Season 1886/87
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season

Kit with navy knickerbockers

Kit with white knickerbockers

The Season in brief

The club entered the F.A. Cup for the first time, and appointed new signing Jack Powell as team captain. Powell had played for Bolton Wanderers and was given a job as a fitter in the loco sheds on condition he turned out for the 'Heathens'. Other new arrivals included Joe Davies and brothers Jack & Roger Doughty, who had all played for Druids. Druids complained, unsuccessfully, to the F.A.that the players had been poached.

The club's début in the F.A. Cup ended in farcical circumstances. The Heathens had to scratch from their first round tie at Fleetwood Rovers when Powell was ineligible. The game, played as a friendly, ended 2-2. Once more the club reached the Manchester Cup Final but were unable to defend the trophy, losing 2-1 to West Manchester.

There were notable victories in friendlies against Blackburn Olympic, Hurst, Derby Midland and Gainsborough Trinity. Crewe Alexandra again proved too strong for Newton Heath, winning both home and away games. The season ended with the visits of Bolton Wanderers, who won 5-0 at North Road in front of 8,000 and Blackburn Rovers, whose first team were beaten 1-0 by the 'Heathens'.

There remains a great deal of doubt concerning the team colours. In the absence of any definitive contemporary evidence, we believe it is probable that the playes wore red and white quartered shirts, the colours of the L&Y Railway.

However, modern club histories list the club colours as green and gold, although they don't offer any compelling evidence to support this claim. These colours were supposedly included in a match report from a Bolton newspaper in November 1880, but the report remains untraced.

Whatever the colour of their shirts, the Heathens would probably have continued to wear different coloured knickerbockers.