A Brief History of the Manchester United Shirt

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Manchester United Football Club is an English football club that plays in the English Premier League. Their home ground is Old Trafford in Greater Manchester. The Red Devils as they are commonly known have more than 300 million world-wide supporters. Meaning that out of every 20 people on earth, one of them will be a Manchester United Fan! Currently managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United are one of the most successful teams in the history of English football having won 21 major titles since he became manager in 1986. During its remarkable history, many distinguished players have run out in the famous Manchester United shirt which can trace its origins back when Manchester United were known as Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club.

When the club was known as Newton Heath, the strips were made up of yellow and green sections (1878 - 1892) with some additional colour schemes being employed such as a red and white shirt (1892-1894) worn with blue shorts. This all changed in 1902 when the club changed its name to Manchester United, the club radically altered the kit colours to red shirts, white shorts and black socks. This colour palette has been the foundation of the home strip ever since. The away strip is white jerseys, black shorts and white socks however different looks to this strip have existed. The most notorious of these was the all-grey strip employed in the 1995-1996 campaign. Manchester United lost all their games when wearing the grey strip, the players claimed that it was not visible enough and they kept losing their team mates on the field! Another variation was the all-black kit used in 1994 and 2003. There is also a "Third Strip". This kit, not often used, is all-blue in homage to the strip worn in the historic 1968 European Cup triumph. The team has occasionally used the strips employed for training sessions in actual matches although this has been a rare occurence.

The current Manchester United shirt in use for home games is red with a vertical, white stripe on the reverse. A patch with the words "The Red Devils" on a picture of the club's devil mascot is attached to the bottom-left of the jersey. By contrast, the away shirt in use today is white with blue piping at the edges. It has red trim on the neck and the club emblem is on a white background on the left breast. The team logo is on a white shield on the left breast. The emblem has been altered through the years but was originally designed based on the crest of the City of Manchester. The "Red Devil" motif was added in the 1960s after Sir Matt Busby saw the name in use by a Salford rugby team and decided it perfectly fitted the Manchester United ethos and style of play.

Hopefully this article has given an informative background into the history of the Manchester United Shirt, and should you be asked on "Millionaire" for the history of Manchester United's Red Devils nickname, you won't need to phone a friend!

Patrick Attlee is a football / soccer fan who writes extensively on all aspects of the Beautiful Game with a particular emphasis on the histories of the big clubs in England. You can find out more about the Manchester United Shirt at: The Manchester United Shirt