It started with high expectations as jubilant Scottish football fans looked to have scored a long-awaited victory against all odds. But it ended, as so often happens in our beautiful game, in misery and a spectacular own goal.
Yesterday Asda announced it was selling cut-price Scotland shirts after striking a unique deal with supplier Diadora, only for the manufacturer to claim minutes later that it could not fulfil the agreement. Defeat from the jaws of victory indeed.
Less than half an hour after Asda's buyer Paul Crier revealed the deal on national TV and radio, Asda said it received a short e-mail from Diadora stating that due to a stocktaking error it did not have enough shirts to supply the supermarket's order.
The producer said nothing more, despite repeated calls from the retail giant following the bizarre turnaround, raising concerns that other outlets may have been unhappy about the prospect of losing lucrative sales as Scotland's team strides towards Euro 2008.
The Scottish Football Association also has a stake in the sales: as the official kit supplier for the Scotland team, Diadora passes on a percentage of the sales revenue from Scottish strips to the SFA to invest in the team.
Asda has a strong history of championing the consumer by seriously undercutting the competition, having previously slashed £15 off the full price of Welsh rugby shirts and England football strips - a deal which suppliers Umbro later refused to renew.
Although wary of giving an exact price for the promised Scotland shirts yesterday, the supermarket pledged to make similar "substantial cuts" to the £40 high-street tag and hoped to have stock available ahead of next week's match against Georgia.
Past sales of football strips have been blighted by price fixing, with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) fining 10 firms a total of £18.6m for fixing the price of Umbro replica kits in 2000 and 2001.
The e-mail which Asda said it received from Diadora yesterday read: "We have been informed that the potential quantities we haveare no longer accurate. These were used to satisfy orders we have had on our system for a number of monthsThe upshot being that we will not be able to supply you with Scotland stock as requested."
Last night an Asda spokeswoman said: "We have left messages all day but they are not returning our calls. I'm sure Diadora will be aware they have a contract in place and they can't just turn around and say they can't supply us, and let our customers down.
"We were assuredthat the stock ear-marked for Asda was waiting in Italy and the UK."
Hamish Husband, spokesman for the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, said fans would have welcomed cheaper strips.
He said: "I'm sure all Scottish fans would gladly buy a Scottish strip if it was cheaper but this has to be balanced by the money the Scottish Football Association (SFA) is getting from sales and ploughing back into the game.
"You could drop the price by £10 and get more revenue, I'm sure."
Scottish retail expert Professor Leigh Sparks said the official line showed embarrassing incompetence. Suggesting an alternative explanation for the gaffe, he said: "There is a history of price fixing in football strip sales and it could be that existing channels which the Scotland strip is sold through have put pressure on Diadora not to go down the Asda road."
The Scottish Consumer Council echoed that fear. A spokeswoman said: "We would expect the competitions authorities to look at the situation if there is any evidence suppliers are colluding to bar better choice for consumers."
SFA marketing manager Colin Banks defended Diadorat: "It could be that they are short of stock because sales have been so high with the team doing so well," he said.
Diadora did not respond to repeated calls from The Herald yesterday.
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