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In the modern game, football kits are no longer about differentiating between a teammate and an opponent. Each kit has its own identity and clubs now use it as a tool to increase their revenue via shirt sales.
While teams initially had just home and away kits to wear on match days, FIFA's new regulations which do not allow any sort of clash demanded that some teams which had more than one colour on their traditional kit to design a third kit.
For example: if Borussia Dortmund and Watford played each other, both their home and away kits would clash since they are both shades of black and yellow (albeit with different designs). This is where a third kit is necessary to avoid any potential confusion on the pitch.
Premier League giants Manchester United recently launched their own third kit which is manufactured by German sportswear giant Adidas. In seasons past, United have had three kits; the home kit that is always red and away/third kits that are blue, black or white. The colours of the away and third kit have been interchanged in the past few seasons.
But the 2017/18 season will see the return of the grey kit - a shirt they have not worn since 1996 when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of the club.
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Why Sir Alex banned United's grey kit
Back in the 1995/96 season, United had a horrible start to the campaign when they lost 3-1 at Aston Villa. Having lost out on the title the previous season to Blackburn Rovers by a single point, Ferguson was hell-bent on winning back the league title.
While the Red Devils steadied the ship with eight wins in the next 10 games, they lost again at Highbury when Arsenal won 1-0. Soon a pattern emerged where Ferguson's side never claimed all three points when they wore the grey kit.
A 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest and a 2-0 loss to Liverpool followed but United remained in second place on the table as the title race between the Red Devils and Newcastle United heated up.
The final straw was a 3-1 loss to Southampton in April with the Tyneside club breathing down their necks. United were 3-0 down at half-time thanks to goals from Ken Monkou, Neil Shipperley and Matt Le Tissier when Ferguson lost his cool in the dressing room.
But instead of giving his players the hair-dryer treatment, the first thing Ferguson said was, "Get that kit off, you're getting changed."
United winger Lee Sharpe recollects in The Guardian how they never used that kit ever again: "I don't think he liked the shirt anyway - our results had been poor whenever we wore it, and we certainly never played in it again."
Sharpe explained why wearing the grey kits saw United suffer on the pitch. According to him, finding players became tricky when they were under pressure. Although it wasn't an issue when they had time on the ball to pick a pass, it was difficult to spot a teammate when they only had time to glance.
"We wore blue and white in the second half, and played a bit better. We didn't let any more in and Ryan Giggs scored towards the end."
United's record with the grey kit read: P5 W0 D1 L4. The kit was officially withdrawn two days after the Southampton game and never seen again.
"I feel sorry for anyone who'd bought the replica, because it was out of date pretty quickly," Sharpe said.
That was the last time United dropped points that season. They won their remaining games without conceding a goal and won the title with a game to spare, eventually winning the title with a four-point lead over Kevin Keegan's Newcastle side.
"The players don't like the grey strip," Ferguson explained. "The players couldn't pick each other out. They said it was difficult to see their team-mates at distance when they lifted their heads."
When he was asked whether the shirt-swap had anything to do with superstition, he said it did not.
"This club went 26 years without winning the league and we didn't think about changing the red shirts. It's nothing to do with that at all."
The Football Association fined United £10,000 for swapping their kits at half-time. But Ferguson was least perturbed about the fine.
"It was the best £10,000 I ever spent," Ferguson retorted.
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The design behind United's new grey kit
Unlike most kits designed by the manufacturers these days, United's new kit was designed by a fan. The club took submissions from many designers which were first voted for by the fans and then judged by a selection of club legends.
In the end, it was an Italian computer science student named Aniello Carotenuto whose design was selected. The 21-year-old even got to meet Paul Pogba who congratulated him and praised his skills in designing the shirt.
The kit has the silhouette of the Holy Trinity - the statue of Sir Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best outside Old Trafford - emblazoned on the front of the shirt.
