Season 1929/30
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season
Home Kit
Home Kit variant
Possible Change Kit
Possible Change Kit
Home Kit
Change Kit
The Season in brief
A simple tap in from Tommy Reid on fifteen minutes was enough to secure United's first ever win at Maine Road - and deal City's title aspirations a serious blow. Sadly there were few other highlights in a season in which the global economy imploded. The First Division was the closest for many, many years. By the turn of the year just ten points separated 2nd and 20th places.
United, whose season had started with two 4-1 defeats, found themselves in the bottom six for most of the campaign. An eight game unbeaten run in November/December proving crucial for their survival. The club eventually finished 17th, the season ending on a humiliating note when Sheffield United, needing a win to avoid relegation, triumphed 5-1 at Old Trafford.
United's form, and the surge in unemployment in the city, produced a further fall in average gates. down to 18,500, and the club reported a loss for the season, and an increase in their overall debt as a result. Despite a decade of cautious economic management by the Board, the club were now in serious financial trouble.
We believe United's home kit remained unchanged, largely as a consequence of the deepening financial crisis at the club. Indeed on occasion United reverted to kits worn many years earlier, the collars often held together with laces or worn open. Proof of the change kit has been found by Charbel Boujaoude in the Liverpool Echo. Their match report from the game at Anfield in January describes United playing in "royal blue, so it looked like a second 'Derby' game.". We assumed it would also have been of a similiar design to the home kit.
We have been able to determine that United's goalkeepers wore a heavy woolen green jersey. We believe the goalkeeper change shirt was probably royal blue.