There's room for some of the biggest fails with United's grey away kit prominent

It is showcasing the largest ever curated collection of shirts in the country

'Strip! How Football Got Shirty' has opened at the museum in Manchester

It has gone down in history as Manchester United's worst kit ever and the drab grey number that was infamously ditched by Sir Alex Ferguson halfway through a game at Southampton in April 1996 has pride of place in the hall of shame at a new exhibition at the National Football Museum.

'Strip! How Football Got Shirty' has opened at the museum in Manchester, showcasing the largest ever curated collection of shirts in the country.

It includes the popular designs worn by England and West Germany at Italia '90 and Brazil's iconic 1970 jersey, and there's room for some of the biggest fails with United's grey away kit prominent among them.

Man United's drab grey kit has pride of place in a hall of shame at National Football Museum

Ferguson's team wore it on five occasions in total without winning a single game as they lost four times and drew once. It came to a head at The Dell when United were 3-0 down at half-time and Ferguson ordered his players to change into their blue and white third kit because they couldn't see each other. They eventually lost 3-1.

Explaining the decision to include the shirt in his hall of shame, exhibition curator Jon Sutton said: 'Probably because this shirt has become infamous, being blamed for United's 3-1 defeat to Southampton during that season.

'The light grey colour supposedly made team-mates harder to pick out on the pitch against the background of the crowd. A clear case of colour and design being instrumental when picking a team's colours.

The kit was ditched by Sir Alex Ferguson halfway through a game at Southampton in 1996

'Generally speaking a lot of time, thought and money goes into the design of shirts, they are after all big business. That's not to say that they still don't get it right all of the time, for example the Warrior Liverpool third shirts from 2012-13 season had strange colour combinations of purple, amber and white which the fans really didn't take to.

'I suppose like anything trends come and go. Fashion at the moment is having a 90s revival and the same is true of football shirts with the shirts and trippy designs of the 90s being particularly desirable.

'I guess the Adidas West Germany kit is one of the most iconic, successfully blending the colours of the West German flag with an eye-catching diamond shape. This became a blueprint for other shirts of the era and is still revered by football fans today.

'We've always collected and displayed a selection of shirts in the museum but they've generally been displayed in the context of a particular player or game.

'We thought there was a great opportunity to curate an exhibition focusing on how design, technology and fashion have influenced and are influenced by football shirts and to explore how they have become true objects of desire in their own right.'