We Manchester City fans are understandably still high on May’s FA Cup victory, given that it was a while between drinks. Here’s another piece of excitement—the new MCFC Away shirt. I was lucky enough to see the new shirt unveiled at a Chairman’s dinner in Park Lane the night before the FA Cup Final. It’s a beauty! And last month, I was delighted to receive a letter from Gerald Woodman, President Umbro-Canada, saying he was sending me one.
The new Away kit draws inspiration from the 1969/1970 shirt, a golden time when Man City won loads of silverware. Designers structured the new shirt with the idea that when a player scores a goal or when a fan rejoices, they put their arms out – and made the black and red stripe remain consistent in the pose. The attention to detail that these designers had is astonishing.
Gerald reminded me that, when designing the shirt, Umbro captured sensuality in a very cool way. Umbro recorded fans singing “City Till I Die” and created a sound wave from it. The sonic wave of passion is a sign off on the right hip and back neck collar, a wonderfully subtle yet deeply resonant representation of emotion for the core fan.
This is the stuff of Loyalty Beyond Reason, loaded with sensuality, intimacy and also mystery. David Blanch, senior designer of football kits at Umbro: “The story we wanted to tell with the shirt was one of celebration, that’s connecting with the past, the deep roots of the club and also the future, where it’s going.”
