The weather has officially turned warmer. MLS is in full swing. The European leagues are winding down. All of this pretty much means that we are smack down in the middle of spring. Which is one of our favorite times of the year. In addition to all the great things going on in the world of soccer, we at Bumpy Pitch have a ton of new items that we will start rolling out over the next few weeks. But before we can introduce these new items, we wanted to offer everything we currently have in stock at a 25% discount.

So if there is anything you have been eyeing, or anything you have wanted to cop, now is a really good time to pick those items up. All you need to do is head to Bumpy Pitch and place an order. The 25% will apply to everything in the store and to your whole order. Just make sure you type in Spring12 in the coupon code section when you checkout.

Manchester City vs Manchester United

Manchester City – Vincent Kompany – 45+1st minute

Sir Alex Ferguson vs Roberto Mancini Fight on the Sidelines in the 76th minute… Must. See.

Check out the City vs United Highlights after the Jump……….

Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson squaring up with Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini between the benches over Nigel De Jong 76th minute yellow card tackle on United’s Danny Welbeck.

Check out Sir Alex Ferguson vs Roberto Mancini’s Fight on the Sidelines after the Jump……..

Manchester City Captain Vincent Kompany giving the home side the 1 – 0 lead in the 45+1st minute after the fourth official had indicated two minutes of added time.

Check out Vincent Kompany’s Header vs Manchester United after the Jump…….

I remember seeing one of my first soccer games on TV a number of years ago. I don’t remember who played, or how old I was, or anything like that. But the one thing I remember more than anything else was the shadow of the players. It was just a shadow, bit was unique and looked badass. I had never seen this sort of shadow in any sport I had ever watched on TV. It looked like a cross, or a helicopter propeller or a giant X. The shadow was exotic and exciting, and I sensed that only in soccer would I see something like this. Watching that first game on TV captivated me and the shape of those shadows has stuck with me.

All these years later, those early images of this criss-crossed shadow never left me. Anytime I watch a game where the floodlights give off this shadow, it takes me back to being a kid and dreaming about a career in the sport that I loved. Instead of just thinking about those memories, we decided to do something about it. That’s what we do.

With that, we present you a brand new Bumpy Pitch graphic. This has been on my mind for more years than I can even remember, and it has been in various stages of production for over a year. We’ve been working on it for awhile, but we never got it just right until recently. And now we feel we have. It brings me back to those memories of watching games on TV years ago. If you have ever seen a game where the players shadows had this silhouette, than you will know where we are coming from. This one is for the folks that look beyond the obviousness of the sport. It speaks to a deeper connection with the sport that lays below the surface. If you get this graphic and know about these shadows, then you get it. It’s unique to the sport and we wanted to celebrate that as much as we possibly could.

The graphic is a set of floodlights shining down on the pitch creating that famed X shadow. The player is absent because for us, whomever is wearing the shirt is creating the shadow and is the player. It’s almost like the shirt is incomplete until it is worn by someone. Or at least that’s how I like to look at it. On a side note, if someone asks you what this shirt means, you can wax poetic about how soccer is so amazing that even the floodlights are able to produce a one of a kind effect on people. The sport is just that cool.

Last year We Live Soccer did a feature on Bumpy Pitch and some of the back story on the brand. It aired on Fox Soccer Channel, but today was the first time I actually saw it. Thanks to the good folks at We Live Soccer for showcasing Bumpy Pitch.

Valentine’s Day seems like it can be a polarizing holiday. Some people love it, while some seemingly hate it. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, we’re pretty sure you will be happy with this. This Valentine’s Day we have a buy one get one free promotion going on at Bumpy Pitch. If you have a significant other, this could be the perfect opportunity to pick something up for yourself, and get them decked out in a Bumpy pitch t-shirt for free. If you are solo, then grab two for yourself. Consider it a Valentine’s Day gift from us to all of you. Either way, everybody wins.

Head to the Bumpy Pitch online store to grab some t-shirts for you, your significant other or anybody else in your life. Just enter code BUY1GET1 when you check out.

Sweatshirts and Nike x BPFC shirts are excluded.

FC St. Pauli. Where to start with this one of a kind sports club? I guess we’ll start with the club itself. Although they feature a professional soccer team, and this focuses in mostly on that, the club also features rugby, American football, bowling, chess, cycling, skittles (read up on that), softball and ping pong. So they truly are a pretty all encompassing sporting club. But we are going to focus in on the soccer side of things and the teams supporters.

Founded in 1910, St. Pauli really is about more than just the team or the sport. They have a fundamental belief in social activism and have stood on the right side of some of the bigger societal issues that we face. This social activism is fundamental to the club and the supporters and they have made sure this is a part of the ethos of the club.

St. Pauli was “the first club in Germany to ban right-wing activities and displays in their stadium at a time when fascist-inspired football hooligans threatened the game in Europe.” The supporters of St. Pauli have taken a stance against such things as racism, sexism, fascism and homophobia. In an era where racism and homophobia are invading the sport, the ethos of a supporters club standing firmly against these types of behavior are something to be applauded.

Beyond just social activism, the club and its supporters have also been involved in charity work. They set up Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli, which among other things, collects money for water dispensers in schools in Cuba and clean water for Rwanda.

Clearly culture reigns supreme with St. Pauli and its supporters.

With that being said, we have long been inspired by the club and what they stand for and have had an idea to do a St. Pauli inspired shirt for awhile. And now that time has come. The most iconic imagery that you will find for St. Pauli is the skull and crossbones. This has been adopted by the supporters and it is present in just about all things St. Pauli. So we decided to keep things consistent and stick with that imagery, but we flipped it up our own way and gave the graphic a Bumpy Pitch feel.

We always talk about the culture of the sport, and this graphic is certainly inspired by that.

Signature BPFC poplin label.

Proudly designed, constructed, printed and finished right here in the USA. Made in America matters.

Available exclusively at Bumpy Pitch.

We have had the Bethlehem Steel graphic t-shirt available for awhile now. It’s been offered up in a forest green colorway and it pays tribute to one of the more storied clubs in American soccer. With a history that dates back 100 years, Bethlehem Steel went on to become one of the most successful clubs in the history of professional soccer here in the US. They won the National Cup (which is now called the US Open Cup) 5 times over an 11 year span between 1925-1926. Pretty remarkable record for any club.

Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around history. It’s hard to imagine what things were like so many years ago. But that is part of what makes history so fascinating. And thinking about soccer teams that were playing 100 years ago is not only crazy to think about, but it shows that there is tremendous soccer history in the United States. And we’re proud of that history and we think it’s important not only to have an understanding of it, but also to share it with people. That’s the main reason why we offer shirts celebrating these amazing histories and storied clubs. And Bethlehem Steel plays a very important role in the history of the soccer here in the US.

Now we are proud to present the Bethlehem Steel shirt in a navy colorway. The jerseys of this infamous US soccer club were navy, and we wanted to play off of these OG jerseys by releasing an updated navy colorway. These are now available exclusively in the Bumpy Pitch online store.

Their original jerseys featured a large “B” on the upper chest and was the only marking or imagery that were found on these initial kits. Understated to say the least, but pretty fresh in a stripped down manner.

We wanted to play off of these original jerseys in some manner so we went with our own “B” set in a vintage typeset printed on the left sleeve.

2011 maybe just about over, but we got together with our friends from BucketFeet for one last partnership for the year. From now until the end of the year, we are doing a joint promo for you to receive 30% off your online order from both BucketFeet and Bumpy Pitch. All you need to do is head here, enter your name and email address and a code will be sent to you that can be redeemed at both the Bumpy Pitch and BucketFeet online stores.

As part of this promo, we will also be donating a portion of sales that use this special code to Love Futbol. If you are unfamiliar with Love Futbol go check them out. They help empower communities to build soccer fields. It’s a very cool organization doing some incredible work and we’re very happy to help out by donating a portion of sales from this promo.

If you want to cop some last minute gear and help out a good cause along the way then make sure you act quickly. And don’t forget, with every purchase from the Bumpy Pitch web store, we will match each product sold with a soccer ball to be donated to kids around the world.