Between 1980 and 1989, Manchester United experienced a period of big changes which was crucial in the development of today’s world-class team. A total of three managers sat in the hot seat at Old Trafford. These were Dave Sexton (sacked 1981), Ron Atkinson (1981-1986) and the great Sir Alex Ferguson, the biggest factor which led to nowadays’ World Champions. During this 10-year period, Manchester United did not win the league once, but won the FA Cup of 1983 and 1985, and the Community Shield of 1983. The following are the red home shirts used in the 1980s:

1980-1982

This kit was manufactured by Adidas and is a rather rare shirt of the Red Devils. It has a long white collar and red details on the sleeves. During this period, Man Utd ranked 3rd in the 1981/82 season.

1982-1984

In the following two seasons, Man Utd added shirt sponsors Sharp to their shirts and made slight alterations to the design of the shirt of the previous two season. This was the first time that the Red Devils added a shirt sponsor logo to their shirts. The collar became a white V-neck. The shirt has a black trim on both the collar and the sleeves. Man Utd ranked 3rd in the 1982/83 English First Division season.

1984-1986

Between 1984 and 1986, the sponsor logo changed to just ‘Sharp’ (removing Electronics). The sleeves and the collar became red-white-black striped. The Man Utd logo was placed in the centre, while the Adidas logo did not appear on the body part, but only on both sleeves. There were white details around the shoulders and the sleeves were separated from the body using black piping. United were not in the top three during this period, which led to the sacking of Ron Atkinson, to be replaced by Sir Alex Ferguson.

1986-1988

This was the first shirt of the Ferguson era: an era which is still ongoing today. Basically, this home shirt is the 1982-84 kit without the ‘Electronics’ text in the sponsor logo. The inside of the collar is red, and the three stripes of Adidas on the shoulders are flanked by a black border. The emblems of the club and manufacturer are placed in the conventional way: left and right respectively. Man Utd were runners-up behind Liverpool in the 1987/88 season.

1988-1990

For the last two seasons of the eighties, the design of the thrre stripes was retained with some changes to the end of the sleeve, where the white stripe was omitted. The V-neck collar was also changed, but other than that, it is the same shirt of 1986/88. United went without the League trophy for these two seasons, but reaped huge benefits by holding on to Sir Alex Ferguson.