from umbro site...
"The inspiration for the 2011/2012 Manchester City away kit is taken from the most famous shirt in the club’s history – the black and red shirt worn in 1969 and 1970 during which time Manchester City won the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup.
To achieve the ‘tailored’ Umbro look for the 2011/2012 away shirt, the Umbro kit designers draped black and red fabric over the silhouette of the modern day ‘arms out’ goal celebration.
The shirt is designed so that when a player celebrates a goal or links arms with team mates, the black and red stripe remains consistent. For this reason, there is no seam on the underarm as traditionally stitching can distort the shape and flow of a stripe.
The stripe width on the shirt was inspired by the old 1969 kit. The long sleeve version features an all-black forearm so that there is a unified stripe-look when the players link arms in goal celebrations.
The club crest and sponsor detail is key-lined in gold in order to give standout against the black and red. Black stitching."