12 hours ago
'Kick in the teeth' - Carlisle United probe leaked kit images
Images like this were shared on social media ahead of United's official kit launch events (Image: Submitted)
Carlisle United say they are 'pulling out all the stops' to get to the bottom of the leaking of their new kits.
Images of the 2025/26 home and away strips were widely shared on social media before the Blues' official launches.
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The News & Star has already reported that an internal investigation has been under way into the source of the leaks.
And chief executive Nigel Clibbens has now confirmed that Carlisle are looking seriously at the situation, which he described as 'a real kick in the teeth' for the club and its retail team.
Numerous fans saw pictures of the home and away designs in advance of the launches, with the home shirt being a blue, red and white striped homage to 1994/95's 'deckchair' away kit, and the new away shirt a black, green, white and grey number.
The leaked images corresponded to the actual kits and Clibbens said: 'It [the kit launch] is the biggest commercial event for the club.
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'So it's extraordinarily disappointing for the people in the retail team who have worked so hard on the designs when things like that come out.
United's home kits were officially unveiled in the last two weeks (Image: Umbro / CUFC)
'It's a real kick in the teeth, absolutely. The little things really hurt.
'When you see it [the leaks] on social media, you think, 'Jeez…' And then when the kits come out live, you get people saying, 'Oh, the kit looks great. It's a lot better than those horrible leaked pictures…'
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'I've seen those comments. And that's the damage that it does.
'So no doubt you'd expect us to be pulling out all the stops to find out.'
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Clibbens declined to say whether an investigation had come to a conclusion.
'It's something we take very seriously,' he added. 'I just can't say any more at this time.'
United launched their home and away kits on different dates, with the home strip officially unveiled on Wednesday, June 25 and the away strip revealed on Wednesday, July 2.
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