[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tuesday 24 July 2018. 21:40.]
The boxes came up to the fourth floor at twenty to ten at night and Deano would not let anybody touch them until he had counted.
Shhk. Shhk.
Heavy cardboard dragging on carpet.
Thirty shirts. Names on the back. First time Adidas have made anything with a Crystal Palace badge on it since before I was born.
"Nobody opens a box," Deano barked.
"Deano, come on."
"Nobody opens a box until I have got thirty." He was on his knees in a hotel corridor with a plastic clipboard. "Last thing I want is Sky Sports getting a photograph of it leaked off a seventeen-year-old's Samsung."
James Tomkins ignored him, picked one up, and held it at arm's length.
Red and blue, but the stripes are wider than last year and the sash across the front is gone. There is a new collar. Adidas have put their three stripes down the sleeves and made the eagle bigger.
