Friday 29 April 2016

United all right in white to evoke memories of 1990

United will wear their white away kit in next month's FA Cup final against Crystal Palace after being named the 'away' team in the 21 May showpiece.

The Reds lost a coin toss which means we will don our changed strip of white shirts, black shorts and white socks while the Eagles will play in their traditional red and blue stripes at Wembley.

United have worn the white away kit twice during their run to the final- the 3-0 victory at Shrewsbury in round five and at Upton Park in the quarter-final replay two weeks ago. 

The colours will evoke memories of the 1990 match between the two sides at Wembley, which ended in a 3-3 draw, a match in which current Palace boss Alan Pardew starred.
Substitute Ian Wright twice put the Selhurst side ahead but a 114th-minute goal from now Stoke boss Mark Hughes forced a second encounter. 


United reverted to their traditional red shirts for the replay- settled by Lee Martin's goal- which gave the Old Trafford side a first trophy of the glorious Sir Alex era.

The Reds have played in white in eight previous finals but have won just twice.

The club's first ever outing in the kit came in 1909 when the Reds beat Bristol City in the FA Cup, and then had to wait until the 1957 final to wear white again, on that occasion we were narrowly beaten by Aston Villa.

Arch rivals Liverpool beat the whitened Reds in the 1983 League Cup before that most famous outing in 1990's aforementioned final against the Eagles.

Barcelona have also figured prominently in finals where United have worn white- with decidely mixed results.

The season after the win over Palace, United famously triumphed over the Catalan giants in Rotterdam in the Cup Winners Cup, with a brace from Sparky Hughes.

Not so happily, Barca were to take the upper hand over the white-clad 'Reds' twice in three years, as they ran out 2-0 and then 3-1 in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals respectively. 

There has been criticism however, when fans were sent white T-shirt by United and asked to create a "Wall of White" at Anfield for the Europa League match at Liverpool, who went on to knock us out (sorry for mentioning it) in our first ever European meeting with the Merseysiders.


Mark Clattenburg will referee United's first final for nine years which kicks off at 1730.










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