Manchester City 93:20 – A kit that relives the ‘Agueroooo’ moment took three years to be ready
Manchester City’s home-kit designer Ulrich Planer talks about what went behind designing the iconic 93:20 kit.
Published : Jul 16, 2021 22:23 IST
Manchester City has embellished its first road to Premier League glory with the freshly-launched 2021-22 home kit by Puma.
The side has been called ‘noisy neighbours’, ‘oily’ Manchester and ‘Empty-had’ – sobriquets valued by Manchester United which once sat on the throne. That is all history now.
Manchester City has won four Premier League titles in the last five years and finished as runner-up in the last year’s Champions League. The ‘noise’ that its fans made, now breathes of silverware, and Etihad echoes - “Hey Jude!”
All of it began a decade ago, with an assist in stoppage time that followed up to a goal. The goal – one that immortalised “Agueroooooooooo!” – a moment that saw City bring the title home after 44 years.
The ‘Perfect’ tribute
The new kit relives that very moment with a striking all-over repeated graphic of a digital clock, which reads - 93:20, the moment when Manchester turned blue under the nose of Sir Alex Ferguson.
“The fans have emotions associated with the club”, said Ulrich Planer, the designer of the kit, “and that is why we designed it for the 10th anniversary of the club’s historic win.”
Manchester City legend Micah Richards has also praised the jersey, calling it the “perfect tribute to one of the greatest moments in City’s history”.
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“The league was hanging in the balance and then to secure it in the final minute, in that fashion, I don’t think will ever be replicated,” he told the club.
“Witnessing that moment is something I will never forget. When the goal went in, we knew we had just seen greatness, something special.”
A jersey three years in the making
Ulrich has spent over 15 years in designing and has been the man behind legendary kits, such as the one worn by Borussia Dortmund the last time it played the Champions League finals.
The entire concept of the kit took about three years to finalise. “Initially developed in the form of prototypes, the kits were tried on second division teams and youth teams,” he said.
For the 2021-22 season, Manchester City adopted the technology and concept for its kits.
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The jersey integrates an ultra-light jacquard structure into the back of the jersey to enhance breathability during intense performance.
'Sustainable facilities is part of our future'
This year’s collection is made from at least 84 percent post-consumer plastic collected in Taiwan. “Sustainable facilities are part of our future,” Ulrich said.
He also underlined the problems of developing a kit amid a COVID-19 hiatus. He said that while online presentations of the kits were smooth, there were struggles to understand the feel of a material. However, they managed to pull through.
He further added that more exciting kits might be on the way later this year or next year.