Manchester United's new pink jersey goes on sale

Wondered why Manchester United chose to produce their first pink away jersey this season?

Well, it all relates back to a local football newspaper supplement. After announcing that the new jersey went on sale to the public from Thursday, United said on their website that the ‘Football Pink’ newspaper was the inspiration behind the jersey.

“The Pink was an institution in the football world until 2007, as a major source of knowledge about the weekend’s games. Created by the Manchester Evening News, it was printed on Saturday afternoons as fans were leaving the stadiums,” United said.

“Reporters at every football game across the region, including chief United writer David Meek, would take down every detail in their match report; goals, misses, tackles and sending offs. These were relayed to an army of copywriters back at the Manchester Evening News headquarters over the phone (or sent by pigeon, in the really early days).

“With astounding speed, match reports and the day’s results were compiled, and the pink newspapers were printed and put on vans to be distributed to fans clamouring for news after the game.

“The whole operation was a wonderfully-orchestrated symphony of stadium reporters, copy-takers, sub-editors, compositors, printers and van drivers, all working together to bring the very latest football news to fans around Manchester. For many years, it was a main source of information for readers about the game they loved so dearly.”

Jesse Lingard models the new pink Manchester United jersey. Photo: @ManUtd via Twitter

‘The Pink’ closed down in 2007 due to the digital age in sports media, but United said that kit producers adidas “have brought its spirit to life again” by using pink inspired by the paper.

The team wore the jerseys in a match for the first time on September 2, against Burnley at Turf Moor, which United won 2-0.

It is available in South Africa via adidas.co.za at R899.