Early Design Sample Shirts
design oddities that were never produced

Sample shirts are regularly produced as part of the design process, although they rarely come to our attention. Occassionally however we are given a glimpse into the mind of the design team working on United's kits.

adidas Sample Shirt - from the early 1980s

A truly remarkable shirt. The photographs below were sent to us by Dave Wright who was given the shirt by his aunt who worked for a company in Congleton that manufactured sports kits in the 1980's.

Adidas sample shirt 1
Adidas sample shirt 2
Adidas sample shirt 3

The label identifies the shirt as a "sample" but we do not know how far along the development process the design was. We have no evidence that the shirt was ever presented to United and rejected by the club. It may well have been rejected by the adidas management at an early stage.


Umbro Puzzle Shirt - from the mid 1990s

The photographs below were sent to us by Sam Leatherbarrow.

Another factory produced shirt but rather than being a sample of a design that Umbro were working on however, this shirt appears to be simply components from United's various shirts stitched together.

Umbro Puzzlee shirt 1
Umbro Puzzlee shirt 2
Umbro Puzzlee shirt 3