Fantasy Kit Friday – Manchester United Nike Vapor 2016

The summer just gone marked the tenth anniversary of Manchester United’s return to adidas.

Two more years and they will have matched the original 1980-92 stint, though of course the number of releases in the second spell have already surpassed the first period.

Given the club’s strong associations with adidas and Umbro, it perhaps seems strange to think that their partnership with Nike is the longest continuous one in the modern era, lasting from 2002-15.

Had they stayed together for another two seasons, we would have seen Nike Vapor kits for United – but, without such a reality to look back on, we can instead roll the FKF dice on such a venture. A word of caution/self-preservation – these are not necessarily what we would have done but what Nike might have.

One of the strongest themes across that range was teams being given home kits where the shorts matched the shirts with the socks a different colour – a previous FKF redid the international kits in more recognisable configurations.

Barcelona and Brazil were notable exceptions who kept traditional looks and one would have thought United would be in such a bracket too, but the real-life 2018-19 kit by adidas gives the lie to that view, to some extent.

While United did wear red shorts with red shirts seven years before Liverpool, such an action would not fly in the modern era – but perhaps a compromise could have been found with the red-black-white combination that is popular with some fans of the club?

In any case, white shorts and black socks would have been available in the event of clashes or the hard-line supporters doing a Bayern Munich.

There is a bit of licence taken in using the Newton Heath colours as the inspiration for the change kit, given how they had been used to display opposition to the Glazers.

Nike’s 2016-17 third strips for their major clubs used a lined halftone style and this putative one references the 1990-92 colourway without blindly copying it.