Thanks to Paul Nagel of UnitedKits.com for information provided
A big, successful club from the north-west of England wearing red shirts, red shorts and red socks – it must be Liverpool?
The Reds have been all-red since 1965 (not 1964, as is often erroneously stated, as the shorts changed before the socks did) but it was a look that Manchester United first used seven years previously.
Having won the league in 1956, United wore a modified kit in Europe, with a slightly more reflective shirt worn to allow better visibility under floodlights, while the normal black socks with red tops were replaced by solid red versions.
For the European Cup semi-final against an all-white-clad Real Madrid in April 1957, manager Matt Busby decided to go one step further and switch the shorts too. The new items featured a silver stripe down the side.
To get an idea of what it would look like, United wore the all-red kit against Bolton Wanderers under lights at Old Trafford on March 25, 1957 and Busby was even able to convince Bolton to switch to white shorts to resemble Real.
United actually lost that game 2-0 and would go down 3-1 in Madrid. For the home leg against Real, the red shorts remained and a thrilling 2-2 draw was played out, they went out on aggregate.
The retained their league title (defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup final denied them the double) but for European games the following, ill-fated, 57-58 season the only change to the normal kit was that the white shorts featured a red stripe down the sides.
According to the ever-excellent UnitedKits.com, black shorts were used for the first time in the Charity Shield against Villa in October 1957 and they have long been the alternative when white cannot be used.
In turn, Liverpool wore white shorts and black socks in the 1920s I believe. Before United perhaps?
Not according to HFK – http://historicalkits.co.uk/Manchester_United/Manchester_United.htm – 1907 was United’s first time!
Ha, I knew I was wrong the minute I hit send!
I WANT MANCHESTER UNITED TO HAVE AN “ALL-RED” HOME KIT RIGHT AWAY AS I CAN’T STAND THEM WEARING SILLY WHITE SHORTS AND UGLY BLACK SOCKS,…THE CURRENT HOME KIT MAKES THEM LOOK SMALL, LESS IMPOSING, LESS INTIMIDATING, NOT VERY FRIGHTENING TO PLAY AGAINST, LESS ATTRACTIVE TO WATCH AND DON’T LOOK LIKE THE “RED DEVILS” WHICH THEY ARE!!!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE….CAN THE CLUB HAVE RED SHIRTS, RED SHORTS AND RED SOCKS IMMEDIATELY PLEASE??? I DON’T CARE IF LIVERPOOL GET UPSET AS THEY ARE NOT THE “RED DEVILS” AND SHOULDN’T HAVE AN “RED-KIT” IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!
Hi Denis,if Manchester United and Real Madrid were to win there respective European competions this season,then they would meet in the Super cup final.As it would be 60 years since their first meeting,a special one-off adidas all red kit should be worn.Maybe you could design one?
Regards,Paul.
I’ll have a go at it, Paul!
HELLO PAUL;….MANCHESTER UNITED SHOULD “ALWAYS” WEAR AN “ALL-RED” HOME KIT AS WE ARE THE WORLD FAMOUS RED DEVILS AND WOULD DEFINITELY LOOK BIGGER, STRONGER, MORE DOMINANT, MORE APPEALING, MORE INTIMIDATING, MORE AWESOME, MORE IMPOSING, MORE ATTRACTIVE AND ALL CONQUERING IF WE GOT RID OF THOSE HIDEOUS WHITE SHORTS AND UGLY BLACK SOCKS!!!
WHO’S IDEA WAS IT TO HAVE WHITE SHORTS AND BLACK SOCKS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? SCRAP THE WHITE SHORTS AND BLACK SOCKS IMMEDIATELY HAVE AN “ALL-RED” HOME KIT NOW!!!!!!!!
WE SHOULD ALSO RE-INTRODUCE THE WORDS FOOTBALL CLUB BACK INTO THE CLUB CREST AND HAVE A BIGGER AND A MORE MODERN LOOKING CREST TOO. THE CURRENT CREST LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CREATED BY A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD!!!