Three Lions on a Shirt: The Official History of the England Football Jersey

Product Information

Amazingly, one of the original England jerseys from the goalless draw has survived - a round neck, long sleeve shirt made from knitted wool and has a hand embroidered Three Lions crest on the chest. And while the look of the Three Lions may have changed over the years, they have been ever present on the England kit since the 1870s - apart from a few rogue shirts in the 1970s - but we’ll come to that later. This large format hardback book brings together more than 200 England football shirts, including almost every variation of home and away shirt ever worn, dating back to the very first international football match in 1872. The first time I heard it sung by 78,000 people I could hear that too: the pain and the hope, as well as the joy. The national team has worn them on their shirt – blue on a white background – ever since the first international against – yes, it had to be – Scotland in 1872.

It’s amazing that when you think of Three Lions, people still think of the song rather than the shirt. The book contains more than 200 shirts which include almost every variation of home and away shirt ever worn by our national team – dating back to the very first international football match in 1872 – and all are match worn or match prepared for legends of the game from Nat Lofthouse to Bobby Moore, from Kevin Keegan to David Beckham and from Stanley Matthews to Harry Kane.While Nike went with a blue change kit at Euro 2020, it is agreed that red will always be the traditional away colour for World Cups. Knowing conditions in Mexico would be far hotter than in England, Ramsey and Umbro started experimenting with airtex which had been used for military shirts and jackets in the Middle East and Far East during the Second World War.

It was their son Richard the Lionheart – famed for his exploits in the Crusades (he actually spent very little time in England, was once held for ransom by an Austrian and a German, and was killed by a Frenchman while besieging a castle) – who decided to combine all three lions to make up his arms.

That symbol – three golden lions on a red background – to be exact, Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or – went on to represent the kings of England until 1340, when Edward III added the lilies of the arms of France. An official FA publication, collectors Daren Burney and Neville Evans (owner of without doubt THE most incredible football shirt and memorabilia collection) join Shakey once again, as they both did for the Spurs book, and open their archives. We only know of his arms from two Great Seals, one of which bears the three lions passant-guardant (striding left but facing the observer). This new book brings together some of the rarest and most iconic England shirts ever seen and includes: - A player shirt example from virtually every one of the home and away shirt variations worn by the Three Lions over the last 150 years - A player shirt from every major tournament England have played in including the 1966, 1990 and 2018 World Cups and the 1996 and 2020 Euros - Shirts worn by many of England's greatest players.

Back at the hotel, I was lying down on the bed and I heard, [sings]: “Three Lions on a shirt…” and remember thinking: “It’s nice they’re singing it even though we lost. For the World Cup in Qatar, England have gone with a home shirt that has a passing reference to the trim colours found on the classic Euro 96 jersey. Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds made the phrase ‘Three Lions on a shirt’ synonymous with English football thanks to their chart hit-cum-terrace anthem at Euro 96.

They ended up on England shirts when the Football Association was looking for an emblem for the kit its players would wear at international games in the late 19th century. There was a minor design change in 1949 when the crown that was above the lions was removed, to differentiate the badge from that of the England cricket team. That’s why the lyrics move from: Everyone seems to know the score / They’ve heard it all before / They’re so sure / That England’s going to blow it away … To But I remember… – those fragments of glory in England’s footballing history that, above and beyond your own rationality, give you hope. Interspersed into the timeline the publishers have inserted breakout articles such as the history of the England Women’s team shirts (which was particularly enlightening and riveting) alongside features on England’s kit men and the Nike design team talking through their processes.