Sheffield Wednesday new kit: ‘Significant’ sponsorship deal the first of its kind in Dejphon Chansiri era as club reveal 91-inspired strips

The club revealed their new kits on Tuesday afternoon with a promotional video shot at the training gym of English super-lightweight title holder and lifelong Wednesdayite Dalton Smith.

Both carry simple designs that appear to have gone down well with the Owls fanbase along with the pricing structure of the kits, which have been supplied by Macron for the second season running.

The home strip sees a return to black shorts and blue socks, while the away strip is yellow with light blue trim – a hark back to the strips used during club’s famous 1990/91 season in which they were promoted and won the League Cup.

Wednesday’s kit reveal also showed that both shirts will carry a third-party sponsor for the first time since Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s premiership of the club.

Kits had previously carried the logo of the Chansiri-owned sports manufacturing company Elev8 and more often had the surname of the club’s chairman in years gone by.

But Yorkshire-based property management company Host & Stay, who primarily centre their business on holiday homes, will act as front-of-shirt sponsors on both strips this season.

The Star understands that the deal struck between the two parties is a ‘significant’ six-figure deal that currently runs for one year, though extension of the partnership and any possible future opportunities have already been discussed between the two parties.

MORE: Popular Sheffield Wednesday loanee admits initial resistance to Owls move – but is grateful it happened

Co-founder and Managing Director Dale Smith, himself a passionate football fan and former academy player at Middlesbrough, told The Star that while the sponsorship deal is of course primarily a business transaction as his company look to open up into central and South Yorkshire, the company are looking to do good in the Sheffield area.

The company on the front of a community’s football shirts, he said, should be something that community should be proud of.

“There are so many great things with Wednesday; a massive fanbase, great communities, a huge club,” he told The Star.

“When we met with the Wednesday team we felt there was a really good synergy to it and they were really passionate about engaging with the wider Sheffield community as well. That really resonated with us.”

This isn’t Host & Stay’s first foray into the sponsorship of a football club. The company are the ‘back of shirt’ sponsor at Middlesbrough and are also seen on the front of the club’s under-23 and academy shirts.

MORE: Former Sheffield Wednesday man closes in on Championship move after captaining in friendly - all quiet on second ex-Owl

Host & Stay are keen to expand a portfolio of community work into the South Yorkshire area and will apply some of the things they already do in Teesside in offering opportunities to those in the Wednesday community that might not necessarily get them.

They intend to start with the ticket allocation awarded to sponsors, Dale said, with 50 tickets donated each home game.

“One of the key things for us is making sure we deliver those tickets to families and kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get to a game,” Dale said.

“We want to make sure they get to games and we’re already working alongside the Sheffield Wednesday Foundation, as we have the Middlesbrough Foundation, to make that happen as well.”