Man United have officially revealed their third kit for the 2023/24 season and beyond the reaction to the shirt itself, fans have been lapping up the announcement video — namely because it stars Roy Keane, giant versions of players and a reference to the infamous ‘prawn sandwich brigade’.
Unveiled on Tuesday, 8 August following a teaser released the day prior featuring the club legend which quickly got everyone talking, United‘s third kit reveal video is probably one of the most interesting things they’ve done in a while, albeit a bit… different?
We would’ve liked a ‘do me a favour’ thrown in there, but you can’t have everything.
As you can see, although there are plenty of more straightforward and stereotypical shots of the players donning the shirt, there are also clips of Keane walking around the pitch as a storm brews above, using Jedi-like powers to grab a pen using the force and a giant Casemiro looming large over Old Trafford.
As you do.
While some of the moments are genuinely quite compelling — the whole concept revolving around the identity of being a Red Devil and the fact that people are born into supporting the club — it feels a bit jarring to go from a topless Marcus Rashford to an ultrasound of a scan of a baby United fan.
And then there’s the pièce de résistance, which aside from getting the notoriously grumpy and no-nonsense ex-midfielder to not only promote the ex-employers he’s been critical of for so many years but to do a bit of acting, is undoubtedly the reference to one of his most famous moments in a United shirt.
Roy Keane’s iconic ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ speech in full.
In the legendary interview, Keane took aim at the casual fans and glory hunters who began following the Reds during their most successful years, inadvertently dubbing them the ‘prawn sandwich brigade‘ — a phrase which has been used to describe out-of-towners travelling to the game for decades now.
Moreover, it’s also been used by the likes of Manchester City fans to poke fun at the Old Trafford faithful and the club’s larger fan base: the joke being ‘all United fans are from London’ and prefer the luxuries of hospitality boxes to actually watching the game from the stands etc.
While the term itself has kind of gone on to encompass casual fans, in general (somewhat similar to ‘armchair supporters’), Man United have struggled to shrug off the negative association ever since. With that in mind, the marketing team clearly thought they might as well lean into it – to great effect, we might add. It made us chuckle, anyway.
Nevertheless, it’s still far from the cut-and-paste kind of kit reveal with lots of flashing lights and too many obscure close-ups, and the shirt itself looks to be a bit of a classic judging by the reaction from the fans. They even got Keano to smile, somehow.
Darts returns to Manchester as Premier League dates are confirmed for 2026
Danny Jones
The schedule for the 2026 Premier League Darts tour has been officially announced, with the PDC’s annual championship returning to Manchester once again.
PDC Premier League fixtures continue to grow in popularity both in TV figures and live match attendance, with a whole new generation of fans getting into ‘the arrows’.
Just as it has for decades now, league darts is coming back to Manchester city centre and the legendary AO Arena once again, with our date landing right in the middle of the season.
Booking a big night right in the middle of a crucial period in the competition? It sounds like 0161 is set to welcome another blockbuster night up at the oche.
Confirmed on Thursday, 11 September, next year’s PDC Premier League Darts campaign will get underway in February, spanning the course of four months and eight countries.
Of the European cities on the circuit, the tournament will be heading to Belgium for the very first time, as the AFAS Dome in Antwerp replaces Exeter.
Elsewhere on the continent, there are two other mainland evenings in Germany and the Netherlands, along with multiple Northern dates here in the UK, such as Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield.
As for Manchester, we’ve been selected for round nine of 17 (including the finals), with the AO Arena set to welcome multiple favoured competitors from the North West, including 18-year-old phenomenon Luke Little from down the road in Warrington, as well as Stockport’s very own Nathan Aspinall.
It was an unforgettable experience for Aspinall last time around in his local event, as he finally managed to win a PDC Premier League night on home turf for the first time in his career.
Those hoping to enjoy a night of darts in front of a Manchester crowd on April 26, 2026, still have to be patient for now, as general admission is still a little way off.
However, if you are interested, you can sign up for the AO’s newsletter to find out more information and get yourself on the waiting list early.
Better, if you go straight through the PDC, you can throw your hat in the ring for the presale window right now and be first in line to grab tickets when they go live.
You can do so HERE and, until then, get your signs and fancy dress at the ready because we’ll be heading back to the ‘boring, boring tables’ soon enough.
See the 2026 PDC Premier League Darts schedule in full down below:
Manchester City said no to a pretty significant player swap with Liverpool last year
Danny Jones
Manchester City reportedly rejected a transfer proposal involving swapping one of their youngest and most exciting stars with close rivals Liverpool in 2024
This could have proved to be an interesting one…
Man City aren’t exactly short on forwards at the moment and have brought in plenty of attacking options over the past year, and with Erling Haaland breaking all manner of records up front for them, they didn’t find it too hard to sell on another promising young striker in Julián Álvarez for a club record sale.
However, as per recent claims made by a Telegraph Sport journalist, there was a possibility of Álvarez swapping the blue of City for the red of Liverpool.
🚨🚨| In summer 2024, when Liverpool realised Luis Díaz wanted to join Man City, their recruitment team proposed the Colombian to the Etihad Stadium in exchange for Julián Alvarez. Man City said: “We don’t sell to rivals." Liverpool said: “Neither do we then."
That’s according to football writer Chris Bascombe, anyway, who recently wrote that the two Premier League sides could have engaged in a player swap deal were the division’s then Treble-winners willing to negotiate with the only other team that has really contested the title with them in recent years.
As you can see, Bascombe states that Luis Díaz wanted a switch to the Etihad Stadium even before the current English champions shuffled their front three.
This has been backed up by The Times’ Paul Joyce as well, who says that the Colombian winger was ultimately “unsettled” by interest from City and others
Díaz (who recently signed for Bayern Munich) made it clear he wanted to play under Pep Guardiola, and it seems there was at least some willingness from the Merseyside outfit.
Provided they get an increasingly wantaway Julián Álvarez in return.
With Haaland having been brought in and making himself comfortably the go-to number nine for what could very well be the next decade, they clearly saw an opportunity to offer him an alternative, but Man City simply said, “We don’t sell to rivals.”
Ultimately, the now 25-year-old World Cup winner went to Europe, joining Atletico Madrid for a whopping £81.5m.
Regardless, it seems hard to imagine not only two top-flight English teams doing a deal like this but to picture what it would have been like to see Álvarez, who was still very highly thought of among a large section of supporters, being cheered on by the fans inside Anfield.
The Argentinian striker – though he has been utilised in a variety of positions at the top end of the pitch – has well and truly shone in La Liga, and now looks like he could be set to swap Madrid for Barcelona.
Álvarez has apparently made it clear to those closest to him that he wants Barca, and despite the summer window closing, the Catalan giants could pursue a deal to sign him next year when his contract expires, or indeed, even go after him this January.
Meanwhile, after bringing in plenty of new talent over the past few months, with Manchester City now effectively being given the green light to proceed with a major commercial sponsorship deal, you could very well see yet more big money being spent in seasons to come.
Danny Jones -
8th August 2023 
