As regular readers will know I am looking to document the England Men’s National Football Team’s Kit History from 1960 to The Modern Day, creating some reference articles and documents for those that like to have quick reference to these things.

So far, you can find the following:

• England Kit History: 1960-1969
• England Kit History: 1970-1979
• England Kit History: 1980-1989
• England Kit History (Reference Page)

England played 112 Games between 1990 and 1990, a slight reduction in matches from the 80s and which The Three Lions wore their Primary (Home) Kit 88 times and Change Kits again just 24 times, the most time change kits have been worn with 21.5% of the total games being played in change kits, including two different 3rd kits, but more on that later.

The 90s was a decade where England’s kits were solely supplied by Umbro but as we will see the frequency of changing these kits significantly changed from what we have seen in previous years!

1990

The 90s started with a brand new set of kits released by Umbro, the set was made up of Primary, Secondary and 3rd kit! A set of kits which remains a fans favourites with all three kits seen today at England games in various re-releases!

The Primary kit was first used against Brazil in March 1990 and in the 15 games England played in total in 1990 they wore this look 14 times!

The only game where England did not wear their classic primary look was a World Cup warm up game against Uruguay at Wembley, England using their change kits at Home was becoming something of a theme now!

1990 was also a World Cup year, with England performing well and reaching the Semi-Finals, this meant that they played seven games in total at Italia 90, however they did not change from the Primary kit wearing it all their games!

1991 – 1992

The Summer of 1991 gave us England in five different kit looks, in five games..

It started with the only use of the 3rd Kit from this latest Umbro range, a victory at Turkey in May.

Then wearing Primary Kit against USSR and Secondary Kit against Argentina at Wembley.

The classic Primary kit was used in other look was when the Secondary shorts were added to create an All White look against Australia, this was the first of two games in that Summer Tour of the Southern Hemisphere where all white was used and one of only three times when the all white look was used in the 90s (the last use was a lot more well known than these ones)!

The final kit in this run was playing against New Zealand when in the first of two games, they went for another mash up, with secondary kit combined with Primary shorts!

1992 gave us a replacement 3rd Kit, with the Primary and Secondary Kits remaining in place for a 3rd year (the last time this would happen in England Kit History)!

This 3rd Kit was worn twice in 1992, at Czechoslovakia and Spain and is another well loved and regarded kit with this design incorporating “The Three Lions” in it’s design of both shirt and shorts.

As regular readers will know, England in Sky Blue is one of my favourite Kit quirks and I have written a dedicated piece all about England in Sky Blue which you can find here.

1993 – 1994

1993 started with the launch of a new Primary Kit, which starts a run of a new kit being launched every year alternating between Primary and Secondary, which would be theme of kit launches for the majority of remaining years in which Umbro would be the England Kit Supplier!

This kit was one of the forgotten kits of this period, likely as it was never worn in major finals with England failing to reach World Cup 94, the kit was first worn in the World Cup Qualifier against San Marino! The kit included a larger shield around the crest that we have seen before and a lot more red in the shorts!

In the summer of 1993, England played in a tournament in the United States in preparation for the World Cup the following year, this tournament saw England play three games (USA, Brazil and Germany) with two of them in the Secondary Kit from 1990, meaning this kit spanned four years.

However there were some slight differences with this one, the new crest (with larger shield), the updated Umbro logo, with capital letters used for wordmark and the nameset numbers / player names used for that season.

This kit was also used with Primary shorts of the 1993 Kit against USA, for another kit variation look.

With the team failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, it meant The Three Lions only played six games in 1994, the fewest since 1967.

However there was time to launch a new Secondary Kit, another kit that often gets forgotten, this was a darker red than seen before and marketed as “wine red”. It also included red shorts for the first time in it’s default look and the first time England played in all red since early 1970!

1995 – 1996

1995 started with England visiting Ireland, wearing their red secondary kit for the 2nd time, however due to crowd trouble the game was abandoned after 27 minutes.

In March, England launched their new Primary Kit and the kit that would be worn when England hosted the Euros the following year. This kit was big change from the previous 20 years, with no red in the kit for the first time since 1974, however a new colour was introduced, turquoise was now incorporated into all three elements of the kit’s trim!

It used a central crest for the first time in England’s Kit History.

Another change was the introduction different colour nameset, traditionally England had always used red numbers with their Primary Kit, this kit used navy with turquoise trim.

1996 started with a new secondary kit and at the time one of the most controversial kits, certainly in England’s Kit History. The kit was not red, and was “Indigo”, almost grey in its look! It was peak 90s in terms of it’s design and was certainly planned with one eye on what fans would wear rather than keeping with tradition!

First worn against Bulgaria in March (actually with solid red numbers), it was most famously worn at Euro 96 in the Semi-Final against Germany which ended in penalty defeat. It was worn one more time at Georgia, meaning it made 3 appearances in it’s only season of use! Although not regarded so at the time, this kit is considered a classic nowadays by fans and kit lovers alike.

And remember that this may be the only football kit to feature in a number one single… “Tears for heroes dressed in grey”, 3 Lions ’98!

1997 – 1999

During 1997 England launched two new kits, first a new Primary kit and then a secondary kit replacing the much maligned Indigo Kit!

The Primary kit saw a return to red as part of the kit, including the nameset and was first worn against Italy in February of that year, one of three games against them in 1997. The central crest / logo remained in place from the previous kit! The Primary kit was used in 10 times in the 11 games of this year!

The new Secondary kit was launched in the summer and was a return to red, with a stripe included in the shirt, the only “striped” shirt in England kit history so far!

The one game the kit was worn in 1997 was at La Tournoi, a tournament in France which was part of the preparations for World Cup ’98, England lifted the trophy in this kit after winning the tournament!

1998, A World Cup year and it was in the World Cup that see some interesting use of the two current England Kits, in their opening two games the default Primary Kit was worn, however in the final Group match against Colombia, the Secondary Kit was combined Primary socks to create a red / white / white look, the first time this combination had been seen in 16 years, also at World Cup (v France, 1982).

The next game, the Last 16 game against Argentina was another mash up, this time Primary Kit with Secondary shorts, to create an “All White” look (only the 2nd time this was seen in the 90s). The only thing about this mash up was the numbers on the shorts, being different from the shirt was slightly jarring (probably just me I know!!).

The final year of the 90s was the only year in which England used two completely different Primary and Secondary Kits in this decade, starting the year in games against France (Primary) and Poland (Secondary) of the kits from 1997/98!

April saw the release of a new Primary Kit, which was a stripped back kit in terms of design from the previous years and return to a more a classic look of the 1960’s! A return to just white and navy, the crest returned to it’s traditional position on the shirt and there was a crew neckline for first time in 10 years.

The final kit released this decade was also one of the strangest, remaining red in it’s colour it was made of woolen material which I am not sure was the most efficient fabric for elite sportsmen and something that is unlikely to return!

Breakdown per year – 112 Games in Total

• 1990 – 15 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 1991 – 12 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 2 Secondary Kit Variations
  • 1 3rd Kit Variation
• 1992 – 12 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
  • 1 3rd Kit Variation
• 1993 – 11 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 2 Secondary Kit Variations
• 1994 – 6 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 1995 – 9 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 1996 – 12 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 1997 – 11 Games
  • 1 Primary Kit Variation
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 1998 – 14 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 2 Secondary Kit Variations
• 1989 – 10 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 2 Secondary Kit Variations

Well, that is the 1990s completed, 112 games in total, different kit looks and changes, five official primary and secondary kits used and two 3rd Kits!

I will return with a look back at the 2000s!

Let me know your thoughts and comments below or over at @Kit_Geek and a reminder that the overall visual page of the England Kit History is now also live on the site here

Resources for this article / project

England Football Online

Historical Football Kits

True Colours – Volume 2 and International Kits