Manchester City
Football Shirts
As one of the most dominant
forces in the modern English game, sales of Man City shirts continue to
increase on an annual basis and they are now among our bestselling Premier
League football shirts. Having lived permanently in the shadows of city rivals United
for virtually their entire history, the arrival of world class players such as
Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and Robinho helped put City on the
footballing map as they won their first title in 2012-13 season.
Playing at the Etihad Stadium, which
was originally built for 2002 Commonwealth Games, City have demonstrated clear
and concise strategy both on and off the field as they seek to become one of
the biggest clubs in world football. The club have a devoted local fan base and
were originally founded in 1880 under the original name of West Gorton FC.
Man City Home Kit
Although City are now synonymous
with their sky blue home jersey, the initial West Gorton FC shirts were black.
It was not until 1894, when the club became a limited company and adopted the
Manchester City name that they adopted the sky blue jersey as their home
colours.
This design has remained
consistent throughout their history and the jersey is worn either with matching
sky blue, or white shorts and socks. In recent seasons, the club have rotated
between white and navy Premier League shirt printing depending on the final
detail of the kit.
Man City Away Kit
In recent seasons, Nike have
favoured a darker away shirt which has either been black or navy. However,
white was previously a popular colour, as was red and black stripes.
With the introduction of third
kits to cope with the demands of European competition (or to raise extra
revenue, depending where you sit on the cynical scale!) there have been some
fairly unique Manchester City away jerseys, with lime green and purple among
the favourites in recent times.
Man City Shirt History
The first commercial Manchester
City replica shirts released for sale to the public were manufactured by Umbro,
who enjoyed a long standing relationship with the club. Starting in 1974, the
partnership lasted until 1997 when Kappa took over manufacture of the kits.
City then enjoyed partnerships
with Le Coq Sportif and Reebok before returning to Umbro in 2009, at the start
of their new financial power. During this period, the club signed Robinho in
deadline day and this led to the highest sales of City shirts in their history.
Somewhat controversially, Nike
became manufacturers of the City jerseys for the 2013-14 season. Having bought
over Umbro, there were allegations that Nike essentially asset stripped Umbro
by taking over the contracts for City and England before effectively dumping
the Umbro brand.
Manchester City have had a number
of shirt sponsors over the years, the most notable of which were Brother, Eidos
and Thomas Cook. They are now sponsored by Etihad Airways.
Ahead of the 2016-17 season, City
unveiled a redesigned club crest which was an updated version of the very
popular circular badge worn in the 1970s. Keen to stick to tradition in an increasingly
commercial game, the three central symbols, chosen by supporters, comprise a
sailing ship (symbolising Manchester's history as a trading city), three
diagonal stripes (representing the rivers Irwell, Medlock and Irk that flow
through the city) and the red rose of Lancashire.