It’s twelve years now since Douglas Hall was caught by a tabloid sting scoffing at Geordies for paying £50 for replica shirts worth £5. Fans were outraged, and politicians attacked club greed and “exploitation”. Twelve years on, and Newcastle’s new 2010-11 shirt has gone on sale – yours for £50.

What the lack of change shows is that, deep down, fans don’t really mind paying mark-ups for club branding. What has improved in the last decade, though, is the quality.

This year’s new launches are a well-made, pretty good-looking bunch. They are almost all retro-themed, and, disappointingly, there’s nothing properly ugly like Tottenham’s 2009 urine-in-the-snow-themed yellow streaked top. The only one that comes close is Everton’s fluorescent pink away outfit – “a brave design”, says Leon Osman.

In fact, the only consistent negative about this season’s home tops isn’t the designers’ fault. The problem is the new range of sponsors’ logos: uglier and seemingly larger than ever.

Take Liverpool’s shirt (£44.99 from Kitbag.com). It’s a classic Adidas design – a modern version of the 1989-90 title-winning top. It feels classy: neat gold piping and quality, breathable fabric. But that’s not what you see first. What you see first is what Standard Chartered Bank paid £80m to make you see first. And it’s not a logo of beauty.

Likewise Spurs. Replacing the urine stains there’s a retro blue shoulder bar: a good-looking 80s-themed Puma top, spoiled by an ugly “A” motif, promoting a software infrastructure company.

And Manchester United’s top, billed as a tribute to the 1980-81 side, is actually all about Aon. (Although inside United’s shirt there’s a bonus: a chance to test your gag-reflex by finding the word “Believe” printed on the reverse of the club badge – positioned, says the PR blurb, “right next to your heart”.)

Arsenal’s 70s-style top, meanwhile, screams Emirates just as loudly as last season’s shirt – but at least there is a welcome return to white sleeves.

Maybe the best new shirt this year, though, is Blackpool’s – a top which proves they’ve already grasped the ethics of Premier League economics. On offer: a chance for fans to spend £40 on a top advertising their new club sponsor Wonga.com. Wonga’s line of business: selling short-term loans at 2689% APR.

Manchester UnitedArsenalLiverpoolTottenham Hotspurguardian.co.uk

• Dutchman will bid for Tottenham striker if he joins Fulham
• Ajax manager coached Keane when they were at Spurs

Martin Jol is likely to make a bid for the Tottenham striker Robbie Keane if, as expected, he takes over at Fulham this week. The Dutchman managed Keane at White Hart Lane and has been promised about £20m to spend on transfers should he accept the job at Craven Cottage.

Jol indicated that he would be leaving Ajax for Fulham. “On Thursday evening Fulham contacted me,” he said. “Fulham told me they wanted me as their new manager and they contacted Ajax. The Premier League is the best competition in the world and I like London very much. Fulham is a great opportunity. The way it is going at Ajax we cannot play for the title or the biggest prizes.”

Ajax were last night trying to persuade Jol to stay. “For the past two weeks I have been very worried about what is going to happen,” Jol said. “In the past they [Ajax] have paid too much for not so good players and now they have no money to invest in the squad.”

Jol intends to bring his brother Cornelius to Fulham as part of his backroom staff.

FulhamTottenham HotspurJon Brodkinguardian.co.uk

• Spurs become first Premier League team to impose ban
• Club concerned about safety implications

Tottenham Hotspur have become the first Premier League club to ban vuvuzelas from their ground. A number of Football League sides have already barred the controversial instruments from their stadiums and Spurs have now followed suit.

The Premier League said during the World Cup – where the noise made by vuvuzelas was one of the main talking points – that it would be left to individual clubs to decide whether to outlaw them.

Spurs said in a statement on their website: “Following discussions with the police and representatives from the local licensing authorities, the club will not be permitting vuvuzelas or similar instruments into White Hart Lane on match days.

“We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium pose unnecessary risks to public safety and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements.

“We are very proud of the fantastic atmosphere that our supporters produce organically at White Hart Lane and we are all very much looking forward to this continuing into the forthcoming season.”

Tottenham Hotspurguardian.co.uk