Morning folks. Well, here you have it, it’s a lockdown in the UK which means no more going outside at all unless you’re exercising. I have a supermarket – a big one – opposite me and already this morning I’ve seen people queuing to get themselves inside the store to buy their essentials.

Strap yourselves in folks in the UK, we’ve got a minimum of three week’s of this and I suspect it won’t just stop there. So it’s important that we all talk to each other, stay safe, stay sane, try to find joy in life as much as you can.

I’ll be intrigued to see how many people are out and about in running gear around my way today though. I usually run every day that I’m at home and not in London, where I usually go to the gym at lunchtime. But at home it’s running and so that’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks. So I’m intrigued to see how many people get out and about now! And how many people have to dust off their old running stuff that’s been chucked in the back of their cupboard gathering dust, because now they’re going to need it more than ever!

The Arsenal news is essentially non-existent. There were some leaked pictures of the supposed white Arsenal away kit for next season which was white but apparently that was a fake as it had pictures of the women’s team in it. The noises are that it will be white but the particular pictures doing the rounds yesterday were just touched up versions of this season’s kit.

It comes to something that I’m writing a piece about the colour of our kits next season! This is a topic that I normally couldn’t give a monkey’s about but here I am, wondering whether we’ll be looking like our sworn enemies in nine months time! I didn’t like the old white and cranberry kit we had back in 2007 and I’m not going to come around to this one either I guess. That’s the challenge Adidas have though; they absolutely nailed both home and away kits this season and it’s a long way down from the top once you’ve hit that so quickly!

I’ve loved the home and away kits for this season; it’s just a shame we haven’t had a team to match the awesomeness. Kits are memories of bygone eras. You think about Ian Wright in the original bruised banana kit, or the Invincibles and the yellow and bright blue kit with O2 written on it, or Mickey Thomas and the Anfield 89 kit. Football kits represent memories that we can all relive and I wanted there to be some memories for the kits from this season, because they are two sets of kits that are worthy of some amazing memories. But sadly it looks like the only memories we’re going to get are those in which the season was ultimately a bit of a bust and then hit by a global pandemic!

I do wish they’d do what they used to do and have a kit last for at least two seasons. I remember back in the day there used to be an alternating approach to kits and that would mean that you could ask for a kit for Christmas and you’d know that you would have it ‘live’ for at least a year and a half. These days if you’re asking for a kit for Christmas then they’re already halfway through their life span. If you’re talking about a £60 football shirt, or even the kids shirts which cost a fortune these days, then you’ve got it out of date by the time it even gets the chance to have the colours run through your mum washing it.

But as with all things in life, the average fan was overlooked long ago and money and incoming revenue was prioritised, which now means a home and away kit every season. And we all know how cruel kids can be; I bet there are examples of kids getting the p*ss taken out of them just because they don’t have the latest shirt for their team.

The world will change though. The current climate is having people reassess everything. I’ve been looking at my household expenditure only this week and looking at things I can do without. I don’t have kids and so don’t have a difficult decision to make, but football kits at a premium will not make it back on to my ‘must have’ list. I don’t care how cool they look. And my hope is that fans everywhere start to think again about the outlays they are making. The tickets, the merch, the TV packages, the paraphernalia, everything. It’s time for a refocusing on what football is about for so many of us and when all of the dust has settled I think the same will happen for me.

I have made great friends through going to The Arsenal and that is more important to me to maintain than some of the other frivolities that come from football. Programmes, merchandise, etc. That takes a back seat and my mates will become a priority.

And imagine if that happens across the board for loads of fans from many teams and countries. Imagine if there’s a universal rejection of the costs of football for fans. Let’s have a ‘levelling out’ when it comes to prices for fans.

Perhaps that’s a bit of a pipe dream but it’s one that I hope is on the horizon. It feels like something’s gotta give.