Season 1981/82
original illustrations of the kits worn during the season
Standard home kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P19 W10 D4 L5 F25 A13
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29/8 | Coventry C (a) | 5/9 | Ipswich T (h) |
| 19/9 | Swansea (h) | 30/9 | Leeds U (h) |
| 3/10 | Wolves (a) | 10/10 | Man City (a) |
| 17/10 | Birmingham (h) | 21/10 | Middlesbrough (h) |
| 31/10 | Notts Co (h) | 21/11 | Spurs (a) |
| 28/11 | Brighton (h) | 6/1 | Everton (h) |
| 27/1 | West Ham (h) | 6/2 | Aston Villa (h) |
| 13/2 | Wolves (a) | 20/2 | Arsenal (h)1 |
| 17/3 | Coventry C (h) | 17/4 | Liverpool (h) |
| 15/5 | Stoke C (h) |
1A mixture of long and short-sleeved shirts were worn gainst Arsenal. Move your cursor over the kit to reveal the long-sleeved variant.
Variant home kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P10 W5 D3 L2 F9 A4
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/8 | Nott'm F (h) | 7/10 | Spurs (a) |
| 28/10 | Spurs (h) | 27/2 | Man City (h) |
| 20/3 | Notts Co (a) | 27/3 | Sunderland (h) |
| 12/4 | West Brom (h) | 17/4 | Spurs (h) |
| 24/4 | Brighton (a) | 1/5 | Southampton (h) |
Variant home kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P5 W2 D1 L2 F5 A4
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/1 | Swansea (a) | 6/3 | Birmingham (a)1 |
| 3/4 | Leeds U (a) | 20/4 | Ipswich T (a) |
| 12/5 | West Brom (a)2 |
Kit Notes:
1A mixture of long and short-sleeved shirts were worn at St Andrews.
2 United wore two styles of shorts at the Hawthorns. Move your cursor over the kit to reveal the variant.
Variant home kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P1 W0 D1 L0 F3 A3
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/4 | Everton (a) |
Pre-season home kit
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/8 | Southampton | 8/8 | Bohemians (a)1 |
| 18/8 | Eik Tønsberg (a)2 |
1Kit identified by James Thomas
2 Kit identified from photographs on Knut Johansen's twitter account.
Home kit (Friendlies) - Short-sleeved
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/12 | Torquay U (a) | 30/12 | Portsmouth (a)1 |
1 A mixture of short and long sleeved shirts were worn.
Home kit (Friendlies) - Long-sleeved
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26/12 | Hibernian (a) | 16/1 | Oldham Ath (a) |
Home kit (Post-season)
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17/5 | Whitecaps | 20/5 | Sounders |
Standard change kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P2 W1 D1 L0 F3 A1
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22/9 | Middlesbrough (a) | 8/5 | West Ham (a) |
Variant change kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P4 W1 D2 L1 F3 A3
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/9 | Aston Villa (a) | 26/9 | Arsenal (a) |
| 24/10 | Liverpool (a) | 2/1 | Watford (a) |
Variant change kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P1 W1 D0 L0 F1 A0
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/3 | Nott'm F (a) |
Frank Stapleton, and perhaps other players, wore a long-sleeved shirt at the City Ground. Move your cursor over the kit to reveal the variant.
Pre-season change kit
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24/8 | Blackpool (a) |
This kit was identified by Sean Moran. Cheers Sean!
Standard third kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P2 W1 D0 L1 F7 A4
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/11 | Sunderland (a) | 5/12 | Southampton (a) |
Variant third kit
Shirt number
Playing Record in this kit:
P1 W1 D0 L0 F3 A0
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23/1 | Stoke C (a) |
Pre-season third kit
Shirt number
This kit was worn in the following matches:
| Date | Opposition | Date | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/8 | West Ham (a) |
This kit was identified by Yves Paemen. Unusually, the adidas logo on the shirt is larger than the club badge.
Home Kit
Home Kit Variant
Home Kit Variant
Home Kit Variant
Change Kit
Change Kit
The Season in brief
Ron Atkinson was appointed United's new manager by new Chairman Martin Edwards, who had taken over after the death of his father in January 1981. Atkinson's appointment followed several high profile rejections of United's offer from Lawrie McMenemy, Bobby Robson and Ron Saunders. Atkinson wasted little time bringing Frank Stapleton, John Gidman, Remi Moses and Bryan Robson to Old Trafford.
After failing to win any of their opening four League games the side gelled and climbed to the top of the League with a 2-1 win at Anfield on October 24th. They remained top until mid February, but eventually finished third. Tottenham beat United 1-0 in both legs of their second round League Cup tie, and United lost by a similar score in the F.A. Cup third round tie at Vicarage Road.
For the first time since 1964 United's youngsters reached the F.A. Youth Cup Final, after reaching the semi finals in each of the previous two seasons, but were beaten by Watford. The Youth side included Mark Hughes, Norman Whiteside and Clayton Blackmore.
Both the home and change kits remained unchanged, and a new third kit was introduced. The first adidas replica shirts featured printed club crests and manufacturers logos which were still prone to fading. The change shirt featured the same crest as the home shirt, unlike the players versions which had crests in different colours. Pristine examples of these replica kits are very rare.