On the 13th of April 1996, Manchester United made the unprecedented move to swap kits at halftime. They were 3-0 down away at Southampton and the story goes that they could not see each other in the grey 3rd strip.
Here's the famous shirt in all its glory -
Looking to buy one? Shop MUFC 1995/1995 Away Shirts here.
The shirt itself is not a bad one but it will go down in history as one of the worst ever because of this moment. United was 3-0 down at halftime and swapped for the blue and white striped 2nd kit at halftime. What is a little known fact is for this match they wore the away white shorts rather than the standard grey. This was the only time in the season that this combination was worn.
Here is the kit they swapped too -
Personally, this is one of my favourite Manchester United away kits. It's bold and looks good. Both of these kits have become valuable over time and if you have one in good condition they can fetch well over £100 a shirt. If you had a match-worn one then it will be worth considerably more if you can verify the authenticity.
Why did they change from the grey shirt?
At the time the line was simply that they could not see each other in grey. More recently we have found out that it was something that had been coming.
United played away in the shirt and lost twice before this match.
Early in the season, United lost 1-0 to Arsenal in this kit. In December 1995 they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in this shirt.
Recently Gary Neville has revealed that United was using an "eye coach" at the time - Gail Stevenson from Liverpool University She was looking at match sharpness from the eye muscles and had already shared her reservations about this kit.
Neville reveals that Ferguson had the second kit ready to go for the match. At this time it was not common to have a replacement kit ready just in case but they were all told to swap kits at halftime regardless.
Matt Le Tissier, who was playing for Southampton didn't even notice the change. He told Sky Sports in a recent interview that he was asked bout it by a reporter on the way back to his car and said
"I didn't realise until after the game what had happened. I was walking to my car and one of the reporters asked me what I thought about them changing their kit at half-time. I looked at him and went, 'did they?' I had no idea."
United scored in the second half and the match finished 3-1. It will go down in history as one of the most iconic moments in Premier League history, as well as one of the worst ever excuses for losing.
You can watch the highlight of the match on Youtube to see if you can see the players
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6J-4RIRsms
Will Manchester United wear grey again?
Surprisingly after this there was grey shirt, Manchester United's 2017/2018 third shirt. This was designed by a fan and had a silhouette of the holy trinity statue that is outside old Trafford on it. They did not have the same problem with this shirt, however!