Manchester United Corrects Kit Oversight with Premier League Badges

Manchester United will run out at Old Trafford on Sunday with a slightly different look – and this time, it will be fully in line with Premier League rules.

When Ipswich visit for United’s home opener, the Red Devils’ shirts will carry official Premier League badges on both sleeves, correcting an administrative slip that went unnoticed until after the opening weekend.

At Hull City, during United’s 2-0 defeat, the club failed to display the Prem logo on their left sleeve, despite not having a sleeve sponsor in place. Under Premier League guidelines, that’s a clear miss.

League regulations state that every club must carry the Premier League badge and “No Room For Racism” element on the right arm. If a team doesn’t have a commercial sponsor on the left sleeve, the same official badge must also appear on that side. No sponsor, two badges. Simple.

United fall squarely into that category. Their £20m-a-year sleeve deal with DXC Technology expired in May, ending eight straight years with a branded left arm and leaving the club searching for a new partner. Talks over a fresh sleeve sponsor are ongoing, but no agreement has been signed in time for the start of the season.

That’s where the error crept in at Hull. United played in their new third kit on Saturday but only carried the league branding on the right arm. Both the club and the Premier League are aware of the oversight, and SunSport understands United will escape any formal sanction, with the issue viewed as a one-off mistake rather than a deliberate breach.

The fix is already in motion. For the visit of newly-promoted Ipswich, United will apply the Premier League crest to both sleeves, bringing them in line with Rule M.15 – the regulation that explicitly requires the league badge to be used on the left arm when there is no commercial sponsor.

United are not alone in doubling up on the lion. Chelsea, Sunderland and Crystal Palace all wore the league’s iconic crest on both sleeves over the opening weekend, their own lack of sleeve sponsors triggering the same regulation.

Off the pitch, United’s commercial machine has hardly stalled. Earlier this month, the club announced a record multi-year training kit sponsorship with Betway, worth around £20m per season. On the front of the match shirt, Snapdragon have taken over as main sponsor from the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

For now, though, the most noticeable change will be far smaller: two matching Premier League badges, one on each arm, as United tidy up the details while the search for a new sleeve partner continues.