Many football kits are rendered iconic by way of their Umbro, adidas or, more recently, Nike stylings. The Middlesbrough FC design worn in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons is not one such example.
The “Skill” design - that’s what the “i” stood for, obviously (!) - featured chest striping probably influenced by a similar approach by The Brand With The 3 Stripes, but it remained distinctive in its time, sitting atop the Heritage Hampers sponsorship logo.
A tweak rather than a departure from the previous season’s kit, the neat contrast white v-neck with red trim remained - though the cuffs were gone - and the whole effect tied in with the first-choice white shorts and red socks.
As this True Colours illustration shows, a variation also occurred - aside from the occasional use of 87-88’s red Third shorts - in the 1990 Zenith Data Systems Cup final, when the stripy yoke was converted to plain white - perhaps to better show off the match detailing - and the neck became a wrapover.
This rendering is the work of True Colours author John Devlin - truecoloursfootballkits.com. Keep up to date with True Colours by following @TrueColoursKits on Twitter.
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