Kit Launch Event
The Halifax Wanderers held a free event on the 5th for the release of their new 2024 home and away kits. I went to the event but didn’t think to take any pictures because I was enjoying chatting with a friend I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I thought the event was well set up and everything seemed to go smoothly for the 500+ people attending.
They had the main supporters groups from the kitchen up on stage singing songs and beating drums to kick off the show. Following the supporters groups was a radio personality (from Q104 I think?), the stadium announcer, Derek Martin, and Patrice Gheisar all on stage. The latter two there to answer some light PR questions.
After that they brought out Andre Rampersad, the club captain, in the new full home kit followed by Aidan Daniels in the new away kit. Then they brought out all of the currently signed members of the first team wearing either the home or away kit. The only missing player was Kareem Sow who isn’t in camp due to a planned wrist surgery.
It was really interesting to see all the players in person for the first time, some of the players are way bigger than I first thought. It’s nice to see our CBs and main strikers are all big boys.
Finally after the show they opened up the merch table. They also had tables lined up in front of the stage that the players were standing at for people to talk to them and get autographs. I couldn’t stay out late so I didn’t wait in line to talk to the players and after I bought what I wanted and started heading home
Anyway, on to my thoughts on the actual kits !
Home
The home kit this year is a solid dark blue with stylized pictures of Nova Scotia on it. The pictures are made up of star-shaped dots, the same star shape as the citadel, and have a light blue anchor to represent Halifax. The sponsor and Macron logos are all in white and really pop against the blue.
The back is a solid dark blue with no pattern (which will make the name/number easier to read) and at the bottom there is a faint compass rose encircled by the words “Not all those who wander are lost, they’re seeking a place to call home”.
I think as a shirt this kit looks great but you lose the detail very quickly the farther you get from it and it quickly just looks dark blue. I also find that the Nova Scotia shape isn’t apparent at first because they can be so close together at times that it isn’t easy to see where one begins or ends.
The collar is fine but I prefer V-necks. Maybe I’m getting old but I’ve also been appreciating a good collar like the ones on the 2019 home kits. With a collar like that everyone knows you mean business.
I like it and will definitely be adding it to my regular rotation of kits, but I’d only give it a 6/10.
Away
When I first saw the away kit I wasn’t that excited. From where I was sitting I thought it was going to be another ice themed kit, but thankfully it isn’t.
The pattern on the away kit is silhouettes of various styles of ship that have been built in Halifax over the many years the city has been around. The ships are various shades of grey with a slight blue tint, it gives off a ship-themed grey camo vibe to me.
My favourite part of the away kit is that they finally added yellow as a meaningful part of the kit ! Okay, a small line on the cuff might not be meaningful on its own, but the club has also give the yellow a branding name and used it on the new alternate scarf this year. This tells me “Beacon Yellow” will be here to stay and I just hope they start using it more prominently on the kits in the future.
This kit has grown on me a lot since I first saw it. I’m still not sold on the ship camo but as a general grey/blue toned kit I like it. I also like the look of the cuffs (especially the yellow). I’d probably give it a 7/10.
Overall
I like the kits, more and more as time passes, but I don’t think either are my favourite. I really like the addition of yellow , I hope it sticks around and becomes more of a second colour than the “Aqua Blue” the club currently uses.