Manchester City will be out to shut their red neighbors up if only for a moment (well, another one) when they play the brutish bruisers of Stoke in the FA Cup final on Saturday. And when Man City take the pitch at Wembley, they’ll be doing it with a special crest on their jackets — the city of Manchester’s coat of arms.
From Umbro press release:
The shirts and the ‘Mercer jackets’ which the players will wear onto the pitch feature a number of intricate links to the historical detail of the kits City players have worn at Wembley. Discreetly featured within the numbers on the players’ backs is the historic Manchester coat of arms, which City players initially used to wear when they had no crest of their own. Technically a privilege bestowed upon the club by Manchester ’s city council, it has generally been a tradition over the past 60 years that City carry the coat of arms in some way when they play at Wembley. [...]
The Manchester coat of arms is also embroidered onto the breast of the jackets City will walk out in, inspired by the overcoat of choice for the late Joe Mercer, and of which only 16 have been made. Mercer took a City side wearing the Manchester coat of arms to its last FA Cup final victory in 1969. The goalkeeping heroics of a young Frank Swift, replete in Jersey, Slip and Anklets, inspired the 2-1 win over Portsmouth 35 years earlier.
And here’s Umbro senior designer David Blanch talking about an old love letter:
The telegram itself:
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[...] up party time in Manchester lately. First, the citizens claimed their first trophy in 35 years after donning the Manchester coat of arms. Some type of congratulations are in order as Man City took home the FA Cup and a birth in next [...]