Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/football/article/3010505/manchester-united-get-colour-goalkeeper-shirt-their-new-kit-wrong
Sport/ Football

Manchester United’s new kit celebrating 1999 treble gets colour of goalkeeper shirt wrong

  • New kit commemorates 20-year anniversary of treble-winning season, featuring purple goalkeeper shirt
  • However, Peter Schmeichel wore a green shirt during 1998-99 campaign
Manchester United’s David de Gea models the new purple goalkeeper kit, which is apparently based on Peter Schmeichel’s green kit from 1999. Photos: Twitter

Manchester United fans probably couldn’t wait for the season to end, following their dismal run of two wins in 12 games. But the new season hasn’t even begun and they have already suffered an embarrassing gaff.

The club revealed their new kit for the 2019-20 campaign on Thursday, with the design celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their 1999 Champions League win (despite them not even qualifying for the competition).

Official pictures show Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard wearing the simplistic red design, while No 1 David de Gea wears a purple shirt. “The home goalkeeper jersey has a tiger pattern featuring a dark purple two-tone design, inspired by the top worn by our legendary No 1, Peter Schmeichel, during the 1998-99 season,” says a United press release.

There’s only one problem – as Manchester Evening News reporter Samuel Luckhurst pointed out on Twitter, Schmeichel’s kit during the famous treble season wasn’t purple.

The Dane wore a navy blue and grey away kit, while his home shirt was a mixture of luminous and dark green, in the 1998-99 season.

It was during the 1996-97 season that Schmeichel wore a purple one, and the tiger pattern seems to be more reminiscent of Edwin van der Sar’s 2010-11 purple United goalkeeper shirt.

“We’re a joke,” one United fan wrote on Twitter, regarding the goalkeeper kit.

Fans seemed a bit more positive about the outfield players’ shirt, though.

The sleeves feature the minutes of Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s added-time goals against Bayern Munich that sealed the famous comeback win at the Nou Camp.

The bottom of the shirt features the words “treble winners”, commemorating the date of May 26, 1999.

The dates of the FA Cup final win over Newcastle and the decisive Premier League win against Tottenham are also displayed.

“Another example of living in the past,” wrote another fan on Twitter, however.