2020 Minneapolis City Cup Shirt

FSC Approved - 2020 Minneapolis City cup shirt

Man United’s third shirt will go down as one of the kits of the season.

We created a new long sleeve jersey just for @opencup

Hopefully we will still get to use it...but since who knows what is happening in this crazy world we wanted to share this @wolffmatt designed beauty while we think about being #undefeated in another tournament.#MplsCity pic.twitter.com/O2nOAoU8iU

— Minneapolis City SC (@mplscitysc) March 19, 2020

The controversial design drew the ire of many shirt critic (myself included) on its release, but over time the distinctive ‘zebra kit’ won people over. Standout results whilst wearing the third kit have only solidified the kit’s legacy, and though we’ll never get to enjoy the full dazzle camo look with matching shorts in a competitive game, it’s safe to say the shirt will go down as a modern classic.

The thing is though, there was another team who created a kit with ‘dazzle camo’ before United. The shirt in question is remarkably similar, though you could justifiably argue that the look is better than Man U’s on account of a vibrant pink colour used for the various details, not to mention a sponsor that looks 10x better than Chevrolet.

This is the original dazzle camo, and it belongs to Minneapolis City SC.

NPSL side Mpls City SC have a wonderful kit history. A quick glance at the club shop tells you all you need to know; this is a team who get kit culture, and one of a growing number of U.S. sides who use kits as a vehicle for creative wizardry and expression.

The ‘dazzle jersey’, manufactured by Stimulus and designated for use in the 2020 U.S. Open Cup (the tournament was sadly cancelled because of COVID-19), is a full commitment to the monochrome camouflage look with an all-over pattern that’s even busier than United’s third kit, in a good way. The aforementioned pink details look great on top of the camo, and there’s plenty of pink to enjoy including the crest, sponsor and silhouettes of the U.S. Open Cup and the state of Minnesota. 

Adding further interest to the shirt is the fact that acclaimed designer Matthew Wolff lent his hand to proceedings. Wolff, a Minneapolis native, has his fingerprints on some of the biggest projects in the game including a certain Nigeria 2018 collection. Quite simply he’s a modern day shirt legend, and his involvement with the 2020 Minneapolis City cup shirt is something of a coup for the team.

Want to know more about the origins of Dazzle Camouflage? Of course you do, so here’s a thread 👇

[THREAD🦓] pic.twitter.com/SuX0x0GVeq

— Football Shirt Collective (@thefootballsc) April 3, 2021

Last summer I enjoyed seeing the club themselves getting involved on Twitter, pointing out to people that United’s dazzle camo wasn’t exactly breaking completely new ground. Of course with kit design cycles starting years before release, the similarities are more coincidence than anything else, but regardless we should all be giving Minneapolis credit where credit is due.

They created the original dazzle camo, and they pulled it off to perfection.

What is FSC Approved?

What makes a football shirt good? It’s a purely subjective question, right?

Whilst there are indeed a lot of subjective elements when it comes to shirts, there are still factors to consider. Sometimes, a design is notable for its unique aesthetic. The colourway, pattern or construction may have gone where no shirt dared to go before it, or it might simply be a particularly good utilisation of a classic approach. Other times, a legendary player elevates a design to immortality, even if the design in question would’ve been hard to pick out of a crowd before.

Our series FSC Approved will be a lovingly curated list of shirts that deserve to be in the conversation as good, possibly even great football shirts, no matter who you support or what your taste in shirts is. Old classics, new contenders, if it’s FSC Approved it’s as close to a certified banger as you can get.