Season 1909/10
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season
Home Kit
Variant
Home Kit with Players' Union armband
Variant with Players' Union armband
Change Kit
Change Kit variant
Third Kit 1
Third Kit 2
Home kit
Home kit with undershirt
Home kit with Union armband
Home kit with Union armband & undershirt
Change kit with Union armband
Change kit with undershirt
The Season in brief
It was a disappointing season for United, who finished fifth and lost in the FA Cup first round at Turf Moor. Their preparations had been disrupted by the suspension of most of the club professionals before the start of the season for refusing to resign from the Players' Union. This resulted in the cancellation of the pre-season practice games, and so we have no squad photos to determine United's kits.
The season's highlight was undoubtedly the move to Old Trafford in February, despite Liverpool's 4-3 victory in the first game played at the ground. We can assume from photographs from the opening game that United's home kit was unchanged. For the first game of the season, at Bank Street against Bradford City, the United players wore a Players' Union armband. Within a month the FA and League had banned this practice.
We assume the change kit was also unchanged, although we know from Leslie Millman's flicker photostream that United wore white shirts with a red V in the game at Bramall Lane on October 23rd.
Tony Sealey, the Spurs' kit historian, has discovered United wore blue and black shirts against Sheffield United in Marct. Mark Wylie sent us a photograph from United's visit to Woolwich Arsenal earlier that month that shows United in blue and white striped shirts.
From the start of the season goalkeepers had to wear a different coloured shirt to outfield players, with the options limited to either royal blue, scarlet or white. Based on photographs, we believe it is likely that United's goalkeepers wore an all white shirt of similar style to that of the outfield players. It seems Harry Moger, United's first choice 'keeper, frequently wore a collared under-shirt. The colour of the goalkeeper change shirt was likely to have been royal blue, as scarlet would have clashed with either the rest of the tea or with the opposition when a change was necessary.