One of the elite Premier League clubs, Manchester City has unveiled their new 2017/18 Nike home jersey. On the 50th anniversary of the club’s 1967-68 English First Division title, a dormant secondary color returns on City’s kits. The jersey is largely a more conservative update to the Nike Vapor featuring Aeroswift technology style worn last season, with a strictly sky blue shirt and sleeves with white trim on the collar for the strip this time. Wrapping around to the back of the shirt, the white trim has City in sky blue. Manchester City’s crest is placed on the left side of the chest, across from a navy Nike swoosh. Side piping has been altered this time around, with the white stripes running from the sleeves to just beyond halfway down the front of the jersey. The shorts have sky blue trim cut at halfway, consistent with the jersey’s piping. A navy Nike swoosh is on the left leg, with the crest on the right leg. The full kit brings back maroon on City’s uniforms, which were prominent in the 1960s. A thin maroon trim is on the pullover at the top. It comes with navy Nike swoosh and City at the front, and the striped pattern at the back also in navy. Etihad Airways returns as shirt sponsor in navy. |
Relative newcomers to the Premier League may assume Manchester City FC is a relatively new club, not least because its purchase by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2009 has turned it into one of the most rich and powerful in world soccer. But that masks the truth, that Manchester City is one of the oldest and most storied clubs anywhere in the game. Founded as St. Mark’s (West Gorton) in 1880, the club was officially named Manchester City in 1894. In 1904, when the club won the FA Cup, ‘City’ became the first Manchester club to win a major trophy. In 1923, the club moved to their own dedicated stadium, Maine Road, and the structure quickly became a fortress for the home side. City has long had a reputation for its committed fanbase, and that was on display in 1934, when a record 84,569 fans jammed into Maine Road for a sixth round FA Cup tie. Shortly after, in 1937, City won their first top-flight title. They would not win again for another forty years. When City did win again, in 1968, it heralded perhaps their most successful period for the club. The Sky Blues won the FA Cup in 1969, then the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970. Things quickly went fallow, however, and City were relegated by crosstown rivals Manchester United in 1974. That triggered a long drought punctuated by periods of success. More recently, Manchester City has been a club reborn. On the brink of financial collapse in 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group, led by Sheikh Mansour, announced the purchase of the club. During the summer of 2009, City went on a spending spree, splashing north of 100 million pounds and hiring Italian manager Roberto Mancini. In a flash, Manchester City were competing with the country’s best, reaching their first FA Cup final in 30 years in 2011 -- and winning it. With the help of world-class players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany, City won two titles in three seasons and have solidified their place in the “Top 6” English clubs. Each summer sees them spend freely on some of the world’s best players, and with the backing of the UAE-based Abu Dhabi group, the sky is the limit for the Sky Blues. |
The Manchester City FC home jersey has been the same famous sky blue since the bright dawn of the club, way back in 1894, and possibly even further back in time than that. But what of the jersey sponsors? They didn’t appear on the jersey until 1982, when many other English sides were adopting the jersey sponsorship practice. Let’s take a look at Manchester City’s jersey sponsors, through the years. Saab (1982-84) Philips (1984-87) Brother (1987-99) Eidos (1999-2002) First Advice (2002-04) Thomas Cook (2004-09) Etihad Airways (2009-Present) |
In its 137-year history, Manchester City has seen some giants of the game don the sky blue jersey. Here is our list of the best City players of all time, in no particular order: Sergio Aguero – Manchester City FC Jersey #10 Colin Bell – Manchester City FC Jersey #8 David Silva – Manchester City FC Jersey #21 Yaya Toure – Manchester City FC Jersey #42 Bert Trautmann – Manchester City FC Jersey #1 |