UMBRO ‘WHY ALWAYS ME?’ TEE
Manchester City made history this weekend after they handed Manchester United a 6-1 drubbing. It was all started by Mario Balotelli’s superb finish – which will be remembered for the moment he lifted his Manchester City shirt.
Balotelli has been a controversial figure since his time at Inter Milan but the young Italian is beginning to prove his quality having hit 5 goals in 5 games. It seems that it is this ‘Super Mario’ wants people to notice rather than his off field antics.
To celebrate the Blue side of Manchester’s new cult hero, Umbro have released a limited edition tee bearing Balotelli’s ‘Why Always Me?’ message. Which now available in limited numbers at the Umbro Tee Shop.
When asked about the shirt Balotelli told City’s website: “I did it for many reasons, but I’ll leave it for other people to figure out what it means! I’m sure people can work it out,”
UMBRO MANCHESTER CITY HOME KIT 2011/12
As Manchester City Football Club look ahead to an exciting new season, Umbro have revealed the new 2011/2012 Home shirt which captures the passion of the fans in a unique way. The new Home shirt, which is tailored by Umbro, features a soundwave graphic of fans singing the team’s famous anthem, ‘Blue Moon’, which is subtly embedded within the shirt.
To help launch the shirt, Umbro teamed up with Beady Eye, fronted by famous City fan Liam Gallagher, who have recorded a special version of Blue Moon which mixes into their new single, The Beat Goes On. Liam Gallagher said: “I’ve been a City fan since I was a kid so to be involved with the launch of a new kit is colossal. Manchester City fans are known for having a lot of style and the new shirt looks mega. I love the soundwave idea and the Mod-inspired collar looks proper smart. Blue Moon is a top tune and has been City’s song for as long as I can remember. It’s been covered by loads of people but the only good one until now was the one Elvis did. I hope the fans buzz off our version and sing along to it at the stadium.“
Blue Moon is well known as the Manchester City fans’ signature song however the new Home shirt captures it in a unique way. David Blanch, Senior Designer at Umbro, commented: “You can go anywhere in the world and people will know two things about Manchester: football and music. For the new Manchester City Home shirt, we wanted to combine the elements of football and sound in a new and original way.
“Our starting point was the club’s anthem, Blue Moon. When fans are singing Blue Moon, it becomes more than just a song – it’s a connection between the fans and the players. We went into the Stadium to record a section of the fans singing the song. From this recording, we extracted a 19 second clip and created a soundwave graphic which is used within the shirt. One of the most powerful ways in which any fan can positively influence a football match is through sound. We’ve harnessed that and made it part of the Manchester City’s home kit. This is a truly innovative football strip.”
The soundwave graphic runs across the heart of the shirt but does not interfere with the club crest. The raven [dark navy] colouration around the crest is to give it a strong visual identity. The neckline is a combination of a bold white V neck with an inner chequerboard collar stand. The inspiration was taken from the from white V shirt worn in the League cup winning season in 1976 and the classic, smart style of Mod polo shirts. The same blue and white chequered board pattern can also be seen on MCFC flags all around the Etihad Stadium on match days.
Comfort is another important factor in the design of the new kit. The construction was inspired by tailored dress shirts, but using innovative technical fabrics. The seams around the sleeves and across the back yoke (shoulder) areas are inserted with high performance stretchable mesh, with the holes in the fabric opening up in response to movement to let the wearer’s skin breathe. The mesh is also carried onto the side of the shirt through panels that show the traditional white colour when celebrating a goal.
The new Home strip features blue shorts with white side panels that visually connect with the shirt, to create a dominance of the famous City vista blue. The socks feature a special anatomical footbed and feature bold blue and white hoops, a pattern which has seen City through some of the most successful periods of their history.
Trevor Cairns, Chief Marketing Officer for Umbro, added: “‘Blue Moon’ is the connection between Manchester City fans and the players. Hearing the song – whether it’s before, during or after games – is an inspiration to the City players. We wanted to celebrate this relationship by capturing the song within the shirt. This is the first time that fans have been featured within a football shirt in this way. We hope both the players as well as the fans are proud to wear it.”
Chief Brand and Commercial Officer for Manchester City, Ian Cafferky, said: “Manchester City Football Club has always connected well with fashion and music. This special relationship has spanned decades and helped shape Manchester’s rich cultural landscape. Blue Moon is part of City’s DNA. Liam covering the song is a fitting tribute to both the Club and the fans. As a true blue himself, it is great to have him as the first fan to wear the new home kit. We look forward to playing it next season in the stadium.”
The new 2011/2012 Manchester City home kit is available for pre-order now and will be on sale from 22nd July.
UMBRO AND THE FA CUP COMPETITION WINNERS:
Manchester City ended 35-year trophy drought when they beat Stoke City in England’s oldest cup competition, the FA Cup. To celebrate the occasion, Umbro SA and TRW gave you the opportunity to win with Umbro and the FA Cup.
Umbro are the technical suppliers for Manchester City as well as for the FA and gave away 3 official Manchester City jerseys as well as a replica of the official FA Cup ball, the Neo Pro.
Congratulations to our three winners: J. Mostert, B. Adams and D. Moore.
Terms and Conditions:
- The prize is not transferable for cash.
- This competition is not open to employees or contractors of Umbro or The Right Winger.
- The prize will be awarded to the names drawn at random from all entries received. The winners will be notified within 3 days. The judges decision will be final.
- By entering this promotion, entrants are agreeing to abide by these terms and conditions.
- The 1st name drawn will receive a replica Manchester City Umbro jersey and an Umbro Neo Pro ball. The 2nd and 3rd names drawn will each recieve a replica Manchester City Umbro jersey.
UMBRO MANCHESTER CITY AWAY KIT
Umbro have revealed the new Manchester City Away kit for the 2011/12 season at the FA Cup homecoming event at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The inspiration for the 2011/2012 away kit is taken from the most famous shirt in the club’s history – the black and red shirt worn in 1969/70 during which time City won the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup.
To achieve the ‘tailored’ Umbro look for the 2011/2012 away shirt, the Umbro kit designers draped black and red fabric over the silhouette of the modern day ‘arms out’ goal celebration. The shirt is designed so that when a player celebrates a goal or links arms with team mates, the black and red stripe remains consistent. For this reason, there is no seam on the underarm as traditionally stitching can distort the shape and flow of a stripe.The stripe width on the shirt was inspired by the old 1969 kit. The long sleeve version features an all-black forearm so that there is a unified stripe-look when the players link arms in goal celebrations.
The club crest and sponsor detail is key-lined in gold in order to give standout against the black and red. City’s home colour, sky blue, is featured within the crest so that the away kit always carries a piece of ‘home’. Black stitching is used on the cuff of the shirt and an equal amount of black and red is featured on the hem.
David Blanch, Senior Designer at Umbro, said: “Umbro’s kit designs for City are centred on being modern – not retro. So with this shirt, we married the aesthetic of the 1969 shirt with the modern day ‘arms out’ goal celebration. The result is a shirt which is a celebration of both the future and the past. This is a football ‘shirt’ in the truest sense – we have combined modern day football tailoring to end up with a shirt which combines both performance and smartness. Stretch mesh is a key component to allow players to move freely and their skin to breath during matches. Every minor detail within the shirt has a reason for being – nothing is simply ‘there’. City fans will be pleased to know there is more black than red within the shirt.”
The shorts are plain black and include the club crest whilst the socks are black and similar to the shirt, feature two bands of red. The kit will be on sale from 23 June 2011
Umbro have created a great 360 view of the shirt on their website you can check out here:
WIN WITH UMBRO AND THE FA CUP
Manchester City ended 35-year trophy drought when they beat Stoke City in England’s oldest cup competition, the FA Cup. To celebrate the occasion, Umbro SA and TRW are giving you the opportunity to win with Umbro and the FA Cup.
Umbro are the technical suppliers for Manchester City as well as for the FA and are giving away 3 official Manchester City jerseys as well as a replica of the official FA Cup ball, the Neo Pro.
Manchester City’s home kit is tailored by Umbro and features a retro design with modern day technology and comfort. The Neo Pro ball is produced with 14 laser cut panels giving the ball both better grip and truer flight performance.
To enter the competition all you have to do is ‘LIKE’ the competition image on TRW’s Facebook page.
Terms and Conditions:
- The competition closes on Monday 23 May 2011.
- The prize winner will be announced on Tuesday 24 May 2011.
- The prize is not transferable for cash.
- This competition is not open to employees or contractors of Umbro or The Right Winger.
- The prize will be awarded to the first name drawn at random from all entries received. The winners will be notified within 3 days. The judges decision will be final.
- By entering this promotion, entrants are agreeing to abide by these terms and conditions.
- The 1st name drawn will receive a replica Manchester City Umbro jersey and an Umbro Neo Pro ball. The 2nd and 3rd names drawn will each recieve a replica Manchester City Umbro jersey.
MANCHESTER CITY UMBRO FA CUP FINAL JACKET
A telegram sent by Manchester City to their kit suppliers after their triumphant 1934 FA Cup Final and unearthed by chance in an archive has been the inspiration behind the shirts the club’s player will wear against Stoke City on Saturday.
The telegram of May 5, 1934 which, in a nod to the days of such communication, includes the club’s telegraphic address ‘Football Manchester’, was sent from Maine Road by club secretary Wilf Wild, thanking Humphreys Bros – whose names spawned the Umbro company name – for the “ Jerseys , Knickers, Hose, Slips and Anklets” used in the Wembley final seven days earlier. “The fit, quality and smartness of the entire outfit was undoubtedly perfection,” Wild wrote.
It was while researching the project of creating Saturday’s shirts that David Blanch, a senior designer at Umbro, discovered the telegram and has created a modern version of the same type font for the player numbers and names, which have been bonded onto the shirts. “Many fonts in football look retro and rigid but this one has a real authenticity about it,” Mr Bland said yesterday.
The shirts and the ‘Mercer jackets’ which the players will wear onto the pitch feature a number of intricate links to the historical detail of the kits City players have worn at Wembley. Discreetly featured within the numbers on the players’ backs is the historic Manchester coat of arms, which City players initially used to wear when they had no crest of their own. Technically a privilege bestowed upon the club by Manchester ’s city council, it has generally been a tradition over the past 60 years that City carry the coat of arms in some way when they play at Wembley.
The shirt numbers have also been individually made and bonded to the City shirts, with small holes enabling the numbers to ‘breath – in a nod to the tailoring tradition of football jersey numbers being handsewn from fabric and stitched onto the jerseys. “The shirts are inspired by the past, rather than mimicking it,” said Mr Blanch, who unearthed the telegram in a booked archived in the the Umbro vault decades ago. “We wanted to celebrate City’s achievement and to respect the past but also to celebrate where the club is heading. Manchester has deep roots in City and the club is continuing to build on that history.”
Umbro, who presented their ideas for the final shirt in Abu Dhabi before progressing with them, have also developed the shade of ‘vista’ blue which City have settled on for their shirts since 2009. Before the introduction of the club badge, only ten years ago, City had to rely purely on the colour of their shirts for recognition and have benefited from the fact that light blue is the least used colour in football. Lazio’s shade comes close, though is slightly lighter.
The Manchester coat of arms is also embroidered onto the breast of the jackets City will walk out in, inspired by the overcoat of choice for the late Joe Mercer, and of which only 16 have been made. Mercer took a City side wearing the Manchester coat of arms to its last FA Cup final victory in 1969. The goalkeeping heroics of a young Frank Swift, replete in Jersey, Slip and Anklets, inspired the 2-1 win over Portsmouth 35 years earlier.
ADIDAS PREDATOR BOOT SPOT: MANCHESTER CITY FA CUP FINAL TRAINING
Tomorrow is the FA Cup Final between Manchester City, who are looking bring an end to a 35-year trophy drought, and Stoke City. We got a little look into City’s training before the big game and spotted a few interesting boots. Most noticeably the soon to be released Adidas Predator.
We have seen a lot of the new Predator recently with players wearing White-out version in training but this is the first we have seen of the new boots in their launch colourways. Adidas will launch the Predator in the traditional Black/Red/White (worn here by Patrick Viera) we have become so used to.
We hear however that the focus will be on the great looking Blue/Yellow/White version we saw on Edin Dzeko. We were a little surprised to see Dzeko in the Predator as he is a AdiPure wearer. That obviously means that the Bosnian will be switching over when they are launched.
The other interesting spot that caught our eye was Carlos Tevez. Tevez has been in CTR360 Maestri boots all season and has yet to switch over to the new CTR360 Maestri II. Tevez did however switch during training so we wonder if that means Tevez will be in White/Black/Tour Yellow CTR360 Maestri II boots for the final.
UMBRO MANCHESTER CITY SPORTSWEAR RANGE
City stars and lucky fan launch Umbro’s fantastic new Manchester City sportswear range.
Hart, Richards, Toure, Zabaleta and…who? If you don’t recognise the fifth face here amongst the line-up of City stars modelling the new Umbro Manchester City sportswear range, don’t worry. He’s not a player but Jack Johnson, a true Blues fan from Burnage. Jack won a fans modelling competition to line-up with his heroes wearing the new Spring/Summer Umbro sportswear collection for Manchester City.
The new lifestyle range incorporates classic styles, items inspired by City’s famous taping kits of the 1970s and of course the iconic Mercer jacket.
Inspired by the jacket worn by legendary Manchester City manager Joe Mercer, the new Raven Mercer (as worn by Joe Hart) is the latest incarnation of the smart, tailored walkout jackets that players have worn this season. It will be followed by three more iconic colourways as City’s season races to an exciting finish.
Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart comments: “I really love this new gear, it’s got a real classic look and we can’t wait to walk out in it.”
The spring collection also includes a Sportswear Classics range. Taking inspiration from the styling and look of retro training wear and using a colour palette inspired by the club’s past, the range is a collection of unique contemporary lifestyle product.
Finally, inspired by the iconic taping that appeared on City football kits throughout the 1970s, the new Diamond Icons range combines retro design with the club’s famous colours to form a truly stylish collection.
Local Manchester boy Jack Johnson comments: “It is great to be able to model the new Umbro sportswear range for the club I love. To front the campaign alongside the players I watch every week was extremely nerve wracking, but the pictures look great. I’ll be bringing all my mates down to the Citystore to check out the pictures.”
The Raven Mercer and other Classics pieces from this new range will be on sale exclusively through the CityStore (mcfc.co.uk/shop) from this weekend, with the rest of the collection available throughout April and May.
TAILORED BY UMBRO: MANCHESTER CITY HOME KIT
Umbro have unveiled the new Manchester City home kit for the 2010/11 season. The new kit, inspired by some of City’s classic shirts of the past, matches a smart, tailored look with the best in performance technology. The new kit is once again in City’s classic sky blue and features a subtle needle out pinstripe on the front panel, smart dart shaping on the back and a simple crew neck collar, adding an extra level of smart tailoring to the design.
The shirt was crafted with performance in mind and has a special ergonomic shape, which is designed to fit the player’s stance on the pitch, keeping the wearer comfortable at all times. The sleeve and underarm panels are built to aid movement and ventilation and to give the wearer more confidence when they step out onto the pitch. Constructed using a motion-stretch fabric, the sleeves on both the short and long sleeve version of the shirt feature white cuffs, a nod to the classic City shirts of the 1970s.
The home socks feature a maroon hoop which was inspired by a picture of Colin Bell wearing similar socks and is another reference to City’s heritage. The plain white shorts finish off their classy looking, heritage inspired home kit.
The goal keepers’ home kit is a stylish all black kit. We wonder who we will see wearing this kit the most this season with Shay Given and Joe Hart both pushing for the number 1 spot.
The new home kit follows on from the launch of the new Manchester City away kit which Umbro unveiled last week. You can order the shirt now on City’s official site.
Alongside the home kit, Manchester City have also revealed a beautiful new jacket inspired by one of the club’s classic managers. The Mercer jacket, an extra piece of apparel in the range inspired by an Umbro-jacket that the club’s legendary manager wore in the 1960s and 1970s. In sky blue with a blue, white and maroon trim, the jacket is made using the same three-panel system as the club’s onfield kits. The Mercer jacket also has some special touches of its own – the stitched letters on the back of the jacket are created using a bespoke 3D technique – look closely and you’ll see the team’s full name intricately crafted into the letters.
CAN MANCHESTER CITY BUILD A TEAM?
Manchester City got rich in 2008 when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan owned Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club. Since then, the Blues have gone on to spend more money on players than the whole world spends on Christmas presents. Last season Manchester City spent over £100million. With the £35million deal for Mario Balotelli soon to be confirmed, and with over £86million already spent on new recruits, City look set to do so again this season.
We saw a similar pattern with Chelsea in 2003. Thanks to new owner Roman Abramovich’s big spending, Chelsea won the league in just their second season after being bought by the Russian – a feat Manchester City have not been able to repeat. Now as the 2010/11 season kicks off, the City hierarchy will be looking for results.
UEFA Champions League qualification is surely a minimum requirement for Roberto Mancini this season after missing out narrowly to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs, despite City’s big spending, were the team to break into the Top 4 last season. (The so called ‘Top 4’ has been breached 3 times since 2001/02. Interestingly, on each of those occasions, the team to get bumped was Liverpool.)
With all the money being spent, everyone will agree that Manchester City will eventually ‘buy’ success. Every time the transfer window opens, clubs run and hide. They throw camouflage over their prized players and hope that City’s wondering eye passes them by with little fuss. The likes of Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and even Liverpool can no longer compete in the transfer market as players know they can earn more signing for City. And no longer can the ‘we can guarantee you success at this club’ card be played as City will find success. Some are asking the question: ‘How long will it take City to win something?’ but I think there is a more important question to consider: ‘Why have they not won anything yet?’
Possible Manchester City starting XI
I believe City haven’t won anything yet because their buying has been poor. Take a look at some of the players City have bought in the past two seasons and you’ll find the likes of Bellamy, Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Adebayor, Tevez and Kolo Toure… all of whom can be considered ‘cast offs’ from the teams ahead of them. Bridge and Phillips were no longer needed at Chelsea. Manchester United didn’t think Tevez was worth what his owners wanted. Adebayor and Toure were deemed surplus to requirements at Arsenal and Bellamy was surrounded by chaos at Liverpool. It is almost as if City have been trying to build a team out of everyone else’s spare talent. The point is: how can you expect to beat a team when you are made up of their fringe players? On their day, these guys can still be match winners – don’t get me wrong! And there are plenty of teams out there who would snap any of them up if they came back on the market. They are still ‘stars’. They are still good. They are however perhaps not the best.
As mentioned with Bellamy, City have bought some notoriously ‘hard to handle’ characters to Eastlands. Adebayor was said to have been a disruptive influence at Arsenal, Tevez was perhaps overly vocal in his criticism of Sir Alex and Joleon Lescott’s move from Everton was done in bad taste. Add to that the Robinho/Elano affair. Both Brazilians were star performers in South Africa but that form was absent in a City shirt, resulting in Elano being sold and record-signing Robinho being loaned out to Santos. City have the money to buy any player but they seem to end up with the ones with major egos, short tempers, overly strong wills or an inability to be a team player. City’s biggest problem isn’t buying players. Their biggest problem is buying players who can play together and for each other.
I believe that City have bought better in this regard this time around. They have a UEFA Champions League winner in Yaya Toure who has had his own share of minor on-field explosions… but perhaps that can be expected from a defensive midfielder. David Silva is a World Cup and Euro winner and seems like a right decent guy. Jerome Boateng comes in with a good discipline record and his experience levels hiked thanks to a great run in the World Cup for Germany. Despite these good choices, I feel they have made another risky purchase in Mario Balotelli. The talented player can be unpredictable in his childish arrogance and can easily flutter between sheer brilliance and juvenile conniptions.
TRW Manchester City starting XI
With the new squad rules imposed by the FA, City will have to make some sales and we may just see some of the ‘problem children’ move on. They will still have to keep one or two egos in check however and this is where success can be lost or found. If Manchester City can keep everyone happy, keep them all fit and keep them all playing well… then the Premier League’s Top 4 could have a problem on their hands. City still have a lot of work to do however. Yes they have match winners. Yes they have a big squad. But what they need more than anything is to build a team. The biggest reason for Spurs pipping City to the post last season was because Spurs played as a team. This is where Mancini’s ability to get the best out of the players may well determine where City end up come seasons’ end.
I think with the clever purchases they have made (bar Bolatelli) and the faith they are showing in Mancini, success will not be far away for City. Manchester City have become like a rough diamond and all they need is a little work before they become the crown jewel. Maybe it will take some tough calls by Mancini. Perhaps they need the luck of the draw to smile upon them. Perhaps the volatile mix of raw talent and youthful, exaggerated passion will push them further than last season. The fact is money alone can’t do it all for City and the toughest job starts now. City have a point to prove. Hey, and with Nike’s purchase of Umbro, they are going to do it looking good!
