Manchester United are poised to make a historic change, with the third kit set to have the club crest dropped and replaced by an image of a devil.
The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell reports that this is the first time such a change has been made since the 1970s.
Whitwell says, “Adidas designers have gone for a minimal look on United’s third kit, by removing the words “Manchester United”, the ornate badge layout, and the ship, which have been permanent features since the 1970s.”
“Instead, only a devil will be displayed on the chest of the shirt, which is an off-white colour and will be used when the away kit, which is dark green with white stripes, is not possible.”
The home kit and the second strip will still assume the traditional design of having the classic United badge.
Whitwell adds, “There has been some debate about whether the ship, added to reflect Manchester’s role in the Industrial Revolution, is an appropriate symbol on the crest due to a potential association with the slave trade. But its removal is purely a design choice by kit manufacturers.”
The Athletic details that the last time a change was made to the United badge was in 1998 when “Football Club” was omitted.
Legendary United boss Sir Matt Busby was vital to the badge being added to the jersey in 1973.
Prior to this, the space was taken up by stripes.
Adidas adopted a similar modification to Arsenal’s away kit in the just concluded Premier League season, where the club crest was removed and only the canon left.
Whitwell’s description matches a leaked image of United’s three strips for next season that has surfaced on social media.
Here are next seasons confirmed kits.. pic.twitter.com/o8jgy35agH
— Frank 🧠🇳🇱 (@TenHagEra) May 29, 2023
EXCLUSIVE: The 23/24 third kit in 4K pic.twitter.com/gPdoMTEyDw
— Morgan (@utdscope) May 29, 2023
The leaked picture shows the home kit, a green-striped second kit and the third one.
Teamviewer will remain the primary shirt sponsor despite reaching a mutual agreement with United to terminate their arrangement.