And for me, it’s the same ol’ story as of the previous season…and probably the season or two prior to that as well.
And that story is?
Decent home kit, poor / appalling 2nd & 3rd strips.
The good…
In the past, my reviews of our new kits have sometimes drawn comments from some readers; specifically, suggesting that I only like ‘boring kits’ in terms of both colour & style. I like feedback on my blog-postings and appreciate any viewpoint, as long as it’s at least fairly constructive and not abusive of course.
And this isn’t a delayed reaction to that suggestion as if to prove that’s not the case with me; I actually like this innovative…most-certainly, “different” design.
Good shade of sky blue with a bold, mosaic pattern on the shirt.
But do you remember the days where new kits were released WITHOUT an explanation of what it “represents” (silly me thought that kits were supposed to “represent” the football club and its history)? Well, not these days folks. All THREE come with ‘explanations’ and...‘reasons for’.
This one:
The pattern of the Home jersey, which will be worn by our men’s, women and youth teams, has been inspired by the famous mosaics located in the creative hub of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
And it pays homage to a city brimming with football and creativity.
The new Manchester City Home jersey features the mosaic pattern in classic City blue and white, with navy trim. The kit is completed with white shorts and light blue socks.
Mosaics have also been an important part of Manchester City’s proud history, stretching back almost 100 years to when the original City mosaic first adorned the gates of our former Maine Road home.
Today, the mosaic tradition continues with many club legends having been immortalized as mosaic artworks at the City Football Academy, helping to inspire the next generation of players.
Okay.
But, as I say, I do like it and we’ve already seen both the men & women’s teams play in it, which hasn’t changed my opinion of it-being a nice kit. Although there are 'tones' of navy blue in it – the biggest being the name & number on the back, which is fair enough – it’s not enough, otherwise, to ruin it for me.
Rating: 8/10
…the bad
Well…the best thing I can say about this, is that it’s not as bad as I was led to believe it might be with the ‘rumoured leaks’ that all-too-often circulate these days.
I’m gonna get the explanation for this strip out of the way first…
The new Away jersey features a striking all-over pattern inspired by Castlefield and the Bridgewater canal, an area symbolic of Manchester’s past, present and future.
Whilst Castlefield’s history dates back to Roman times, it is most celebrated as the heart of Manchester’s industrial past having once been the terminus of both the world’s first industrial canal, the Bridgewater canal, and first inter-city railway. The area has now been transformed into one of the city’s most vibrant art and music hubs, as well as home to Manchester’s multi-cultural youth scene, and has flourished into a region brimming with creativity and collaboration.
“With this kit we wanted to celebrate the culture of the city," said David Bremond, Head of Teamsport Licensed Apparel. "We looked for places where people come together to explore their creativity through art and music. Castlefield is rich with history and significance to the city; it truly connects with cultural youth scene and creative roots. The bridge over the canal is an iconic design, which inspired us to bring this classic structure to life through the pattern and the color palette of the new jersey. We wanted the jersey to feel special and unique to fans, and celebrate Manchester’s rich culture."
The new Manchester City Away shirt features an all over pattern printed tone on tone, influenced by the structures and patterns of Castlefield and the Bridgewater canal in dark blue and black, with copper detailing.
Lovely.
And that’s all ‘well & good’. But…first of all, the Bridgewater canal runs from Runcorn to Leigh. If we’re gonna celebrate ‘our bit’ of the water, shouldn’t we ‘give a nod’ to those areas and all in between too? After all, without ‘their bit’ there wouldn’t be ‘our bit’.
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| Comes with a second sock... |
Secondly, they’ve chosen Castlefield as inspiration of the pattern of the shirt and while Castlefield is only around 2.5 miles away from the Etihad Stadium, the ‘trendy area’, which also houses the Science & Industry Museum, is ONLY around 1.8 miles away from Scaffold Trafford! Yeah, well done there…
As for the colours, "dark blue" nothing to do with Manchester City, "black", which has connections to our club dating back to St. Marks times and has been used in our classic red & Black away kit as well as other, classy 3rd strips many years ago when kits represented our football club and…"copper". Yeah okay, whatever.
It also comes with kind of dusky, light blue socks, which surely brings up some questions with regards to-them-not-exactly-being all that different from our home strip’s sock colours, doesn’t it?
Rating: 4/10…and some of that scores is born out of a certain amount of relief that it wasn’t quite as bad as I was bracing myself for; nor is it as hideous as other away kits relased in recent years.
…and the downright UGLY.
Oh, deary me. What the fffff…fudge is this all about?! Well…I’ll let them tell you, shall I?
City's new third kit has a white base with sky blue Paisley floral patterns on the front and sleeves, a tribute to Manchester's iconic music scene.
Oh God, they’re off again…
"The new Manchester City Third Kit celebrates the rich music and fashion culture of the city by creating a bespoke paisley pattern that features details of the club’s crest," the club website reads.
"The pattern is synonymous with artists from the ‘Mod’ and the ‘Brit Pop’ eras of the 1990’s and was a staple of youth fashion in the 1960’s, influencing fashion and music culture in Manchester for generations."
The full kit is completed by navy shorts and white socks, although the club website is also selling white shorts as an option ahead of any possible kit clashes next season.
I mean…just, huhhh…for Pep’s sake. Absolutely hideous!
This one in particular, in fact, as drawn some funny comments from many, not least someone liking it to wallpaper his gran used to have in the 70s, whilst someone else said that it’s something James May would wear.
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| Buy one get one free! |
Funnier still, with the club & Puma trying to be all trendy-like and linking it with music, fashion & culture from Manchester, was Liam Gallagher’s reaction, where he tweeted:
"Who ever is responsible for that new Man City kit needs putting on the nxt flight to WUHAN and who ever buys it needs to be on the 1 after…”.
And in response to a fan asking whether he likes the kit, he later replied: "Keep it simple mate, it's not hard."
Couldn’t agree more.
Rating: 1/10...and just for being mostly white
I like us in a white, 3rd kit and we’ve had plenty that have ticked a lot of boxes. Sadly, this one just 'ticks me off' (see what I did there?).
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| James May |
The football strip is supposed to represent our football club and its history.
I mean, just to finish off, if this is going to be a running theme season after season, what happens when they start running out of ideas?
An Alan Turing theme perhaps; with a picture of the Manchester Mark 1 computer on the shirt in a rust or mustard-yellow pigment?
Maybe something that would be a little trickier to depict, which would be the strong smell of urine often endured by many as they walk around Piccadilly Gardens and surrounding back streets.
OH! Or…here’s one before it gets knocked down - the grey, WWII-like wall in Piccadilly Gardens…although our players might say that they can’t see each other when they wear ‘em.
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| Not quite sharp enough for some... |
Thanks, as always, for ‘taking the time’.
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