Manchester United Football Shirts – A Brief History
Today Manchester United may be a global brand and one of the most famous clubs on the planet, but in the late 19th century they were a very unremarkable club indeed. Formed by railway workers, they were originally known as Newton Heath LYR (the suffix stood for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway) and purchased a strip of cashmere football shirts in green and gold , the colours of the parent company. The club’s name grew and in 1889, the Heathens had joined the Football Alliance, formed as rivals to the Football League. Recent research by Paul Nagel indicates that the club switched from green and gold to red and white shirts sometime in 1888 or 1889 (the old green and yellow split-design were retained as away colours). In April 1892, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co repossessed the ground they rented to the club with a view to developing it to benefit all their employees. Although Newton Heath were allowed to continue to use North Rd for the following season (at a considerably increased rent), they dropped the “LYR” suffix to emphasise their separate identity.
In 1892 the Alliance was absorbed into the Football League which was restructured into two divisions. Newton Heath successfully applied for one of the vacancies in the new First Division. The competition proved too tough and the Heathens were relegated in 1894.
By the turn of the century, the club was headed for administration . Legend has it that a St Bernard dog belonging to the club captain wandered off from a fundraising event and was rescued by local brewer, John Henry Davies. Having heard of the club’s plight, Davies brought back the dog and invested in the club in return for a place on the board. Davies brought ambition to the club and in 1902, Newton Heath became Manchester United, adopting a plain red Manchester United home shirts and white knickers .
The Edwardian period brought success with a side that included Billy Meredith, signed from rivals Manchester City who were forced to auction off their players after a bribery scandal. Promoted in 1906, United were League Champions in 1908 and 1911 as well as FA Cup winners in 1909. The club moved into their new Old Trafford home in 1909, built on land purchased for the club by Davies.
The period between the wars was an undistinguished one for United. Relegated and promoted with some regularity, the club twice experimented with alternative strips . The all-white kit with red V had been worn when United beat Bristol City in the FA Cup Final of 1909 but brought little success in the Twenties. Tim Ashmore speculates that the new kits were introduced by John Chapman when he moved from Airdrieonians to manage United: perhaps he introduced the colours of his previous club to make his mark and change United’s fortunes. 12 years later, with relegation to Division Three (North) looming in March 1934, United adopted their lucky cherry and white change kit. This was worn during the following season before the more familiar plain red football shirts were reinstated for 1935-36.
