Are these Manchester City‘s home and away kits for next season? Leaked onto the internet, the photos purport to be the final releases of the City shirts with the 2016/17 home kit already seen for sale in global stores. More over-zealous storekeeping by shop owners or a deliberate marketing ploy by Nike to raise interest in the new designs?
Manchester City 2016/17 Home Kit
The Manchester City 2016/17 home and away kits follow the Nike template favoured by many of the Euro2016. The shirt body is a different shade of blue to the sleeves. The darker shade of blue on the panelled shoulder and arms is less of a subtle change of hue than the French opted for and it’s a design which received mixed reactions from supporters.
Matched with blue shorts, it will be the first time the darker blue has been worn in a home kit other than as trim, since the late 1990’s.
The collar of the shirt is two-tone blue with the front neckline matching the shirt’s sky blue body. The shoulder panels and collar from the side around the back, merge seamlessly.
Manchester City 2016/17 Away Kit
If the home kit received mixed reactions, the away kit is even less popular with supporters.
The body of the shirt is black but the sleeves are deep burgundy which is an unusual combination. Better than the luminescent green of last season though!
City have a history with black in their away kits, wearing scarlet and black stripes in the 1969 FA Cup final and a year later when they won the European Cup Winners Cup.
Whether there are any changes due to the apparent unpopularity of the kits remains to be seen. It’s probably too late in the day so City fans may have to hope the real things are ‘growers’ when they are released shortly.
