Sometimes you have to go back to go forwards.
Puma have always looked to take inspiration from Manchester City and the local area as part of their 10-year partnership with the club, while at the same time looking to push the envelope for daring designs.
It resulted in some spectacular efforts that went down very well, such as the Hacienda-striped away kit in the 2019/20 kit or the special anniversary shirt worn in the Community Shield that year. There have also been some duds, with the home shirt particularly difficult to nail; from adding purple in to the mosaic effect on the shirt to the all-blue effort for this season failing to really excite.
More concerning for City fans who take an interest in this kind of thing was the third kit for this season. It wasn't so much that the club badge wasn't visible on the shirt - although that hardly added to the appeal, especially when a player went to kiss the badge after scoring and couldn't find it - but the fact that Puma had used the same design for clubs across Europe; the same template was used for AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach, Marseille, Valencia, PSV Eindhoven, Shakhtar Donetsk and Fenerbahce.
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This was a return to the generic, lazy templates used by Nike during their partnership with City that left supporters longing for a change. As the club established itself as one of the best in Europe, it demanded better than a copy-and-paste approach.
The new home kit, to be worn for the 2022/23 season, could not be further away from that and represents a welcome turn away from the 93:20 era after the tenth anniversary of Sergio Aguero's goal. This shirt, with maroon trim and stitch-effect lettering on the back for all competitions aside from the Premier League, harks back to the glory days when Colin Bell led the team to the First Division title in 1968 under Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison and domestic and European cup success shortly after.
Puma had always been planning to honour Bell, City's greatest ever player, but that has taken on extra poignancy following his death in January 2021 and the company and the club have worked with the legend's family to ensure they made their tribute - including a crown inside the neck of the shirt - suitably subtle but stylish. Bell's widow, Marie, was a guest of honour as the shirt was first unveiled to City fans ahead of its launch this week.
The new kit has been received very well by those who remember the golden era, and club insiders believe it will also encourage fans too young to remember those days to steep themselves in the history. As an extra touch, supporters will be able to buy the home shirt with the names of Bell, [Franny] Lee, and [Mike] Summerbee on the back.
Questions about the necessity of bringing out kits every year and pricing remain, especially as the cost of living in the UK hits worrying new highs. Seventy pounds is a considerable outlay for an adult to spend on something that will be out of date in a year and may not be as liked as much as the away kit, or the third kit, or any special kits that are released through the year.
Going off the early reactions though, the decision to celebrate a different era could make this latest kit the most popular yet in the short history of shirts that City and Puma have created.
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