Every year I go through the same sh*t.
I’m a big Manchester United fan — it says so in my bio. Almost every summer, when the club release their new kits, I turn up my nose and make faces at the latest monstrosity that Adidas has subjected us to.
By October, I’m in love with the kit. Happens like clockwork.
With the club’s new third kit being released with an unexpected cameo from the midfield goat Roy Keane, it had me thinking — what are the best strips United have released over the years?
Funnily enough, amongst the Big Six clubs, I wouldn’t rank United that high for aesthetically pleasing football kits. Despite having our fair share of bangers, other clubs have consistently been more impressive than us in the uniform department — namely The Arsenal and Manchester City.
That being said, The Devil has been represented by a beautiful shirt or two in its time, and today I’m going to go through the cream of the crop.
I’m AJ Speaks, and here are my top ten United shirts of all time:
10. 18/19 Third Shirt
Cold, clean, metallic — the highlights of this shirt were in the earliest days of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s tenure as Manchester United coach. The flat, lethargic performances that had become a staple under Jose Mourinho seemed a thing of the past, and sporting this armour, Solksjaer’s men played aggressive, free-flowing, attacking football.
The likes of Rashford, Martial, Sanchez, Lukaku and Lingard all had shining moments wearing this shirt, taking apart teams with lethal transitions and devastating counterattacks.
United dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup in a 3–1 romp that year, and we’ll never forget J-Lingz’s tribute to the King of Pop in his celebration.
9. 17/18 Home Shirt
This shirt makes the list not so much because of the era that it came in, but because of how the shirt looks aesthetically.
It’s minimalist, doesn’t have too much going on like a lot of other shirts, and the addition of black and white bands on the cuff give it a different feel, but still a very United feel.
It was the shirt that midfield maestro Paul Pogba wore when he scored two goals in two minutes to dunk on Guardiola’s Man City in the derby at the Etihad.
8. 20/21 Away Shirt
Okay, maybe this shirt should be higher up on the list. Visually, it’s easily one of the best on this list. Not to be a hater, but I docked it points — I had to, because making an all-black away kit is cheating.
All-black kits always look good, and everybody’s club has had one at least once. Still, this banger dropped in 2020, the best season Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had at the reigns of Manchester United.
Funnily enough, there was a big debate about whether this kit was actually black, or just a really, really dark green. Looks black to me, but let’s not start another one of those “blue or gold dress” things that blew up the internet a few years ago.
7. 06/07 Home Shirt
Enter il maestro.
A shirt that saw Cristiano Ronaldo share a stage with Manchester United super striker and eventual head coach Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. Ronaldo bagged seventeen goals and eight assists in the Premier League this campaign, and despite failing to defeat runners-up Chelsea home and away, the Blues still finished six points adrift of Champions-elect United.
I see this kit and I think of the first steps of Ronaldo’s transformation from the tricky, explosive winger into the Avengers-level threat that he would later become.
6. 22/23 Away Shirt
This shirt is so lucky to be on here because hardly ANYTHING good happened in it.
This is a crying shame of a shirt to lose 7–0 in because of how clean it is. This kit screams Champions League night under the lights, it screams Los Blancos, and we definitely had some moments in it.
It’s what we wore when we shellshocked the Camp Nou, it’s what we wore when Rashford nutmegged Thomas Partey and put it past Ramsdale from twenty yards.
Even with the “meh”-looking sponsor, this shirt manages to strut it’s stuff, adding depth and complexity to the plainness with the addition of red and black stripes on the clavicle, black bands on the cuff and the crest cocooned in black.
5. 16/17 Home Shirt
An underrated ensemble in my opinion.
I was never a fan of Chevrolet as the sponsor, but it was never done better than it was here. This was the armour of Jose Mourinho’s United in it’s best days. In the last days of Rooney and the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The emergence of Jesse Lingard, the emergence of Marcus Rashford, players who would go on to score so many goals and have so many great moments for the club.
4. 07/08 Away Shirt
“Too far for Ronaldo to think about it”.
This was the first Manchester United shirt I ever actually owned. In an era where Arsenal’s dominance was ending and the threat of Chelsea was ever-rising, Sir Alex’s Devils used this shirt to show the London club who did it best in Blue.
Highlights of this kit include clinical counterattacks, the chemistry between Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez and — of course — that Crissy free-kick against the Arsenal.
3. In Third Place🥉
We’ll always have that night in Paris.
With Marcus Rashford on the roster, you may end up with more than one “night in Paris”. That away game at the Parc des Princes when Solksjaer’s men ran riot on PSG is what made this kit grow on me.
Rashford at his brilliant best forcing Keylor Navas to work for his money, and we can’t forget the brilliant way in which Aaron Wan-Bissaka neutralised Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. One of the spookiest defensive performances you’ll ever see.
2. The Runner-Up🥈
The Lockdown Shirt. The shirt that we wore when we brought our captain, Bruno Fernandes, to the club.
This shirt is so high on this list because visually, I just find it so appealing. The plain red is minimalist and clean, but it attracts with the cocoon of dark green surrounding the crest. It doesn’t have too much going on, but I can never take my eyes off it.
With the addition of our ever-present white shorts, it was one of the best kits we’ve had over the past ten years without a doubt. We also got “NHS Martial” in this period, which might be the French striker’s finest run of form as a Red Devil.
For more top ten lists and for everything Manchester United, be sure to follow AJ Speaks on Medium, and be sure to leave your thoughts in a comment below!
1. In the Winner’s Circle🏆
This is that kit. That one.
From the night in Moscow. Ronaldo to draw blood, Super Frank to fire home the response, Drogba seeing red, Terry slipping in the penalty shootout and Manchester United victorious.
It was only the second time United would lift the Premier League and Champions League in the same season, and capped off a season where Ronaldo would reach forty-four goals in all competitions, winning both the domestic and european golden boots, FIFA Men’s Best Player and the coveted ballon d’Or.
Shame we didn’t win the treble again, though.
