Why Coventry City have had to design a brand new strip for play-off final

Coventry City will wear a bespoke kit in the League Two play-off final - not to commemorate a showpiece occasion but because they have run out of their home strip.

The club have exhausted the supply of their sky blue home kit, so will instead wear a specially made blue and white striped jersey against Exeter City at Wembley.

Fans will be able to buy the shirt from the club shop, who found themselves out of stock of 2017-18's popular home shirt.

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Dave Boddy, Coventry Chief Executive, said: “With our existing supply exhausted, we have commissioned a special, limited edition one-off shirt for the Play-Off Final.

“The striped kit is one with much history, especially at Wembley, for the Sky Blues.

“We hope it will be very popular with supporters, who will be able to buy the shirt now online at ccfc.clubstore.co.uk.

“This will not be the kit for the 2018/19 season, so we hope it will be a very unique shirt for the club and fans.”

The late change will evoke fond memories for Coventry supporters. Coventry wore stripes at Wembley in the 1987 FA Cup final, enjoying one of their greatest days with a shock victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

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This is not the first kit-related story to precede a Wembley final. Arsenal had to ask for permission to wear their usual white shorts in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, and avoid wearing the unusual combination of red shirt, shorts and socks.

There was the famous example of Manchester United changing shirts at halftime of 3-1 defeat at Southampton in 1996.

Sir Alex Ferguson blamed United's changed grey kit for a poor first-half showing, claiming his players struggled to see each other as the shirts were difficult to spot in the bright sunshine.