Nike's 'playful' attempt to alter England's Euro 2024 shirt by changing the colour of the St...

"Nike's Colour Change To England's Euro 2024 Shirt - A Disruption To History?"

Blog section released on 21st March 2024 at 10:36 PM (Greenwich Mean Time) and modified on 22nd March 2024 at 12:29 AM (Greenwich Mean Time).

The England kit by Nike is said to be 'playful' and claims to 'disrupt history'. This is not really a big deal, since England has been wearing simple and elegant white kits for most of their 152-year history.

Back in 1872, when England played Scotland in Glasgow, their outfit consisted of a white shirt imprinted with the Three Lions crest and decorated with a diamond design, matched with long white knickerbockers. While today, the players' shorts are much shorter, this was the beginning of a customary look that became iconic.

England followed this approach all the way up until the 1950s, which was the time period when they established a significant partnership with a well-known designer to create their uniforms (Umbro, in 1952).

They tried out a blue backup jersey, but scrapped it after losing to the USA in a surprising upset at the 1950 World Cup. A year after that, they debuted the iconic red uniforms that we now connect with Bobby Moore and the glory of 1966.

The choice made by Nike to substitute the usual horizontal line of the red cross located on the rear side of the England Euro 2024 shirt with a navy blue, light blue and pink has stirred up a disagreement.

Jack Grealish is showcasing the new uniform, priced at £124.99 for adult sizes and £119.99 for children.

After a short time working with Bukta, Umbro became the company responsible for producing England's kits for over 20 years. In 1974, Admiral took over this role and made replica kits for sale, marking the first time they had added their logo to the shirts.

The action caused a lot of disagreement - just like Admiral's famous jersey for the 1980 World Cup. It was the first time the home kit had colorful stripes; thick blue and red lines going across the shirt.

The Daily Mirror made a joke about Admiral's new kit launch, titling it "Strip off." They felt that Admiral was going overboard with commercialism.

Throughout most of its 152-year history, England has had kits that are simple and plain white in appearance.

Back in 1951, England introduced the colour red to their sport attire which eventually became closely linked with Bobby Moore and the iconic 1966 team.

It is evident that Admiral did not succeed in their role, as they became bankrupt in 1982. Following this, Umbro took over as the provider of England's kit.

In 1990, a thicker collar was added to the team shirts for Italia 90, and two years later, the players' names were printed on the back of the shirts. Euro 96 saw the introduction of an indigo alternative, although it looked more like a shade of grey. Unfortunately, it was worn during the semi-final match against Germany, which ended in defeat after a penalty shootout.

One year after, Umbro included the flag of St George on the collar of the kit, which consists of a white background with a red cross. Eventually, in 2002, the team's shirt, shorts, and socks were decorated with the flag.

Kevin Keegan is presented as a figure of relevance in England, displaying how the color white has persevered throughout history.

During the Euro 1996 tournament, England sported a new indigo alternative jersey, which was actually more of a grey color. Unfortunately, this jersey was worn during their defeat to Germany in the semi-final shootout, with Stuart Pearce as part of the English team.

In 2010, Umbro made a change to their design which replaced the traditional St George's cross with a range of colorful crosses. This was done to represent a more multicultural England. This decision caused anger among some fans.

Back in 2012, Umbro got sold by Nike, their parent company. Nike then took over as England's kit partner for a whopping £100 million deal and remained in that position ever since.

Up until this week, they have been relatively conservative in their design choices. However, they have significantly increased the price of reproduction shirts, now costing over one hundred dollars.