Huddersfield Town fined £50,000 for kit sponsorship stunt

The Terriers were widely criticised for a sash-style shirt which bore the logo of a bookmaker when they unveiled it as their new home shirt in the middle of July.

They wore the shirt in a friendly against Rochdale on July 17, with the logo appearing to exceed the FA's guidelines of 250 square centimetres, and were subsequently handed a misconduct charge by the governing body.

Town and the bookmaker later admitted to the stunt before the Championship club brought out a new, sponsor-free kit for the current season.

On Thursday the FA confirmed the club, relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, had been officially sanctioned for the stunt.

"Huddersfield Town FC has been fined £50,000 and warned as to its future conduct by an independent Regulatory Commission after admitting a charge in relation to The FA's Kit and Advertising Regulations," a statement from the FA read.

"Playing kit worn by the club's first team during a pre-season friendly against Rochdale AFC on 17 July 2019 breached FA Regulation C.2(i)."

The FA's written reasons behind the decision included a signed witness statement from match referee Martin Coy, who revealed Town chairman Phil Hodgkinson had asked him to ban the kit, which "could then potentially be good publicity and part of the advertising campaign."

Coy's statement read: "He said that the kit was not actually their real kit and it was all part of an advertising campaign.

"He said that he did not want the squad to wear the kit as The FA had informed 'HTFC' by phone call that it would be a breach of their regulations.

"He said that he was new to the chairman role, this being his first game and he didn't want to be charged by The FA.

"He said that he wanted me to ban them from wearing the kit and said that my decision could then potentially be good publicity and part of the advertising campaign.

"I was uncomfortable with this and felt it was not my place to ban the kit outright, but I informed them that I would recommend they followed the rules and advice from The FA. I also stated that I did not want to be part of any publicity.

"At this point the chairman said that the team would not wear the kit and I would not be part of any advertising."