Season 1945/46
original illustrations of the kits worn during the seasons

'Tangeru' Change Kit
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variant
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The Season in brief

Matt Busby officially took over as United's new manager on October 1945, winning his first game in charge, 2-1 against Bolton Wanderers, on the 27th.

Busby steered United to fourth in the Football League North, with the club losing just seven of the thirty games played after his arrival. In the F.A. Cup, Busby guided the club to the 4th round where they were beaten by Preston 3-2 on aggregate. He had strengthened the side in February 1946, when he paid Celtic £4,000 for Jimmy Delaney, despite the player allegedly being injury prone. A crowd of 62,144 watched United's 'home' game with City, played at Maine Road, in April.

United's home and change kits remained essentially unchanged (but after several seasons would have begun to look less than pristine and the shirts would have been frequently repaired). For the first time, the outfield player's shirts were numbered 2-11. A photograph from September 1945 shows United in their home kit - the white trim on the collar does not extend below the collar as in previous seasons We believe United also wore the 'Tangeru' home and change shirts first introduced in 1937.

Although we have no specific photograph of United's change kit in 1945/46, which was little used, we know from the match programme for the trip to Liverpool in Febrauary, that United wore blue shirts. The programme from the public trials game in August lists the sides as Reds v Whites, which may suggest United also had a white shirt as a change kit.

Heavy woollen green jerseys had been adopted almost universally by League clubs as the standard goalkeeper's kit. The only differences were to the material (coarser or finer, largely depending upon a club's financial state), and the depth of the polo neck. We believe United's goalkeepers wore a heavy woolen royal blue jesey as the change kit.