Manchester City and the New Nike Warm Up Shirt: Mosaic Madness

One of the things Nike will not be remembered for is their new celebration warm up kit issued to mark the end of their 6 year association with Manchester City.

If you have not yet seen the new shirt which has caused so much debate on social media then let me try and describe it to you. It is proudly made up of each of the kits manufactured by Nike during their 6 year association with City, as a kind of patchwork tribute. The official Manchester City statement which accompanied the release of the new Warm Up jersey from Nike refers to it paying a warm homage to all the kits they have designed for us during our partnership. The reaction from many of the fans though has been somewhat less kind.

It is fair to say that Nike have divided some of the fan base because of their template style kits which have rendered all teams very similar – bar differing hues. The strips launched by Nike which have proven most popular amongst the City fans are those which break from the standard template and pay some tribute to the past. This years black striped away kit which pays some subtle homage to our promotion winning team of 20 years ago is a good example.But the new warm up mash up shirt just seems like peak Nike.

It is difficult to get away from the idea that this is a shirt made up of just leftovers, As though the people at Nike were inspired by how to utilise the fabric they still had lying around the factory. There has even been a view on social media that the whole shirt is just a cunning trick to beat pirateers in the Far East.

But the biggest rumour doing the rounds on the city fan sites is it must be an elaborate hoax – an April Fools joke. For the fans have found it hard to believe that this is really the parting shot from Nike because it seems more like a two fingered salute than a real tribute!