Ranking Manchester United's Best Home Kits of the Premier League Era

Manchester United launched their new home kit on Monday, and it is a pretty decent affair.

With a small, rounded collar and two buttons at the neck, it looks quite different to recent years, and it has clearly been designed with the consumer market in mind. If it were not for that terrible Chevrolet logo, it would be a very wearable top for a night out.

Of course, that same logo helps to pay Paul Pogba's wages, so it has its uses, but it does make designing a classy-looking kit a challenge.

New kits inevitably get compared to those that went before. In May, when United revealed their lovely black away kit for 2017-18, we ranked their best change kits from recent history. It only seems fair to do the same with the home number.

Let's take a trip down sartorial memory lane.

7. 1996-1998

MEHMED BIBER/Associated Press/Associated Press

Jordi Cruyff rocking some very serious sleeves in 1996.

The 1990s were a wonderful time for Manchester United. They emerged as the team of the decade, hoovering up trophies and—for the most part—looking fabulous doing it.

The 1996-1998 design—United used the same kits for two years at a time until 2009—was not the best of them, but it did have a certain charm.

Graphics and gradients were big in the 1990s, and both were represented here. The patterned sleeves might have been enough for Umbro's designers, but no, they wanted to make sure you knew what decade you were in. The collar actually featured two gradients, one on the collar itself and one travelling up the neck where the buttons sit.

It does not stand the test of time, but it is impossible to view this kit without thinking about Karel Poborsky's lustrous locks flowing over those overly patterned shoulders.

There is too much going on for this kit to be an all-time classic, but its capacity to evoke powerful nostalgia earns it a place on our list.

6. 2012-2013

Associated Press

2012/13 kit. Best. Tablecloth. Ever.

A divisive affair from its launch onwards, United's 2012-13 kit stands apart from any other they have worn. There's just no getting away from it. It looks like a tablecloth.

Yet, in retrospect, there is something magic about it. Robin van Persie looked like a giant in his No. 20 shirt, and the odd, out-of-place gingham added a visual dimension to the sense that this was an extraordinary season. The black v-neck collar looks genuinely classy.

Seeing it now is enough to bring a tear to the eye of the hardiest United fan. After all, that was Sir Alex Ferguson's last season, the campaign in which the club lifted its 20th top-flight title.

It was a season filled with remarkable comebacks and wonder goals, a term in which anything seemed possible again.

It is impossible to completely separate the kits from the football that was played in them, and for that reason, the best tablecloth in football history earns its spot in the rankings.

5. 2002-2004

Gary M. Prior/Getty Images

It's the black detailing that makes it...United 2002-2004

The first of United's early-century Nike home shirts—and probably the best.

If 2012-13 is the Van Persie shirt, this is the Ruud van Nistelrooy jersey. The black chevrons on the shoulders add an understated futuristic touch, fitting for the new millennium. The black detailing under the sleeves made it look like everyone was wearing wingsuits.

The following season they moved the badge to the centre of the chest, as had been the case for the 1996-98 kit, but here it was in its rightful place over the heart.

This was a fundamentally simple design with just enough panache to set it apart, and it benefits from having the recognisable Vodafone font and logo rather than the appalling AIG lettering in a box that rules out any of the late-2000s kits from consideration.

4. 2015-2016

Jon Super/Associated Press

Ander Herrera in his natural habitat; fouling Eden Hazard in 2015.

Talking of awful logos ruling kits out of contention, this one should fall foul of the same rule, but it does so much right that it gets a pass. This was Adidas' first United strip in a couple of decades, and they went for an ultra-classic look.

It is, specifically, the long-sleeved version which is getting ranked fourth here. The short-sleeved equivalent had white cuffs that were inexplicably wide and slightly lessened the impact.

But the scooped white collar and classic three-stripe styling made this a throwback to the mid-1980s, United's best era for shirts.

Even an ugly gold cross smack in the middle of it could not entirely ruin the magic. It would be No. 1 if only Chevrolet had let United use a colourless version of their logo.

3. 1994-1996

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

12 Dec 1995: Eric Cantona of Manchester United is surrounded by the fans after an FA Carling Premiership match against Chelsea at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. \ Mandatory Credit: Ross Kinnaird/Allsport

In a pre-HD television world, fans who could not get to Old Trafford might have been forgiven for being surprised when they saw United's 1994-96 kit up close. On screen, it was far from obvious that there was a faint white imprint of an aerial view of the stadium on the chest.

It was a lovely affair. The black collar appeared to be custom designed for Eric Cantona, and it suited him perfectly. The shorts were excellent too, featuring black and red detailing around the bottom of the leg that mirrored the black and white of the collar.

The classic red, white and black combination meant this kit could not be more United if it tried.

It is a superb design and misses out on a higher placing because of a slight "busyness" to the graphics and an unnecessarily ornate thin white shield around the badge, a detail which had never been used before and has not been since. But it is well worth its lofty spot nonetheless.

2. 1997-2000, Europe.

ERIC CABANIS/Getty Images

A beautiful kit for a beautiful moment.

While it took a long time for United to move to the every-season kit change that has become the norm, they were not averse to finding alternative commercial strategies to ensure their kits generated plenty of revenue. In the late 1990s, that meant a home kit only used for European fixtures.

If United were going to exploit the marketability of their brand, they did at least have the good grace to make this kit a beauty.

A white, super Manchester-appropriate collar with black piping; long sleeves with a black band around the wrists; and a badge in a shield that looked like a shiny Panini sticker. The regular 1999 home kit had Umbro logos across the sleeves which made it look a little less classic, but this was much simpler—barring a tasteful graphic of the Champions League logo imprinted on the front.

The fact United lifted the Champions League in it in 1999 helps, but this would be a classic kit even without that unforgettable triumph.

1. 1992-1994

Tom Jenkins/Getty Images

No need for the fashion police, this is the perfect football kit.

United's best home kit of the Premier League era was their first.

Designed to mark the century since Newton Heath FC first entered the Football League in 1892, this kit brought back the laced-up collar and it was a masterpiece.

The badge was traditional and perfect, the collar looked timeless and the graphics were modern without being overstated.

The material was shiny and close examination saw "MUFC" imprinted into the design. The on-pitch effect of that was that the team appeared to be shimmering, an appropriately ethereal touch for the side who ended United's long league title drought.

It is one of football's greatest kits and a worthy winner here. Indeed, this is arguably the best home kit of the Premier League era—it is certainly United's.