Description

Quite simply, this is the Holy Grail of Manchester City match-worn shirts.

An original and official 1989/90 match-worn yellow away shirt, this is one of the rarest and most desirable Manchester City shirts ever produced. With only a single first-team set made, genuine examples are almost impossible to obtain and very rarely become available on the open market. For serious Manchester City collectors, this represents the pinnacle of match-worn memorabilia.

The fascinating story behind the shirt is one of the most remarkable in the club’s history. During City’s first season back in the First Division, the team travelled to Highbury to face Arsenal on 14th October 1989. Although the sky blue home shirts could have been worn, a clash of shorts created an unexpected problem. Sky blue shorts, which would later be introduced and famously worn in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, were not yet available.

Rather than pairing the home shirt with the maroon away shorts, Manchester City and Umbro opted for a completely new solution—an all-yellow strip, complete with the club crest and Brother sponsor. Ironically, the shirt had originally been designed for the New Year’s Day fixture away to Sheffield Wednesday, with fixtures in those days announced months in advance, allowing kit planning well ahead of the season.

Supporters arriving at Highbury were stunned to see City emerge in a yellow shirt, the club’s first yellow outfield shirt for almost three decades. Unfortunately, the afternoon itself was less memorable as Arsenal ran out 4–0 winners.

For many years, it was widely rumoured that chairman Peter Swales ordered the shirts to be destroyed after the defeat. In reality, the story took a far more remarkable turn. The kit was donated by City director Freddie Pye to a local amateur side, MMS, where it continued to be worn well into the 1990s. When the team eventually disbanded, many of the players kept their shirts, with only a handful resurfacing over the years. Those that have appeared have been snapped up by collectors, cementing the shirt’s legendary status.

The shirt features all the correct player-specification details associated with Manchester City match-worn shirts from this era and is regarded by many as the ultimate Manchester City match-worn shirt. Opportunities to acquire an original example are extraordinarily rare and may never be repeated.

Every shirt featured on this website is an original match-worn or match-issued example. These shirts are among the hardest Manchester City memorabilia pieces to obtain and form part of Mark’s world-renowned collection of Manchester City match-worn shirts.

Each shirt purchased comes complete with a personally signed Letter of Provenance from Mark, confirming its authenticity and origin, giving buyers complete confidence in the history and provenance of their shirt.

Whether you’re a dedicated Manchester City supporter or one of the world’s most serious football memorabilia collectors, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the rarest and most iconic Manchester City match-worn shirts ever produced.

Please contact Mark for further information or to enquire about purchasing this shirt.