Season 1955/56
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season


Home Kit
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Variant
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The Season in brief

United's youngsters came of age during 1955/56. After a shaky start United's 1-0 win at Ninian Park at the end of October took them to the top of the table for the first time. They returned to the top on December 3rd after a 2-1 win against Sunderland and stayed there for the remainder of the season.

Such was their domination that the eleven point gap between them and runners up Blackpool was the largest since the extension of the season to 42 games in 1919. United's forward partnership of Tommy Taylor and Denis Viollet scored forty five of the side's eighty three League goals. The emergence of Eddie Colman was another of the season's highlights.

United's reserves won the Central League, winning thirty of their forty two fixtures and scoring a hundred and seventeen goals, and Jimmy Murphy guided the youngsters to yet another F.A. Youth Cup success - their fourth.

Inexplicably Second Division Bristol Rovers beat the 'Babes' 4-0 in the F.A. Cup third round.

United experimenting with new materials and designs for their kits during 1955/56. A new and much more modern V neck design was introduced and worn, possibly for the first time, in the Manchester derby in September 1955. The design owed much to Busby's acceptance of the latest kit technology and his relationship with Umbro, the kit manufacturer's.

Contributor Alex Howells has identified a further variant of the home and change kits which featured a buttoned collar and short sleeves. We know that the blue change kit variant was worn at Villa Park on October 15th 1955.

A plain blue change shirt was worn in the game at Blackpool in November 1955. Many thanks to Paul English, who sent us a photo of the United team taken before the game wearing this variation.