S Poddar
Legendary Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was over the moon designing Manchester City’s brand-new fourth kit. The jersey is a nod to Oasis’ seminal 1994 album Definitely Maybe.
Gallagher, 57, said, “I think it’s unique, but it’s definitely striking and I think it looks great.” The goalkeeper seemed pretty excited with the kit, which is fair to say, as he said, “If you walked up to your 16-year-old self and said, ‘in 40 years you’ll be designing kits for the team,’ you’d be like ‘what?’ he mused.
The collaboration came about when Puma, Manchester City’s kit manufacturer, approached Gallagher during a game. The fact that he agreed to the project so swiftly highlights his support for the team. “I took about five seconds to agree,” Gallagher says, underlining how much importance he attaches to players looking sharp while representing their club.
It came out with a special touch: Manchester City revealed the new kit by re-creating the cover of Oasis’ Definitely Maybe album. Manager Pep Guardiola was joined for promotional images by the men’s and women’s teams in homage to the iconic cover, which originally featured Manchester United legend George Best and City’s Rodney Marsh. City included their own legends, Colin Bell and Sergio Aguero, in their homage.
Puma has confirmed the ‘Definitely City’ kit will be first worn for some European fixtures, starting with Manchester City’s Champions League match against Inter Milan on September 18. The brand counts Gallagher as a kit co-designer, although details of what that entails remain under wraps.
In the wake of Definitely Maybe‘s 30-year anniversary, which fell this August, Gallagher spoke about how much that album means in his life. “Definitely Maybe has never lost its magic to me,” he said. “I just think it’s an amazing snapshot of what we were about. They were great times. Really, really great. I mean, it’s spawned a great football kit. So its legacy lives on.”
