Manchester United

Kit History

Newton Heath LYR

1878

1878-1886 o

1886-1888 a o

1888?-1890 o

1890-1891 o

1891-1892 o

Newton Heath

1892

1892-1893 f o

1893-1894 o x v

1894-1896 f v w

1896-1902 a f v

Manchester United

1902

1902-1903 v

1903-1907 a o v

1907-1908 y

1908-1911 b v

1911-1912 v

1912-1913 v

1913-1914 v

1914-1917 v

1919-1920 o v

1920-1921 o v

1921-1922 o v

1922-1924 m o q v

1924-1926 v

1926-1927 v

1927-1930 o y

1930-1931 v y

1931-1932 o

1932-Feb 1934 o y

March-April1934 a i j o r

1934-1937 b o

1937-1939 u y

1939-1945 o

1945-1946 y

1946-1949 s

1949-1955 b o

Umbro

1955-1959 b

Umbro

1959-1960

Umbro

1960-1961 u

Umbro

1961-1964 d g h

Red socks sometimes worn 1963-64

Umbro

1964-1967 c g h

Umbro

Aug-Sept 1967 o s

Also worn with long sleeves

Umbro

Sept 1967-1971 c g h

Umbro

1971-1972 c

Umbro

1972-Nov 1974 c g h

Umbro

Nov 13 1974-1975 e o

Admiral

1975-Jan 1976* v

Admiral

Jan 1976*-1978 c v

Admiral

1978-1979 v

Note centenary badge

Admiral

1979-1980 c

Adidas

1980-1982 c

Adidas

1982-1983 c

Adidas

1983-1984 h

Adidas

1984-1986 c n

Adidas

1986-1988 c

Adidas

1988-1990 c

Adidas

1990-1992 c

Umbro

1992-1994 c

Umbro

1994-1996 c

Umbro

1996-1998 c l

Umbro

1998-2000 c

Umbro

2000-2002 c k

Nike

2002-2004 b

Nike

2004-2006 b k

Nike

2006-2007 b

Nike

2007-2009 b

Nike

10 Feb 2008 b

Munich memorial kit

Nike

2009-2010 b

Background

The Man Utd Miscellany
By Andy Mitten
Foreword by Paddy Crerand

ISBN: 13: 978 1 905326 49 5

~~£6.49~~ £5.99 (with promotional code KITS1)

Buy from Vision Sports Publishing

Today Manchester United may be a global brand and one of the most successful clubs on the planet, but in the late nineteenth century they were a very unremarkable club indeed. Formed by railway workers, they were originally known as Newton Heath LYR (the suffix stood for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway) and purchased a uniform strip of cashmere jerseys in green and gold, the colours of the parent company. The club's reputation grew and in 1889, the Heathens had joined the Football Alliance, formed as rivals to the Football League. Recent research by Paul Nagel indicates that the club switched from green and gold to red and white shirts sometime in 1888 or 1889 (the old green and gold halves were retained as change colours). In April 1892, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co repossessed the ground they rented to the club with a view to developing it to benefit all their employees. Although Newton Heath were allowed to continue to use North Rd for the following season (at a considerably increased rent), they dropped the "LYR" suffix to emphasise their separate identity.

In 1892 the Alliance was absorbed into the Football League which was restructured into two divisions. Newton Heath successfully applied for one of the vacancies in the new First Division. The competition proved too tough and the Heathens were relegated in 1894.

By the turn of the century, the club was headed for bankruptcy. Legend has it that a St Bernard dog belonging to the club captain wandered off from a fundraising event and was rescued by local brewer, John Henry Davies. Learning of the club's plight, Davies returned the dog and invested in the club in return for a place on the board. Davies brought ambition to the club and in 1902, Newton Heath became Manchester United, adopting plain red shirts and white knickers.

The Edwardian period brought success with a side that included Billy Meredith, signed from rivals Manchester City who were forced to auction off their players after a bribery scandal. Promoted in 1906, United were League Champions in 1908 and 1911 as well as FA Cup winners in 1909. The club moved into their new Old Trafford home in 1909, built on land purchased for the club by Davies.

The period between the wars was an undistinguished one for United. Relegated and promoted with some regularity, the club twice experimented with alternative strips. The all-white kit with red V had been worn when United beat Bristol City in the FA Cup Final of 1909 but brought little success in the Twenties. Tim Ashmore speculates that the new kits were introduced by John Chapman when he moved from Airdrieonians to manage United: perhaps he introduced the colours of his previous club to make his mark and change United's fortunes. A dozen years later, with relegation to Division Three (North) looming in March 1934, United adopted their lucky cherry and white change kit. This was worn throughout the following season before the more familiar plain red shirts were reinstated for 1935-36.

In 1945, Matt Busby joined the club and built a succession of sides who carried all before them. United won the FA Cup in 1948 and were runners up in the League four times out of five before they won the League Championship in 1952. In 1956 and 1957 a side made up mainly of home grown young players known as the "Busby Babes" took two successive Division One titles. Their potential was cruelly cut short on the 6th February 1958 when, returning from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, the team's aircraft crashed at Munich airport, killing twenty-two people, seven of them first team players. Remarkably, a team of reserves reached the FA Cup final that year. Busby, who survived the crash, set about building yet another team around the survivors.

The Sixties side that featured Charlton, Denis Law and George Best is generally considered one of the finest to have represented the club. They won the FA Cup in 1963, were League Champions in 1965 and 1967 and in 1968, they became the first English side to win the European Cup in a dramatic 4-1 win over Benfica at Wembley in extra time. In 1969, Busby retired and after a series of ineffectual appointments, Tommy Docherty took over in 1972. During this period the club's kit evolved gradually: the iconic black stockings with red and white tops were replaced with white ones. Red socks appeared occasionally in the 1964-65 and became the first choice the following season. In 1971 the stockings reverted to the classic black with red and white tops.

In 1974, United were relegated to Division Two. Ironically, in their final match against Manchester City, Denis Law, given a free transfer by United, scored against his old side. They bounced back immediately and in 1977 United beat Liverpool to win the FA Cup, wrecking their rivals hopes of a treble. Since 1975 United have often worn black shorts with their red shirts when playing away from home to avoid colour clashes.

In the 1980's, with Ron Atkinson in charge, United won the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985 but failure to break Merseyside's stranglehold on the championship led to Atkinson's dismissal and the appointment of Alex Ferguson, who had led Aberdeen to every honour available in Scotland.

Ferguson's regime had a shaky start and he would most likely have been sacked had the club not won the FA Cup in 1990. He survived and, after signing the genius French international Eric Cantona from Leeds, United won the inaugural Premiership title in 1993, followed by the League and FA Cup double in 1994. In 1995 United were runners up in the League and FA Cup, repeated the double in 1996 and won the League again in 1997. The 1998-99 season, however. surpassed all others: having clinched their third double of the decade, United beat Bayern Munich in dramatic fashion in the European Champions League final to secure a unique treble and earn Ferguson a knighthood.

In 2001, United won the Premiership title for the third successive season. Ferguson announced his retirement in 2002 and then allowed himself to be persuaded to stay on. In 2003 United clinched their fifteenth League title and their eighth under Ferguson. Far from retiring, the combative Scottish manager built another side featuring players such as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and life long united stalwarts Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes that won the Premier title in 2007.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy, in February 2008, the club organised a week of special events including a memorial service held on the 6th February and culminating in a derby match against Manchester City in which the United players wore an exact replica of the kit worn by the Busby Babes half a century before. United went on to clinch the Premier League title on the final day of the season after their closest rivals, Chelsea, had gone into the final round of matches level on points. The two clubs met once again on 21 May in the UEFA Champions League final, played in Moscow. After a dramatic match, United won the trophy in a penalty shoot-out, an achievement that confirmed Alex Ferguson as one of the world's all-time great managers.

Since May 2005 the club has been controlled by American businessman Malcolm Glazer who bought up the 75% of shares needed to de-list the club from the Stock Market and turn it back into a private company. Glazer borrowed the cash needed and subsequently loaded these debts onto the club (which essentially means that the club itself financed the takeover). From being one of the wealthiest clubs in the world, United became one of the most indebted: in January 2010 their debts totalled £760m and around £210m had been paid out interest.

With acknowledgement to the research of Paul Nagel on behalf of HFK.

Historical Football Kits

Kit History

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Sources