Over the years I have found myself owning a large range of football shirts, more often than not, at least one of them was an England kit. It became something of ritual, that on the eve of a major tournament I would head out to the shops and spend my well earned cash on the latest overpriced offering from the FA. For me it was part of getting involved with the excitement of the tournament.Now I'm happy to concede England shirts have never been the prettiest of football kits, but the latest one, debuting in the game against Slovakia last night, has plumbed new depths.
It is so dull and unimaginative. Clearly its meant to be retro, harking back to English football's greatest moment 1966, with the giant 3 lions badge and bizarre collar. Instead it just looks like a chavvy t-shirt from Burtons or something Matthew Horne would wear in Gavin and Stacey!
The first thing Cat said when she saw it was 'isn't that the girls version?' which for me, sums the other major problem with this kit. It is REALLY feminine and cut in a very shapely fashion, which would seem to be a major error on the part of Umbro, as most people who buy this will be men with sizeable bellies!
But how does it compare to previous England horrors and classics- here are my top 3 of each.
Classics
The all time #1 England kit 1966
The Euro 96 shirt
The Italia 90 top
Horrors
The Euro 96 away kit
The Euro 96 Keepers top
1997/98 home shirt
For me, the sooner the FA get signed up with a decent kit manufacterer like Nike or Addidas, the better, as the 09/11 is one shirt I will not be buying!
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7 comments:
Not that I would ever consider buying a football shirt, but I say that England should absolutely not go for the sweat shop traders that are Addidas and even more especially Nike, but should find a Fair Trade company instead. Just my two penneth! :)
well Umbro are a subsidiary of Nike, so the shirts are probably made in the same sweat shop anyway sadly. If you could convince the FA turn turn down the millions they get for the privileged of making said shirt in order to go fairtrade then it would go down as a genuine miracle!
Can you get fairtrade sports wear? If not would seem to be a pretty major hole in the market to me!
The closest I've seen are the Fairtrade Footballs themselves, and the 'No Sweat' alternatives to Converse trainers / boots. Not any proper sportswear that I've seen. Then I don't buy it.
It may be a miracle, but it's what is needed. Perhaps if people stopped buying the sweatshop shirts and told the FA exactly why, then it might have a snowball's chance in hell of happening. Fair Trade stuff has taken over many unexpected markets recently, maybe it's time we started expecting - and working towards - those miracles?
I think the latest England shirt is rather smart and the best that they have had in a long time.
It would be good to see this shirt stick around for a couple of years, although it will likely be replaced by this time next year.
I'm glad someone likes it Chelsea Shirts- you're the first I've come across!
I reckon it'll be around for a couple of years, and we'll see a new away shirt before they replace this one...
I always had a soft spot for the red away shirt mostly.
Actually, I think the shirt looks quite good. It's supposed to look good on a man at the peak of his fitness - that's what professional football shirts are for. If someone with a beer-gut the size of three footballs wears it it won't look good, so they should either think about looking after themselves a bit more, or wearing something more flattering. It's not like the FA needs the revenue!
well I'm sure the players will be grateful! According to the BBC website's football gossip column Fabio Capello insisted the England badge was higher up the chest than previous shirts to avoid nipple friction! They've left no stone unturned!
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