Tuesday, March 31, 2009

New England Kit - Your thoughts

So now all the dust has settled and every shred of fake imagery has been eradicated from our memories, what do we think of the new England kit? Quite radical, don't you think?

As you'll know of us by now, we here at SPAOTP like football kits in all their various colours and designs and this one is certainly worthy of special attention. Gone are all the red flashes, gone is the navy blue trim... hell, gone are the navy blue shorts too.

There's only one word to describe England's new outfit, and that's 'white'. That in itself is likely to divide those people that believe England should always wear the blue shorts, but let's face it, England have played in all white before on the odd occasion and it's never been much of an issue.

The other key factor about this new kit is the styling of the shirt. Many years ago, Umbro shirts used to have a tag sown into them that said "Tailored by Umbro in England" and in exploring the company's origins you get the feeling that Umbro wanted to reintroduce that 'tailoring' aspect once again.

The new version of the shirt is cut in at the sides and on the shoulders to accentuate the shape of the chest better, it has a flappy collar that doesn't really flap that much and air holes to increase ventilation. All in all it has a more traditional look which, from some angles, makes it look like a polo shirt or even a vintage shirt from the early 1900's.

But that's what makes it so distinctive and utterly different from what's preceded it in recent times. Despite the fact that you, our humble audience, have already chosen England's 1982 World Cup strip as your current favourite, it seems Umbro have happily abandoned all the extraneous colours and styles in favour of something more simple and dignified.

So what are your thoughts? Does it meet your own high exacting standards? Are you planning on buying one, or do you feel it's a massive disappointment? We'd like to hear what you think, so leave us a comment to give us your feedback or vote in our online poll below...

What do you think of the new England home kit for 2009?
Excellent
Good
OK
Poor
Terrible
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Photo courtesy of blog.umbro.com.

8 comments:

Seb Gevers said...

That's brutal lads. It looks like JT's away for a game of lawn bowling on a particularly hot day. Umbro have a lot to answer for.

Fredorrarci said...

It almost works, in that I assume the aim was to give it a neat classic look. But as has been noted elsewhere, it just looks like a polo shirt with an England badge stuck on. Or like something Roger Federer would wear. As for the hoopla and the Umbro press release and the price hike...

(Hey, I resisted the urge to say that any England kit is a bad kit! I'm so proud of myself...)

Terry Duffelen said...

I think it has a retro quality to it. It add a couple of pounds on the players though.

I still wouldn't buy one though.

Chris O said...

I personally feel it's the first England shirt I'd be tempted to buy for a long time, but it'll divide everyone right down the middle without a shadow of a doubt.

Interesting the switch to all white now that Scotland no longer have all blue...

Seb Gevers said...

The flaw with this kit is that it's the first one you can actually make yourself:

1. Get yourself down to C&A and buy a white polo shirt, white shorts and white popsocks.

2. Buy a wee tin of red paint and a small gauge brush (available from all good stockists)

3. On the shirt, draw the Umbro logo using the red paint bought earlier.

4. Download the England bade from any decent website, print it, then cut it out (you may want a responsible adult to help you with this)

5. Stick the England logo on the shirt using strong glue.

6. Put on the shorts and popsocks and head down to the park and pretend you're John Terry by skying your penalty into the car park. Your mates will be simply amazed at your new kit.

Hey presto: job done! Expect the English FA and Umbro to ban this comment. I've been waiting for years for them to slip up - and now they have.

Terry Duffelen said...

Your comment does read like you have had it ready for some time Seb. Especially your reference to C&A.

Dude, contemporize. C&A is history in the England.

Seb Gevers said...

Sorry, couldn't think of a naff English store. Substitute C&A for Lidl/Aldi then, if it helps... Still a shit kit though

Anonymous said...

..I bought them all since 1986..and that should say it all..terrible..unless yoy like polos, if so consider changing favourite sport! Now the red one is from out of space, and the white one comes from 1900! Wont buy it..hugly and sissy!

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