NEW KIT

Last updated : 12 July 2005 By editor

The official bumph:

'Manchester United are going back to the spirit of `68 with their new away kit. United famously wore an all blue strip at Wembley when they beat Benfica to lift the European Cup for the first time and a new Royal Blue strip has been launched for the coming season.

‘The all royal blue outfit with a red trim on the collar, cuffs, shorts and socks will be in operation until the end of the 2007 season in accordance with the club's kit rotation.

‘The new royal blue kit got the thumbs up from £29million striker Wayne Rooney. "It's a really striking kit and I can't wait to run out in it at grounds around the Premiership and Europe," he said.

‘The shirts will appear in stores next week.’

Nike

"We are delighted with how positive the response from the United players has been to the new away kit. We have designed the shirt to be both visually striking, whilst also incorporating the latest shirt material technology, making comfort a priority to help the players concentrate on performance."

Will Rooney’s ‘Billy the fish’ effort convince fans to buy this monstrosity? IMUSA are calling on everyone to exercise their rights as consumers.

Chairman Mark Longden, "To be honest, I don't know anyone who buys replica shirts anyway, so I am not sure whether it will be a real test of the boycott. But we stand by what we have already said, that supporters should boycott United merchandise and the products of sponsors - and this is just another Nike product.

"We are asking people to exercise their rights as consumers. It is wholly inappropriate that these people should be bringing up United's history when they have just sold it down the river. I very much doubt whether the Glazers even know what happened in 1968 - they probably think it was the French Revolution or something."