THE VITALS:

Team: Manchester United

Brand: Nike

Era: 2012-13 (Used for the 2012-13 Barclays Premier League season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

Although the AON sponsor has come away, this shirt still stands in excellent condition with the material, crest and Nike swoosh standing in immaculate nick!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 28.5 inches 

Made by Nike in their ‘Dri-Fit’ template which they introduced in 2013; this shirt provides fine dimensions for a size medium fitting football shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

Nike’s 8^th presentation of Manchester United’s home shirt would see a totally new take adopted for ‘The Red Devils’ as a tartan print was utilised in what would end up becoming a fitting and poetic tribute to the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, who called time on his legendary career at the end of the season! The other standout detail of the shirt would be the use of a thick, black v-neck collar; another first time feature on a Manchester United shirt made be Nike; altogether, the simple utilisation of two darker shades of red with the black accompaniment made one of the more interesting and certainly unique Manchester United home shirts made by Nike. Not only would this shirt be synonymous with Sir Alex’s final season in charge, but for United fans, this shirt will be recalled for the wins over; Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal in the league, not to mention, the legendary 5-5 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the final game to be managed by Sir Alex Ferguson! If that wasn’t enough, this would be the shirt worn as United became champions of England for a 20^th time!

THE SEASON:

The ring of: “AGGUUEERROOOO!!!” is the sound of jubilation for one half of Manchester, but one of despair for the red side of the city as Manchester United saw ‘the noisy neighbours’ win the 2011-12 Premier League title on goal difference to end one of the most epic of league season’s in English football history!

Sir Alex Ferguson vowed that he would never again lose a title by virtue of scoring fewer goals than another team and he would deliver the 2011-12 season top-goal-scorer and wantaway Arsenal striker: Robin Van Persie from Arsenal; pipping City to his signature in a sensational coup! The exciting Shinji Kagawa was also signed from Borussia Dortmund; bringing United’s attack on-par with any in the country!

‘RVP’ would watch on from the bench as he saw Everton stun his new side 1-0 on the opening Monday Night Football of the season, however, the new signings would quickly return on their investment; with both, Kagawa and Van Persie scoring in the 3-2 win over Fulham, and then the Dutchman netting a hat-trick in the epic 3-2 win over Southampton! They would make it 4 wins in a row before being stunned 3-2 at home by Tottenham Hotspur on 29/09/12!

United would not be put off by the defeat as they continued their policy of outscoring their opponents, and the back to back wins over Chelsea and Arsenal saw United finally seize 1^st place! Although a shock defeat away to Norwich City quickly unseated them, they would quickly recover with a 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers allowed them to move back to the summit of the table; a position they would occupy until the season’s end!

That win over QPR would be the first of an 18 match unbeaten tilt in the league, where 16 wins were collected including the crucial victory in the Manchester Derby on 09/12/12 and the return fixture against Liverpool on 13/01/13. Although City would end the streak on 08/04/13 to keep the title race mathematically alive; United would capture title number 20 in fine style on 22/04/13, when Robin Van Persie’s first half hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa sealed the deal with 4 games to spare!

Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500^th and final game in charge of Manchester United would take place at The Hawthorns as United and West Brom battled to a legendary 5-5 draw on 19/05/13! In Europe, Manchester United were excellent in breaching the Group Stage, however, and ill-fated tie with Real Madrid would see former Old Trafford favourite – Cristiano Ronaldo, punish his former club as United bowed 3-2 on aggregate in the Last 16.

The notable players that season were:

Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Robin Van Persie, Danny Welbeck, Nani, Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Shinji Kagawa, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Rafael, Phil Jones, Alexander Büttner, David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard