Season 1896/97
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season

Home Kit
unitedkits_kit_0156
unitedkits_number_0156
Change Kit
unitedkits_kit_0160
unitedkits_number_0160
Possible Change Kit variant
unitedkits_kit_0159
unitedkits_number_0159
Possible Change Kit variant
unitedkits_kit_0161
unitedkits_number_0161
 
The Season in brief

With the team filled with Scottish imports it was a Welshman that rejuvenated the 'Heathens' fortunes. Caesar Augustus Llewellyn Jenkyns arrived from Woolwich Arsenal in May 1896 and was immediately given the captaincy. At fourteen stone and five foot ten he had a reputation for crunching tackles and fierce shoulder charges and was exactly what the team needed. Newton Heath led the table until a 3-0 defeat at Notts County in December. County were a goal up at the interval and Jenkyns' tackles grew increasingly wild and he was semnt off - the first 'Heathen' to be dismissed in a League game.

A 2-0 victory over Jenkyns' old club on April 3rd guaranteed the Heathens the runners up spot but they finished bottom of the four team mini-League in the test matches. The club progressed to the F.A. Cup quarter finals, beaten for the second successive year at Derby County's Baseball Ground.

Newton Heath's registered colours are given as white and blue in the Association of Football Statistics annual covering the 1896/97 season. This information was confirmed by contributors Pete Wyatt. Mark Graham has discovered a reference to the 'Heathens' wearing white shirts in the game at Walsall in September.

The design is based on the style of the shirt worn the previous season and from later photographic evidence. In all probability the committee would have decided upon the change on purely pragmatic grounds. White shirts remained the cheapest option.

There is less certainty concerning the club's change kit. We believe the shirts were striped and were probably red/black which we know were worn in 1898. The colours could have been the earlier green/gold sripes or even the blue & brown stripes, although there is some doubt that this shirt ever existed.