Season 1914/15
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season
Home Kit
Home Kit 2
Home Kit 3
Change Kit
Change Kit 2
Home Kit
Change Kit
The Season in brief
The new season began a week or so after the British Expeditionary Army first engaged the German Army in France, losing 10,000 men injured or killed. The decision to play professional football was increasingly criticised as the number of casualties and deaths on the front line escalated.
The mood at Old Trafford remained sour. Billy Meredith, George Stacey, and Sandy Turnbull were all still owed money from their benefit games. When Turnbull was suspended after a dressing room argument with Bentley, Meredith organised a player's strike.
In October club captain and record signing George Hunter, along with Billy Meredith, were suspended for 'bullying' the younger players.
The results reflected the mood at the club. On Boxing Day, despite a 1-1 draw at Anfield, they were rooted at the bottom of the table. Two days later John Robson took up his post as United's first manager, Bentley continuing to act as Secretary.
United eventually finished 18th, their place in the First Division retained only with the help of a 'fixed '2-0 win at Liverpool on Easter Monday. The Football League was suspended at the close of the season to be replaced with regional leagues for the duration of the War.
Both United's home and change kits were retained for the 1914/15 season, as shown in a photograph taken in August 1914 (probably before the public trial match). A match report in the 'Manchester Evening News' lists the reserves as 'blue and white stripes'. We believe this is evidence that the change kit was blue and white stripes from 1910.
It is probable that the broader striped blue and white shirt continued to be worn as a variant of the change kit. We know that by 1921/22 United had adopted this shirt as part of their change kit, but we have been unable to determine the exact point at which this change occurred.