MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

Last updated : 22 December 2002 By Editor
The NOTW reports that United are due to change their strip at the end of the season.

As thousands of parents shell out £40 a time for the team's blue away strip—dubbed their Champions League kit—for their kids, we can reveal that you've been fouled in the shopping area.

For the greedy Premiership club is changing the strip—only introduced this summer—to an all-black outfit before the start of next season.

A club source told us: "Most Man United executives know it will be seen as outrageous, but that is the nature of football these days. Strips are a huge money-spinner, but at the end of the day it is the fans and the families who are hurt." United have changed their away strip FOUR times in just FOUR seasons after signing a pledge with other Premiership clubs to keep home strips the same for two years.

And the club is even believed to be planning changes to its alternative white away strip, which will make it out of date and tempt fans to buy the new version.

The club's director of communications Paddy Harveson insisted last night: "We are not cashing in on the fans. The only reason we are changing the away kits after one season is because the makers changed from Umbro to Nike."

United has already been accused of breaking competition rules by fixing the cost of shirts along with other sports stores, the club has been investigated by the Office of Fair Trading—and faces being fined up to £50 million.