Notwithstanding the peculiar modern habit of home teams wearing change kits for no apparent reason, the visit of Partick Thistle to Pittodrie normally means one thing: being subjected to the aesthetic assault of a Jags away jersey. Subject to the above disclaimer it is likely to be the same story today, although this season that is probably a blessing: so narrow have the stripes on Partick’s yellow and red shirt become that their players look like they’re moving even when they’re not. Should one of their meetings with the equally headache-inducing St Mirren pinstripe catch the fancy of the broadcasters then any Scottish television set still using a cathode ray tube will explode.

It is, granted, rich for a supporter of Aberdeen (we need not speak once more in these pages of the vomit shoulders of 1995 – Never Again) to be chuckling over anybody’s change strip, but it is fair to say that Thistle have had some real beauts in their time. Few who saw it will ever forget the black/yellow/red effort from the early 1990s, which from the front looked like a Spectrum game trying to load and from the back resembled a quarantine flag. Solitary confinement would indeed have been the best place for that one, and likewise the heroically pointless pink camouflage style design they sported a couple of seasons ago, allowing Thistle fans to blend into any Maryhill backdrops which look like a white wash that someone’s accidentally put red pants in. Bad luck for Thistle players hoping they’d go unnoticed in that one, or in the powder pink/silver hooped effort which preceded it (effectively a baby-gro with squad numbers).

Partick are back in the pink this season, but this time it is something to be celebrated. Their away strip for 2014/15 boasts socks, trimming and a decorative ribbon all in the electric pink colouring now associated with campaigns against cancer. It is the result of a tie-in which aims to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Care Scotland, which benefits to the tune of £3 for every shirt sold.

The theory is not revolutionary in sport – Test matches at the SCG, NFL uniforms, Carlos Valderrama's afro and Bubba Watson's driver are among other sporting items to have turned pink in the name of fighting cancer – but whereas it is all too easy, in an age where we are all obsessed with managing our reputations on social media, to pay lip service to good causes in the rush to look cooler and more compassionate than the next person, that the Jags are putting their money where their pink socks are deserves commendation. Particularly given their use of a merchandising item viewed by most within football as a licence to avariciously extract money from the pockets of weary fans with teams of children to clothe in the latest kit.

While clubs the world over – including our own, and there is not per se any shame in it – scour their kits for blank areas which some sponsor would pay to have their name stitched onto, Partick Thistle have given a prominent advertising space on their change strip away; nay, they have paid for the privilege. While some select colours for their kits with a cynical, strategic eye on exploiting very specific markets, Partick Thistle have selected their livery to benefit others. While clubs across Scotland wage a losing battle to make income cover expenses, Partick Thistle make the effort to contribute to those for whom a late winner for Hamilton Accies would be the absolute least of their worries.

Football is not always noted for its philanthropy but it can be a force for social good, even in the littlest of ways. Thistle have always been regarded among the game's good guys, and this is a nice pink touch.