Category: Kit History

As regular readers will know I have documented 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.

You can find the following, which takes a look at the decades in more details.

• England Kit History: 1960-1969
• England Kit History: 1970-1979
• England Kit History: 1980-1989
• England Kit History: 1990-1999
• England Kit History: 2000-2009
• England Kit History: 2010-2019
• England Kit History (Reference Page)

It is time to take a look at first half of 2020’s in some more detail, one of the most successful period’s in Men’s National team history which meant the team played 67 games across these five years, which is the most in a five year period in these records.

The Three Lions wore their Primary (Home) Kit 53 times and Secondary Kits 14 times. The use of the secondary kit was down on previous years to 21%.

This includes three tournaments where England have not worn a change kit, wearing only Primary Kits (including All White variations) in their 19 Major Tournament Games in this period of time.

2020

2020, a year like no other… with the World coming to a stop, football also stopped for a period of time and Euro 2020 was postponed until the following year. As domestic football was one of the first things to start up again after “lockdown”, International Football returned in September of that year with eight games played in September, October and November.

When the football did restart, England played in their Kits which were scheduled to used for Euro 2020, and originally planned to released in March. The Primary Shirt saw a return to the centrally placed Crest and Logo, this was the first time since 2004. The Secondary kit was Royal Blue, this was the first time the secondary kit was not red since since 2012, and the first time Royal Blue has been used since 1950s.

The first time the new kit was used was in The Nation’s League game Away to Iceland in it’s All White Variation, a look that would used a total of 10 times over the years this kit was used.

The default look with Navy shorts was used four times in total in 2020, including the first game at Wembley for the team in nearly a year against Wales.

The first time the secondary kit was worn was also at Wembley, this kit was used twice in 2020 both games at Home, in Nation’s League game against Denmark and the Friendly against Ireland.

2021

2021 was the year with the most games in a calendar year, with 19 games played in total with World Cup 2022 Qualifying and Euro 2020 all taking place through-out the year, with the kits launched the previous year.

England had their most successful tournament since 1996, reaching the final of Euro 2020. During their run to the final they wore their Primary Kit in all seven games, wearing All White in all group games and their last 16 game against Germany.

They only wore their default look in Quarter-Final and Semi-Final, with the Quarters being the only game played outside of Wembley Stadium, which was against Ukraine in Rome.

England used their Secondary kit five times in total in 2021, of which three of the games were played at Home.

2022

2022 was a World Cup year but a World Cup Year with a difference, with the tournament being hosted by Qatar it meant it was a Winter World Cup taking place in November / December, this also meant new Kits for The Three Lions before the tournament kicked off.

England started the year in kits from 2020 / 2021, meaning these kits had a life span of 33 games (24 for Primary Kit and 9 for Secondary Kit), the longest spell kits had been used since the early 1980s.

The final use of the Royal Blue Away Kit was against Germany in June, and was only the 3rd time it had been used in an Away game in it’s nine usages (being worn six times in Home Games).

The return Nation’s League fixture against Germany was first outing of the new England Secondary Kit, which was a return to red, the kit was All Red, although England had played in all red several times over the previous 12 years this was the first time All Red had been used as a default change kit since 1995.

The new Primary kit was a design that changed the overall look of the shirt. Turquiose blue returned as an accent colour, this was the first time since 1996 that we have seen this used in an England kit (it was also used in secondary kit with crest, logo and nameset).

The biggest design element was the use of the blues across the shoulders of the shirt, which provided a different take on the often plain white shirts and was first used against Italy in a Friendly in September.

You can find a more detailed review of these kits here.

The first competitive action this new kit was used in was the opening game of the World Cup against Iran, it was used with it’s default navy shorts. There was also saw a return of blue nameset which were last used in 2017.

England reached the Quarter-Finals of The World Cup, playing all five of their games in this Primary Kit with three games played in the default look and two games played with white shorts (USA and Senegal). The Knock-out games were also the first games England had played in December since 1995.

2023

This year was a relatively quiet year in terms of England Football, with qualifying for European Championship taking the majority of the game time.

The game against Ukraine (played in Poland) was the 2nd and final use of the current Secondary Kit, only being used twice in it’s life-cycle, this was least used kit since the first Nike Secondary Kit back in 2013, a real shame in my eyes as I believe this is one the best looking Kits that Nike has produce for England over the years.

The final use of the Primary Kit was against North Macedonia in November, which meant this kit was used 15 times in total in it’s 14 months being England’s kit.

2024

Another Major Championship year, meant new kits launched. The Primary Kit saw a return of red as accent / trim colour and more traditional looking white shirt. It was the Secondary Kit that was adventurous with its design, a new colour entering the change kit palette with the kit being marketed as “Dark Raisin”, a shade of purple.

You again find my more detailed look at these kits here

First wearing the new Kit against Brazil in the opening International Fixture of the Year.

The second game of that International Break in March gave us the debut of the new Secondary Kit at Belgium (who also wore their change kit in the fixture).

Euro 2024, was the third tournament of this 5 year period and also the third tournament in a row where England only wore their Primary Kit.

Again reaching the final meant they played 7 games in total, wearing their default Navy Shorts in 3 games and All White in 4 games, including the Final against Spain.

The All White variation was used eight times in total in 2024, the single most used look of that year, with the default navy shorts being used just six times.

Breakdown per year – 67 Games in Total

• 2020 – 8 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 2021 – 19 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 2022 – 13 Games
  • 4 Primary Kit Variations
  • 2 Secondary Kit Variations
• 2023 – 10 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation
• 2024 – 17 Games
  • 2 Primary Kit Variations
  • 1 Secondary Kit Variation

Well, that is the first half of 2020’s completed, 67 games in total, more games than any other five year period, there were three official primary and three secondary kits used and total of 9 different kit variations!

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