Five best and five worst Manchester City kits

We look back at 30 years of team strips from current Premier League clubs, with Manchester City next up on the catwalk

MANCHESTER CITY BEST: 5) 2009/10 home: A clean, simple and smart home design from Umbro. Classic sky blue with white round-neck collar for a season when the Abu Dhabi revolution at City stepped up a gear with the replacement of Mark Hughes with Roberto Mancini and saw Carlos Tevez in prolific goalscoring form. Getty

4) 2014/15 away: The second season of Nike taking over design duties and they came up trumps for the reigning Premier League champions here. A definite modern feel as the dark blue top fades down in shades to a lighter tone, with sponsors Etihad Airways and the Nike swoosh in stand-out gold. Getty

3) 2011/12 home: you can almost hear the TV commentator scream “Agueroooooo!” when this legend pops up. The kit striker Sergio Aguero was wearing when he scored the last-gasp winner that earned City their first title for 44 years - and denied rivals United their 20th. The blue and white striped socks seal the deal. Getty

2) 2011/12 away: A memorable year for City that was clearly inspired by Umbro’s home and away kits. Red and black stripe has been a regular go-to but this straightforward AC Milan-vibe is comfortably the best. Famously worn by Edin Dzeko when he smashed four past Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Getty

1) 1989-91 home: An absolute stunner from the early 90s - and a fitting start to the Premier League years. Niall Quinn, Keith Curle and Co might lack the glamour of City’s superstar names of later years, but they certainly looked the part in this. From the distinctive triangular pattern to the ‘brother’ sponsor’s logo - it is a thing of beauty. Let’s just ignore the away effort from the same period (see worst kits) for now. Shutterstock

WORST: 5) 1997-99 home: there’s something deeply unnerving when City’s home kit moves away from their famous sky blue. City would persist with a darker shade of blue for a few seasons before eventually seeing sense. The first of two quickfire blunders from Kappa. Getty

2) 1990-92 away: Umbro sadly undoing some of their good work with these next two tops. Spectacularly awful colour and a pattern that looks good on the home sky blue version, but strangely makes the away look worse. That City managed to secure successive fifth-place finishes sporting this maroon monstrosity, is testament to everyone concerned. Shutterstock

3) 1996/97 away: A disastrous maroon and white concoction which was so awful that five managers, including caretakers, came and went in disgust within a single season. An upsetting end to Umbro’s City reign. Shutterstock

2) 1998-99 away: They might have dragged themselves out of the third-tier via the play-offs this season, but it was no thanks to the away kit. A painful-on-the-eye luminous yellow and dark blue striped nightmare from Kappa. Getty

1) 1999-2001 away kit: A high-quality atrocity from Le Coq Sportif, who would also persist with the sacrilegious darker blue home kit for three seasons. A shiny silver look that feels part aluminium foil, part glam rock and part birthday present wrapping paper. Just for good measure, the two stripes down the front are apparently a nod to the 1999 play-off final shocker that finished No 2 in our list. Getty

Premier League clubs are back in training after the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

Before the season kicks back into gear on June 17, we will continue our look back on 30 years of football kits from the current 20 top-flight English clubs.

There have been some stunning works of wonder over the years ... as well as truly heinous crimes committed in the name of sporting fashion.

Next in our series is Manchester City, who are set to take on Arsenal on the restart's opening day, so take a trip down memory lane and click on the arrows or simply swipe to look at the next image.