After two years of wearing an all black away kit, Manchester United revealed an all blue away kit for the 2005/06 season. The kit was the last one sponsored by Vodaphone before United changed to AIG a season later. In fact, this shirt was used as the 3rd shirt for the 2006/07 season with only the sponsor changing.
The shirt is predominately blue with a thin red strip running from either side of the collar to the shoulders. Manufacturers Nike have placed their white logo in the top right of the shirt whilst the club badge is just below in the centre of the shirt. Sponsors Vodaphone run across the centre in their large white typeface whilst the edge of the sleeves and bottom corners of the shirt contain a red triangle.
In 2006, Manchester United unveiled a new 3rd shirt which reverted back to the traditional blue that United fans are used to seeing on their 3rd kit. The shirt is near identical to the 2005 away shirt. The only major difference is that the sponsor has changed from Vodaphone (2005 shirt) to AIG (2006 shirt).
The shirt is predominately blue with a thin red strip running from either side of the collar to the shoulders. Manufacturers Nike have placed their white logo in the top right of the shirt whilst the club badge is just below in the centre of the shirt. Sponsors AIG are placed in the centre of the shirt in a white typeface. The edges of the sleeves and the bottom corners of the shirt contain a red triangle.
In 2003, Manchester United released a brand new 3rd shirt which strayed away from the traditional colours usually used on United 3rd kits. Normally, the United 3rd kit is traditionally all blue in homage to the kit worn during the 1968 European Cup triumph. Nevertheless, the 3rd shirt between 2003/05 was one of the few exceptions where no blue was present on the kit.
The shirt is predominately white and contains several black and red horizontal thin stripes that run separately along the body and sleeves. The collar is a white polo neck with a dark black outline whilst the bottom of the shirt is a plain grey/silver colour. Manufacturers Nike place their black “tick” logo in the top right of the shirt whilst the club badge in its red and yellow is placed opposite. Vodaphone were the club sponsors and placed their large red logo in the middle of the shirt. The kit is completed with white shorts with a black trim, Nike logo and club badge along with white socks with a black trim at the top and a black Nike logo.
During a large part of the 1920′s, Manchester United experimented with a new predominately white home kit. The strip was launched during United’s first season in Division 2 (1922/23) after being demoted from the top division. Following a respectable 4th place finish that season, United ended up finishing 14th in the 1923/24 season losing to smaller clubs such as Clapton. Manchester United finally regained promotion to the top flight in the 1924/25 season and consolidated their Division 1 place in 1925/26. Nevertheless, United’s final season of wearing the white kit was overshadowed in turmoil from behind the scenes. Club President John Henry Davies, who had saved the club from extinction, died whilst manager John Chapman was given a lifetime ban for unknown reasons. The team finished a disappointing 15th during that season.
The shirt is mainly white and contains a large red “V” that begins at the top of both shoulders and runs down to the stomach. The collar is a round neck with lace and includes buttons running down towards the torso. The kit is completed with plain white shorts and black socks with a red trim at the top. In these times there were no manufacturers logos include on the football kits.
The Manchester United memorial home shirt was unveiled in February 2008 for a one off appearance in a Premier League match against Manchester City. The match took place on the 10th February 2008 at Old Trafford and saw Manchester City run out 2-1 winners with goals from Darius Vassell and Benjani before Michael Carrick scored a consolation in injury time.
The kit is based on the strip worn by the Busby Babes in the 1950′s and recognised the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. Manchester United held talks with Nike about producing a one off retro kit without any sponsorship or manufacturer logos for the Manchester Derby. Following special dispensation from the Premier League, Manchester United were given the go ahead to wear the kit that saw United’s 16 man squad don numbers 1-16.
The third shirt Manchester United used for two seasons, starting from 1992, was an altered yellow and green half and half design. The whole left side has a green base, whereas the right part of the body of the shirt is yellow, and the right sleeve is green. The club badge is inside a black sheild, meaning it stands out a lot more on the green background.
Newton Heath style Manchester United shirt
The kit was manufactured by Umbro, and sponsored by Sharp, with the sponsor placed quite high on the shirt. There are faint “M””s covering the whole of the shirt, as well. The collar, keeping to the theme, is also very original. Underneath the green collar with black trim, the collar can be tightened by two black cords, adding to the snippets of black, giving a new dimension to the shirt. Being a third shirt, this wasn’t used too frequently by United, but was popular with fans.
In 1878 the team started life as Newton Heath L&YR F.C, by 1902, the club neared bankruptcy, but the owner of Manchester Breweries stepped in with a sizeable investment to save the club. A new name was wanted to reflect the clubs fresh start, Manchester Celtic and Manchester Central were suggested before Manchester United was picked. The club also decided it was an appropriate time to change their colours, going from Newton Heath’s yellow and green to the red and white we know today.
In 1998, Manchester United released a brand new home shirt which would go down in history as part of the strip United wore on the way to their famous treble winning season of 1999. The shirt was the last design in Sharp’s sponsorship deal but what a way for them to bow out.
Ryan Giggs in the 1998-2000 Kit
As usual for United, the shirt was predominately red and containing a white typeface. The sponsor was placed in the centre of the shirt whilst the manufacturer (Umbro) and the club crest was in the top left and right of the shirt respectively. A major difference from the previous shirt was the black Umbro strip which runs down the shoulders and arms whilst the collar stayed as a white polo neck with a hint of red and black. Uniquely, the collar also contained a zip which is fairly rare on football shirts. All in all, the shirt ran through to 2000 before a new design was made from new sponsors Vodaphone.
the Umbro/Sharp 98/00 Home Kit
In designing the new shirt for the away encounters of Man Utd, Nike have gone from one extreme to another: after playing in black during 2007/08, the club would now play in white. The template used was also changed, and this could be an indication of the new home shirt which will be presented for 2009/10. Whereas the previous black kit has a red stripe down the back, the new away shirt lacks details on the back. The only noticeable detail worth mentioning is MUFC written in white on the back of the collar.
White Nike Away Shirt
At first glance, the design looks very simple, but later it is appreciated more. All owners of the away shirt know that it looks smart and excellent with any type of jeans. The shirt has a major touch of blue and a minor touch of red, with the latter appearing only minimally on the front of the collar. The shirt has a blue collar, and a thin blue stripe on each side of the main part. The sponsor and manufacturer logos also appear in blue. It is interesting noting that until the end of November, Man Utd’s only 2 defeats in the league came away from Old Trafford (to Liverpool and Arsenal), as they hold go on an unbeaten home run in the League. Also, in the Premier League, the only match in which Man Utd failed to score was away to Aston Villa in a 0-0 stalemate on the 22nd November.
Initially, it was thought that Man Utd would be using last season’s black away kit as their 2008/09 third kit, but due to a special anniversary, Man Utd made a special shirt issue. This comes in the form of a blue third kit to celebrate the 40th anniversary from the 1968 European Cup triumph. The shirt is made of Polyester and uses NikeFIT Dry technology, praised for being very good at keeping players dry in different weather conditions. There are no particular details on the shirt, and honestly it is not the best shirt that Man Utd have ever had. It is very plain and does not look good on the players, which we are used to see wearing red.
Blue Third Shirt
On the inside of the shirt, there is a badge taken from the 1968 Final ticket. Both the AIG and the Nike logos appear in white. The only attraction of this shirt is the embroidery around the Man Utd crest, which after all is the whole point of this special edition shirt issue. Above the crest it has the date ‘May 29th 1968′, whilst below the crest there is ’40th anniversary’. The shirt will only be used in the case of away colour clashes or when the club deems fit, but it is a good acquisition as a collectable item for supporters, especially those who remember the 1968 Final.
After many uncertainty among fans this summer about whether the Man Utd home shirt used for 2007/08 would be changed, it was announced that it won’t. The shirt that brought the Red Devils so much success in the past season was to be retained, as hopefully will be the Premier League and Champions League titles.
Home Shirt 07/09
At first, fans were sceptic about the white stripe running down the back of the shirt, but as always happens, fans got to love the new Manchester United Home shirt after seeing it worn by their heroes. To say the truth, the shirt does not look very good without shirt printing. It has an empty red space where the white strip stops, and one can’t help feeling there is something missing. Thus, most shirts sold have shirt printing on them. This increased revenue for the club, as did the triumphs in the Moscow Champions League and the domestic league.
Rooney shirt with Premier League name & number
Rooney’s change in shirt number from 8 to 10 increased the number of new ‘Number 10′ shirts sold. The confirmation that Ronaldo would be staying on at Man Utd enlarged the fanbase which wears CR7 shirts. The arrival of exciting potential stars Nani, Anderson, Tevez, and more recently Berbatov made proud Red Devils supporters eager to own a shirt with one of these players’ names. Nike maintain their reputation as one of the best manufacturers of sportwear, after designing a shirt that shares the pride of the Red Devils with the pride of the designing department of Nike.
The shirt is very comfortable and looks beautiful. Red is the base colour used, to continue tradition, while introducing the white touch on the back to represent innovation. The AIG (American International Group) sponsor logo and the Nike Swoosh appear in white on the front. As highlighted above, supporters are encouraged to buy their Manchester United football kit including shirt printing, as it looks much better with it than without.
