Following the release of the home kit in May this year Nike have officially released the brand new Manchester City away kit, this season is the first time city have ever been seen wearing a Nike kit. Â Â The club have a long affinity with their old supplier Umbro, the Umbro logo emblazoned the teams kits from 1975-97, they then had brief spells with Reebok, Kappa and Le Coq Sportif before returning to Umbro in 2009, Man City actually wore a kit designed by Umbro in the 1934 FA Cup Final. Umbro are a British sportswear company, it was founded in 1924 with the specific interest of entering the market to supply football kits, and it rivalled the then market leader Bukta. Â In 2007 Umbro was bought by American sportswear giants Nike, this deal lasted until 2012 when Nike announced it was selling Umbro to concentrate on its other sportswear brands. Â Since then Nike has acquired the rights to make football shirts for former Umbro kit wearing teams, Manchester City and England. Â For Manchester City the deal that is reportedly worth £72m over six years will help them meet UEFA's new Financial Fair Play regulations that requires clubs not to spend more than they earn, last year the club recorded a £97.9m loss that is unacceptable under the new rules.
The new Nike away kit is a masterpiece, drawing from the clubs heritage it reflects the original foundations of the club. Â The club was first founded in 1880 and was originally named St Mark's, in 1884 it became Gorton AFC, in 1887 they underwent another name change to Ardwick AFC, before finally settling on Manchester City in 1894. The new away shirt features a two tone black, and dark charcoal grey colour scheme, the black colour represents the teams time as Gorton AFC whose kit was black, the two tone design is reminiscent of a kit worn during the 1890-91 season when they were known as Ardwick AFC. Â The collar of the new Manchester City away football shirt is a subtle grandfather design, there is a longer style placket with concealed buttons. The Nike logo, the club crest and Etihad sponsor are all regally designed in a gold colour, this is to reflect the clubs recent successes of winning the FA Cup in 2011, and being crowned Premier League Champions for the first time in 44 years in 2012.
The new kit was launched this week during the clubs pre-season tour in Hong Kong, the club are hoping that the scale and size of their new kit supplier Nike will lead to a wider acknowledgement of the club as a worldwide commercial company, as Nike's marketing abilities should make the club a recognisable name around the globe. Â The official launch photos feature images of star players Milner, Lescott, Zabaleta and Nastasic set against the bright lights of Hong Kong's skyscrapers lit up to full effect at night, this background against the dark kit colours looks stunning and is certainly an effective start to a global marketing campaign of the club. Â The fans will be anticipating the start of the new season, the new kit and how the new faces Jesus Navas and Stevan Jovetic will fit in wearing the Manchester City football shirt alongside the rest of the team, will they rival Manchester United for the top spot in the Premier League next season?
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Nike launches the new Manchester City Away Football Shirt
July 25, 2013