That was an evocative sight of the Manchester United players and staff, in their Paul Smith suits, quietly streaming into Manchester Cathedral on Monday afternoon.

Ruben Amorim favours more casual attire on matchdays and this was his first appearance in the club suit, with the coat of arms stitched onto the breast pocket. There were some faux pas - four players sported box-fresh white trainers - but every first team squad member was accounted for.

With the exception of cup finals, United stopped donning suits to matches after football was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Gary Neville once tried to convince Sir Alex Ferguson to allow the players to wear tracksuits to away games. Ferguson's initial compromise was they could change into snugger clothing when they got on the plane or train.

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Come his final European jaunt to the consecrated Bernabeu in 2013, Ferguson was in his club suit and tie but the players weren't. David Moyes, in one of his few authoritative measures, insisted the players slip back into their suits for trips.

It was maintained by Louis van Gaal. After an 11-hour flight to Los Angeles for the pre-season tour, Van Gaal directed the team bus half an hour out of its way towards Santa Monica beach, where the players - fully suited - embarked on a walk to clear their legs of lactic acid.

Paul Smith, whose collaboration with United dates back to 2008, redesigned their suits after Van Gaal left and the coat of arms was smaller. Jose Mourinho, perhaps superstitiously, never donned the United suit, shirt and tie again after a third successive defeat at Watford in September 2016. The players left for the ill-fated pre-season tour of China that summer in their new suits.

Michael Carrick used to be in awe of the United blazers as a West Ham apprentice when the team arrived at the Boleyn Ground. Much was made of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ordering the players to suit up again in January 2019 yet that directive lasted 14 months. United arrived at Wembley for the 2023 League Cup final in tracksuits.

Solskjaer looked after himself so impeccably post-playing career he inherited Daley Blind's two-piece suit. He took such pride in the suit he took it to the dry cleaners himself. Solskjaer still had to spell out his name to them.

Others were not quite as nostalgic. The Classic Football Shirts website once had a member of the 1993-94 double-winning squad's club blazer on sale at an inflated price.

One of the most treasured images of United lore was captured in Amorim's previous workplace of Lisbon. The day before United outclassed Benfica 5-1 in the European Cup in 1966, John Connelly, Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg, Paddy Crerand, Matt Busby, David Herd, Nobby Stiles, Denis Law, Tony Dunne, George Best, Shay Brennan and Bill Foulkes lined up in front of the Monument of the Discoveries by the Tagus River. All of them are besuited.

The quirk is that Crerand is the only one with a club blazer on. While a photograph of its era (David Meek, the Manchester Evening News's United correspondent, is photographed outside a Lisbon cafe on that trip looking more debonair than the players), it also captures United's standards.

Amorim sits at the front of the team bus that ferries them to games and was at the front of the queue at the Cathedral. He was followed in by Bruno Fernandes and Jonny Evans, club captain and club veteran.

Evans' eulogy for Kath Phipps upstaged Sir Alex Ferguson's. Evans is bright and gleefully shared his GCSE results with his tutor while an apprentice at United. He researched and wrote the eulogy himself, reaching out to current and former players.

It would have been straightforward for United to delegate the captain to give a reading. The choice of Evans, whose association with the club is so long his name appears in the 1998 yearbook, was genuine and sincere. He shared memories of players past and present.

Evans has given sterling service to United, contributing to three Premier League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup and the Club World Cup. Watching him stride up to the Cathedral pulpit in the club suit and deliver a word-perfect reading over the next five minutes was maybe his finest contribution yet.

United will doubtless head to London this weekend in their new training range to plug a new product on behalf of the sponsors. Their Instagram lifestyle account may flog some of the gear to influencers. The two or three press officers who accompany the squad will be suited at the Emirates.