antisocial element to them (although I think that's perhaps more to do with the individual who is vaping). However, I still don't think it's as black and white as some suggest.

 

As a "Reserved Plus" subscriber I get my shirt for free. How good is that?

 

And so they should. Sheffield FC is a piece of history and their shirts do get sold the world over. I had a Spanish visitor working in my labs for 6 months (mainly over the summer). He was football mad and i took him to Oakwell a couple of times. But for his leaving gift I bought him a Sheffield FC shirt and he loved it.

 

I agree one size doesn't fit all, and vaping will help many people eventually quit for good, which is great. The issue is the new reliance that smokers (or former-smokers) have on vaping. Also, there is the issue of young people taking up vaping having never smoked under the impression that it isn't harmful, or perhaps nowhere near as harmful as smoking (through advertisement; vaping being permitted in non-smoking areas etc).

There's also evidence to suggest that vaping (for those who have never smoked) could provide a gateway to smoking, so vaping isn't necessarily about reducing intake for current smokers with the eventual goal of becoming nicotine-free; for some, especially the young, it presents an introduction to nicotine and creates a unique problem (nicotine addiction through non-smoking) that otherwise wouldn't have existed. To get young people hooked on nicotine - and potentially then cigarettes as a result - through a product that is supposedly designed to stop smoking, or reduce nicotine intake, is both disingenuous (by vaping companies) and ridiculous. It shouldn't be promoted.