User:Mancini's Sandbox/Kits

= Manchester City team kits =

Team kit (Season 2010–11)
As for the previous season, this season's team kits are produced by Umbro with Etihad Airways as the shirt sponsor. Only the third team kit was retained from the previous season, although a new variant of this kit - utilizing white shorts and socks in place of the black shorts and socks - was added as the primary version of this kit. The main change to the home team kit was to the socks which reverted back to the classic full sky blue colour with maroon and white striped tops. The previous season's all-black away team kit was replaced by a new midnight blue strip sporting thin horizontal sky blue striping on the socks that the MCFC official web site (OWS) describes as “the dark side of the moon.”

The previous season's goalkeepers' strips were also retained, though a new all-black strip has been added to the collection for this season, to be used primarily with the home team kit. Last season's all-green home goalkeeper strip has now been moved over to the away and third team kits, although it is still used with the home team kit when the all-black strip is considered to be too close in color to the opposition's strip (e.g., Chelsea and Newcastle United). The gold-and-black goalkeeper strip that was used primarily with the away kit last season has now become the new alternate (third) choice strip for the stoppers. As can be determined from the foregoing, which of the three team kits these goalkeeper strips are actually used with is not a hard and fast rule since any of these strips can be swapped around (if necessary) in order to avoid kit clashes with the opponents' team strips or the opponents' goalkeeper strips, as well as avoiding clashes with the strips worn by the match officials.

Note that the terms "away" and "third" as applied to the team kits this season is somewhat of a misnomer since the "third team kit" (in both its variants) is being used in games much more often than the new "away team kit" - which means that the "away team kit" is essentially the "third team kit" and vice versa. On 2 February 2011 there was a minor "kit faux pas" when the Manchester City team wore its regular home team kit for its away fixture against Birmingham City at St Andrew's, a fixture that usually requires the visiting Manchester team to use one of its alternative strips (in this case, its third team kit since the midnight blue away kit also represents a colour clash) as the primary home team colours of both sides combines a blue shirt with white shorts. No explanation has been forthcoming yet as to why this mix-up occurred (because as per which kits are to be worn in which fixtures is determined before the season even begins), nor why the referee, Kevin Friend, allowed two teams so similarly clad onto the pitch rather than insist that one of them first change its strip.



Kit usage
Numbers denote: "number of home games : number of away or neutral venue games" X indicates potential home fixtures where away and third team kits are usually never used

Table current as of end of 10 May 2011

Team kit (Season 2009–10)
For this season the shirt sponsor for all of the club's kits was Etihad Airways which replaced the previous season's sponsor, Thomas Cook. There was also a change in the supplier of those kits for this season, with Nike owned Umbro replacing the previous season's supplier, Le Coq Sportif. As a result of the switch from its prior French kit supplier to the Greater Manchester-based Umbro, all of the club's previous season's team and goalkeeper kits were essentially replaced with new ones for this season. The overall sky blue color of the first team kit was retained but the style and trim if this strip was significantly changed. Completely new away and third team kits were introduced, while a new all green goalkeeper strip replaced the previous season's gold and black strip as the primary one for use by the stoppers, with a newly styled and trimmed variant of the old gold and black strip now becoming the secondary strip for use by the keepers in away fixtures.

The new all black away team kit came with gold vertical shoulder trim on the front that enabled the kit to be color coordinated with the gold and black goalkeeper strip, although it was sometimes also used with the all green goalkeeper strip. This gold and black color scheme was, according to its designer David Blanch, intended to be symbolic of the globe covered with bees (representing the world, to all parts of which the goods of the city are exported) that is featured on the city of Manchester coat of arms. That is because the Manchester City teams in the past have established the unique tradition of always wearing this crest on their shirts when playing at Wembley (or in a major cup final elsewhere) as a symbol of their pride in representing the city of Manchester at a major sporting event. In heraldic terms, the bee is symbolic of a hive of industry, and even today the Manchester bee is often used all by itself as a shorthand emblem for the city of Manchester.

The red and black diagonal sash across the white shirts of the new third team kit was intended as a nostalgic re-mastering of the original sashed strip worn by the City team back in the seventies, while that original design had, in its turn, been a nod back at the classic red and black striped shirts with black shorts that had originally been introduced by coach Malcolm Allison in imitation of A.C. Milan's strip, and which was frequently worn in its cup ties by the successful trophy-winning City team of the late sixties and early seventies.

Kit usage
Numbers denote: "number of home games : number of away or neutral venue games" X indicates potential home fixtures where away and third team kits are usually never used

Table information current as of the end of the season

Team kit (Season 2008–09)
For this season the shirt sponsor for all of the club's kits continued to be the previous season's sponsor, Thomas Cook, while the team kits were produced by the previous season's supplier, Le Coq Sportif. The home and away kits were unveiled by the club on 27 June 2008, with the new away kit representing a more modern rendition of the club's highly popular red and black striped shirts and black shorts that had first been introduced as a club kit by Malcolm Allison back in 1968 in imitation of A.C. Milan's classic colors. A striking new bright orange and dark blue kit was also introduced as the club's third colours, whilst the team's main home strip shed the previous season's thin white vertical stripes from the shirts and returned back to the solid sky blue shirts that are more traditionally associated with the team. As well as all three of the team kits being new this season, the previous season's green goalkeeper strip was also replaced with two new strips for the stoppers. The main GK strip, intended primarily for use with the home team colours, sported an all gold shirt trimmed with black on the shoulders and sides with matching all black shorts and socks, whilst a second all light green strip, with the shirts similarly trimmed in black, was introduced to supplement it on both home and away fixtures.

Kit usage
Numbers denote: "number of home games : number of away or neutral venue games" X indicates potential home fixtures where away and third team kits are usually never used * Note: UEFA Cup Qualifying Round 2nd leg game against EB/Streymur enumerated as a home game despite its not being played at CoMS

Table information current as of the end of the season

Team kit (Season 2007–08)
The start of the 2007–08 Premiership campaign saw a number of changes for Manchester City, the most notable being the hiring of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, while a somewhat less prominent change for the club saw the termination of Reebok as the team's kit supplier (for the four previous seasons) with the French sportswear manufacturer, Le Coq Sportif, now resuming this role once again. The shirt sponsor continued to be Thomas Cook, although the travel company had undergone a name change during the close season after its announced merger with MyTravel Group in June 2007, with the newly merged company now being called Thomas Cook Group.

The switch to a new kit supplier resulted in three new team kits for this season. The new home kit consisted of a return back to a full sky blue shirt, but now with vertical white pin stripes on the body (but not the sleeves and shoulders) together with matching solid sky blue socks and the traditional all white shorts. The shirt sported a Le Coq Sportif logo on the upper portion of both sleeves with the Manchester City crest in the centre of the chest above the Thomas Cook logo, while the City crest was also repeated at the base of the right leg on the shorts.

The new away kit - a striking solid purple colour but sporting the same vertical white pin stripes on the body of the shirt as the home kit plus all the same kit supplier, sponsorship and club crest logos - was possibly a throwback to the classic maroon and thin white striped shirts that had been the club's one-time strip created for its appearance at Wembley in the 1956 FA Cup Final against Birmingham City. In comparison to the new home and away kits, the new third kit consisted of a relatively conservative all white shirt and socks with solid sky blue shorts, with the white shirt sporting a thin sky blue diagonal sash across the front of the left shoulder. A new two-tone green (solid light green shirt plus solid dark green shorts and socks) goalkeeper's strip was also introduced for this season.

On 10 February 2008 during the club's local derby game against Manchester United the City team played in a one-off special kit to mark the 50 year memorial of the Munich air disaster. This kit appropriately contained no kit supplier or sponsorship logos.