Being an old traditionalist, I have long railed against the idea of an ‘away strip’. It’s my belief that a football club should be proud of its colours and always play in them unless there is a direct clash with those of the home team. However clubs these days regularly wear alternatives which they hope their fans will buy replicas of at high prices. This season Watford, perhaps for the first time ever, also introduced an official ‘third kit’ - the black one - to go with the white away kit. However, counterintuitively, they seem to be wearing the home kit more than ever for away fixtures. Here is the breakdown: The white kit was worn at Oxford and Newport due to a true colour clash. The home kit was worn at Derby and Swansea (with yellow shorts) because both of the change strips would have clashed. For only the games at Wycombe (white) and Reading and Barnsley (black) were change strips chosen. Otherwise, for the games at Sheffield Wednesday (yellow shorts), QPR, Bristol City, Forest, Birmingham and Huddersfield the home strip was used when alternatives were perfectly possible. So the home strip has been worn at 8 out of 13 away games so far and I’m sure this balance is well at odds with recent seasons. I wonder why this should be?
The explanation can only be that they don't want to taint the commercial value of the third kit by having it associated with any of the football we play this season in the minds of supporters.
Simple. Gray is the kitman and is responsible for washing any away kits. Unfortunately, his contribution to the team are as poor off the field as on it.