No one can argue that Man City had an excellent 2020-2021 season. In August of last year, many predicted that it would be a two-horse race this year between Pep Guardiola’s squad and that of Jürgen Klopp. However, expert projections proved inaccurate, as Liverpool barely managed to attain a Champion’s League spot, let alone contend for the Premiership crown.
Given that City is riding high on their fifth league title, now seems like an ideal time to review the four best kits in Man City history. Traditionally, the club’s home colors have always been sky blue and white. Though their exact origin remains a mystery, evidence suggests that the club’s kit has featured these colors since 1892 and perhaps even earlier. The away ones have changed over the years, ranging from maroon to red and black. The same can get said about the kit suppliers and sponsors featured on them.
Today, Puma is designing Man City’s shirts/shorts, which have the Marathonbet logo splashed on them. A decade ago, it was inconceivable that gambling platforms and UK poker sites would dominate the Premier league sponsorship landscape. Yet, that is our reality now.
Season 1989-91 Home Kit
We mentioned the classic sky blue and white kits above. Well, vintage beauty does not get any better than the 1989-91 stunner. It featured a subtle triangle pattern and the Brother logo in the middle of the shirt. Brother is a Japanese electronics manufacturer that sponsored the club from 1987 to 1999. In the 1989-91 season, Umbro was the kit supplier, and at that point, it had been the club’s shirts and shorts manufacturer for fifteen years.
Season 2015-2016 Home Kit
Nike took over Man City kit production in 2013, at a time, where the club had already been under Etihad Airways sponsorship for over four years. In 2015, this world-renowned sportswear brand unleashed a masterstroke in kit design. It was a light sky blue shirt that incorporated a white color and sleeve trim. It had a 1960s-feel that blended perfectly with the modernistic-tight style Nike was aiming to hit.
Season 1998-1999 Away Kit
Going back to the late 1990s, when Man City was playing Division 2 football and Brother was still pouring money into the club, Kappa, the Italian sportswear company, had a two-year stint as Man City’s kit supplier. In a visual that would shock current fans, the club’s away kit featured a bright greenish-yellow. The shirt had a striped yellow and black pattern, while the shorts were entirely black with a yellow and green band at the bottom. Kits have no magical powers, but the unique look may have generated the momentum needed for Man City to ascend to Division One, or the Championship, as it later got branded.
Season 1990-92 Away Kit
Maroon was in style in the 1990s, and so were patterned kits in the Premier League. Umbro is responsible for another product on our list, reminiscent of their 1989 home outing. In 2017, Nike used this vintage kit’s color as inspiration for the away jersey worn by the club en route to their third Premiership title.