Replica shirt delay

Reports from todays News of the World say that City fans will not be able to get their hands on replica shirts until a month into the new season. Last season, it's said, 15,500 shirts had already been sold by this time.

The article says that backers have pulled out late with Sam convinced the bad publicity from the "Hooligans" documentary is a major reason.

20,000 new shirts worth £700,000 in sales to the club are sat in a factory unable to be delivered because of no sponsors. The final line of the story says that current sponsors Ken Thorne World of Cars will now remain on the shirts.