Season 1920/21
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season
Home Kit
Change Kit
Variant
Home Kit
Change Kit
The Season in brief
United justified their pre season billing as relegation favourites by failing to win any of their opening four games. The boom in attendances and gate receipts continued and United's average attendance of almost 38,000 was a new club record, as was the profit of almost £17,500.
Rather than rebuild the team however, these profits were used to reduce the club debt. A club record fee of £2,000 paid to Liverpool for Tommy Miller in September was more than offset by the decision to sell Tommy Meehan to Chelsea for £3,300 a couple of months later.
Meehan had been one of four players dropped after a 3-0 defeat at Hyde Road in November. The reshaped side managed four consecutive victories after the 'derby' defeat to climb to 7th.
Inconsistent throughout the remainder of the term, the club eventually finished 13th.The F.A. Cup provided little solace, Liverpool winning a first round replay at Old Trafford 2-1 after the sides had drawn at Anfield.
The club invested some of the profits from the first post war season in a new home kit, which, for the first time, included red socks. The new home kit features in two photographs of United's first team taken in August and in November 1920. The change kit, we believe, continued to be a blue and white striped shirt. We know that by 1921/22 United's change kit had broader stripes than their pre War shirts but have been unable to determine the exact point at which this change occurred.
We have been able to determine that United's goalkeepers wore a heavy woolen green jersey.
Although we have been unable to discover any evidence from this season of United's goalkeeper change shirt, we believe, from later photographic evidence and given the limited colour options available under League regulations, it was probably royal blue.