Imagine you having to design your favorite NPFL club’s 2017/18 season jersey.
Better yet, imagine the Nigeria Football Federation picked your concept for the next line of national team jerseys.
Well, that was the situation at Old Trafford, after Manchester United unveiled their new alternative kit, which was actually designed by a fan of the club.
In a very complicated selection process, 21-year-old Aniello Carotenuto’s design for United’s third kit of the 2017/18 season was voted.
Designed by fan @nellocarotenuto in the @adidasfootball Creator Studio. Our new 3rd kit: https://t.co/hBZ2dfdVDp #MUFC #HereToCreate pic.twitter.com/tc08avTeVQ
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2017
The new kit was created and produced as part of adidas Football Creator Studio, a digital platform giving fans the chance to design their club’s third kit with the United competition won by the Italian.
Silver ware.
Our new 2017/18 3rd kit by @adidasfootball.
Get yours: https://t.co/EoWKHOxBzz #MUFC #HereToCreate pic.twitter.com/zsFB4stPhD— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2017
The Creator Studio platform allowed fans the opportunity to design the third kits for United and five other clubs – Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Flamengo.
All submitted kits were voted on by fans in a ‘battlemode’ that saw the most popular kits shortlisted to a top 100. The winners for each club were then chosen by an expert panel of some of the clubs’ most iconic players and a design by Carotenuto came out on top at United.
According to the marketing material, the kit, which will be worn during the 2017-18 season, represents the powerful bond between the team and the fans.
The light grey shirt is designed with a graphic showing the silhouette of the famous ‘Holy Trinity’ statue outside Old Trafford.
The statue of club icons Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law represents a golden era for the club and this unique history was the inspiration for the new third kit.
Meanwhile, United have a terrible history linked with the grey kit.
The strip bears a remarkable similarity to the infamous grey kit from the 1995-1996 season, that was voted as the club’s worst ever kit in a fans’ poll in the Manchester Evening News.
The strip has gone down in Premier League folklore after Sir Alex Ferguson famously ordered his players to change out of the grey number after they came in 3-0 down away to Southampton in April 1996.
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