According to the manufacturers, the elements of the palette are intended to reflect Manchester and its proud industrial heritage
Manchester United has unveiled its away kit for the 2023-24 season, with the club returning to vertical stripes for the first time in two decades, a design that dates back to its inception.
However, instead of their original green and gold stripes from 1893 to 1899, or the red and black stripes used in the early 20th century, or even the green and white bars used briefly between 1902 and 1905, United chose to merge them all together.
The result is a white stripe, all divided by thin red stripes, which in turn sit on a dark green background. If there was a Guinness World Record for how many stripes you can put on a shirt, this would surely make it into the book.
According to the manufacturers, Adidas, the elements of the palette are intended to reflect Manchester and its proud industrial heritage, with the red representing the bricks that were used to build much of the city and the dirty green apparently being a color found in many of its urban structures (presumably in the form of mold or lichen).
With hardly any clear parts on the body or sleeves, there are stripes absolutely everywhere. The long-sleeved version of the shirt features as many lines as a barcode that could probably be scanned in the club's megastore. In fact, the addition of the manufacturer's trademark three stripes on the arms adds even more clutter jammed into an already saturated field.
While it will certainly divide opinion among fans, it's safe to say that if you like striped football kits, like really like them, then Manchester United's latest away shirt is definitely the one for you.
The kit was first unveiled over the weekend on the Tramlines festival stage in Sheffield by Liam Fray, lead singer of Manchester band Courteeners.
Courteeners' association with United goes back a few years, with their song "Not Nineteen Forever" becoming an anthem for fans as they celebrated winning their 20th league title in 2013.
The trick follows a similar one involving Manchester rapper Aitch, who revealed United's new home kit while performing on the Glastonbury stage last month.