- See here for last week’s edition, the first in the new series
A two-for-one in today’s instalment looking at notable kits in the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld.
In 1995, Manchester United launched a new away kit, one which would quickly become infamous as the club never won in it and it went into folklore as it was ditched at half-time in a game away to Southampton with United losing 3-0.
It’s commonly referred to as a grey kit, and while the bottom part of the shirt and the shorts and socks were grey (the white home shorts and alternative home socks were used that day in the Dell), the top of the front and all of the sleeves and back were actually white with a series of black dots to create the grey effect.
We’ve never seen another version of it in English or top-class European football, but in 1996-97, two Irish clubs had variants on the design.
Drogheda United are generally claret and blue, but, as with the United shirt, white remained as the base colour on the shirt, creating a pinkish effect.
The sky-blue socks stood out, 20 years ahead of the Nike Vapor stylings. The red on the Stafford Fuels logo was also quite jarring.
Drogheda finished second in the first division in 96-97, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Oddly though, their kit in 1997-98 was an Umbro teamwear design which was about five years old, worn with O’Neills shorts.
Blue is the colour for Finn Harps, and they didn’t have to incorporate another colour like Drogheda’s sky blue, making for a cleaner overall look.
Harps are based in Donegal, a county very closely associated with Celtic as the Bhoys’ founders hailed from there.
We wonder if any Irish nationalists were offended by the fact that the Harps away kit at the time was effectively the same as the 1995-96 England home shirt.
