Rangers finally released the recently hyped fourth kit. By hyped, we mean leaked and derided by the majority of those who saw it. Reaction to the official launch has not exactly been terribly positive, and comparisons have categorically been drawn to the infamous pose by Alex Lowry when he was unveiled at Wycombe Wanderers. That is to say, the Rangers fourth kit is an absolute copy of the League One side’s main shirt.

Ibrox Noise polled our readers to gauge the general consensus, and only 20% of Rangers fans intend to buy this thing.

An utterly unnecessary fourth kit

One of the biggest and strongest arguments against this embarrassment of a shirt is its completely unnecessary nature. Rangers are no longer in Europe, and yet the club has already released a fourth kit. The notion of having several kits is to allow clubs to compete on several fronts against a multitude of opponents while avoiding potential kit clashes. The idea of a fourth kit would be to minimise these clashes to almost zero.

However, with Rangers now competing in only three competitions, namely both domestic cups and the league, this is a non-issue. There is never going to be a situation where Rangers will need this fourth kit except to promote it.

Very few clubs have a fourth kit. It is simply not that necessary. The only ones that do tend to be the colossal brands that can get away with fleecing their fans repeatedly. Giants like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United and other big teams with huge fanbases and deep pockets will always rinse their supporters wherever they possibly can. But hilariously, NONE of those above even have a fourth kit.

Rangers are not on that scale, and this fourth kit is both unnecessary and very, very cynical. As we say, we polled our readers, and only a fifth of Rangers fans intend to buy this thing.

Who sanctioned this colour scheme?

It is not clear who sanctioned the colour scheme. The actual design itself (black goes with anything) may not be the worst we have ever seen, but the colour combination is bewildering. We cannot fathom who actually gave this thing the green light. A Wycombe fan?

Of course, we know about the Castore deal and the Umbro angle. We will cover that in a separate article. However, it is safe to say that this might be one of the most cynical and unwanted Rangers kit launches of all time.

We cannot understand the actual motivation behind it, aside from making money, because we think this is the most unnecessary shirt release in Rangers history.

Overall, we know nobody who will actually be buying this thing, and we see no need for it to exist in the first place. However, that has not stopped Rangers trying anyway, and the reaction to the official launch on X was as toxic and negative as we would have predicted.

The polls and comments tell the same story

For once, the numbers in the polls reflect the comments. Very frequently, polls reveal a different story from the comments across many different topics. Comments are often filled with the loudest aggressors and antagonists opposing the motion of the poll. However, the poll itself can reflect a completely different sentiment.

In this case, though, they marry exactly. Very, very, very few fans want this shirt, and very, very few fans will be buying it and investing the likely £85 it will cost to acquire one.

Ultimately, Rangers have released a fourth kit that supporters neither need nor particularly want. The reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, the colour scheme has attracted considerable criticism and the overwhelming majority of our readers have no intention of buying it.

Yet Rangers have gone ahead with the launch regardless, despite the complete lack of any practical justification for its existence. It is difficult to see this as anything other than a cynical attempt to extract more money from supporters.