Leaked: Manchester City’s 2024/25 away shirt inspired by play-off final history | OneFootball

Manchester City’s upcoming 2024/25 away shirt has been leaked this week, with the new strip referencing the historic 1998/99 play-off final against Gillingham.

The latest leak comes after various sources on social media confirmed the upcoming edition and imminent release of Manchester City’s brand new 2024/25 home shirt, which pays homage to the wider Greater Manchester region.

Using a combination of the club’s traditional sky blue, dark navy accents, and white features, Puma designers have opted to integrate ‘0161’ into both the collar and cuffs – in a reference to the Greater Manchester dialling code.

Whilst the public reaction to such a move has been largely mixed, but predominantly negative, the club’s away shirt for the forthcoming season is expected to be one of the most popular releases in recent memory, and certainly during the Puma sponsorship.

As revealed through new images provided by reputable kit source esvaphane on social media platform X, Manchester City’s 2024/25 away shirt has taken inspiration from the club’s historic 1999 play-off final victory against Gillingham.

The historic fixture at the old Wembley Stadium between Manchester City and Gillingham was scoreless until the 81st minute, when Carl Asaba gave City’s opponents the lead, before Robert Taylor would add a second goal five minutes later.

That sparked one of the most remarkable comebacks in English footballing history, and certainly Manchester City’s history alongside several trophy-winning turnarounds during the more modern era.

Kevin Horlock scored for City in the 90th minute to halve the deficit and, in the fifth minute of injury time, Paul Dickov scored an equaliser to make the score 2–2 and send the game into extra time.

With no further goals being scored by either Manchester City or Gillingham, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which City won 3–1 to gain promotion, before the following campaign would see City secure automatic promotion to the FA Premier League.

As per the information of reputable kit source Footy Headlines, Manchester City’s new 2024/25 away shirt is expected to be released between late July and early August 2024, ahead of the new campaign.