Nike said the colour choices for the kit – for which there were no plans to issue a recall – were partly a nod to England’s 1966 triumph.
“The England 2024 Home kit disrupts history with a modern take on a classic,” a spokesperson said. “The trim on the cuffs takes its cues from the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, with a gradient of blues and reds topped with purple. The same colours also feature an interpretation of the flag of St. George on the back of the collar.”
Sources with knowledge of the shirt’s development categorically denied any connection between the colours and the rainbow armband Fifa blocked Harry Kane from wearing in support of the LGBTQ+ community during the last World Cup.
But the move has been condemned by traditionalists, including Nigel Farage and MPs Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith.
‘Pearl-clutching woke nonsense must stop’
Farage branded the design an “absolute joke”, adding on GB News: “It bears no relationship to the St George’s Cross whatsoever.
“If the England football team think that’s acceptable, well, why on earth would you be apologetic about Englishness if you’re going to play for England in the European football finals? I think it’s an absolute joke.”
Reform UK MP Anderson dismissed the move as “virtue-signalling woke nonsense”, telling the Daily Express: “The left have a nerve to ask me why I want my country back.
“This virtue signalling, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching woke nonsense must stop. Any more of this and I’ll be on the first flight to Rwanda.”
The new kits – which will also be worn by England at this summer’s European Championship, as well as by the Lionesses and England Para teams – cost £124.99 ($261) in adult sizes and £119.99 ($251) for children.
Conservative MP Clarke-Smith said: “Maybe somebody in the design department misheard Three Lions and instead went for three lines on a shirt.
“I’m not sure what this is supposed to be, but it certainly looks nothing like our flag and I’m not sure it needs an ‘update’ either.
“That said, I doubt they’ll shift many at those sort of prices.”
It was not just politicians who opposed the new design, with comedian Jason Manford writing on X: “Oh dear…this is not gonna go down well! what a weird thing to do tho! A US company having a cheeky play with another countries flag, let’s go back to Umbro I say, we won the World Cup in that kit.”
Nike was engulfed by another major England kit row last year when it failed to produce a replica goalkeeper strip for that worn by Mary Earps, the Women’s World Cup hero and BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
