Season 1897/98
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season

Home Kit
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Change Kit
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Possible Change Kit variant
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Possible Change Kit variant
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The Season in brief

Newton Heath won the Lancashire Senior Cup for the first time, beating Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park on March 26th 1898. Jimmy Collinson scored both of the goals in a 2-1 win. This triumph aside, it was a largely disappointing season. For the first time, the 'Heathens' finished below neighbours Manchester City in the League table, despite taking three points from the 'derby' games, and lost to City in both the Manchester and Healey Cups.

In November, after just two wins in their previous eight games, club captain Caesar Jenkyns and Bob Donaldson were suspended sine die. Harry Stafford was appointed captain and the two players sold. The loss of Harry Erentz and James McNaught, both poached by Southern League Tottenham Hotspur with the promise of 'ridiculous high terms', at the end of the season raised further doubts as to the direction in which the club were traveling.

There was no change to the white shirts and blue knickers for 1897/98. The club's registered colours are given as white and blue in the Association of Football Statistics annual covering the 1897/98 season. This information was confirmed by contributor Pete Wyatt. Team photographs from this season provide the evidence for the style of the home shirts.

We know the change shirts were striped and were probably red/black, which we know were worn in 1898. Our evidence comes from a match report from the pre-season practice match 'Whites versus Stripes' discovered by Charbel Boujaoude, and a photograph of the team with the Lancashire Cup in April 1898.Mark Wylie,the curator of the club's museum, discovered a reference in the 'Manchester Evening News' to Newton Heath wearing red striped shirts in the Cup-tie against Walsall on January 29th.

It is possible the earlier green/gold sriped shirts, or even the blue & brown stripes if it ever existed, could have also been worn.