When talking about kit perfection, for me there are a few things that spring to mind, Manchester United’s “Newton Heath” 3rd kit from Umbro, 1984 French Adidas kits and England wearing Sky Blue to name a few. So I thought I would take a little bit of time to look back at those wonderful kits worn by the Three Lions.
England have only ever had five Sky Blue kits, all produced by Umbro and only worn a full sky blue kit only 4 times, with two of these kits not making an appearance with the Senior team.
Kit 1, 1970
England wore three different kits in the 1970 World Cup and their group game against Czechoslovakia saw them in a Sky Blue kit for the first time.
Umbro reproduced this kit in the early 2000’s (yes, I brought and still have one) but the reproduced version included a number 6 on the back but in white, not the red numbering used with the actual kit.
Kit 2, 1986
The second Sky Blue kit was again produced as part of a kit package for a World Cup staged in Mexico, this time in 1986. However the full kit was never worn but we did get to see the shorts and socks in the Quarter-Final match up against Argentina where arguably the full kit could have been worn.
In fact the kit would not have been out of place if used in the last 16 game against the red and white stripes of Paraguay.
Kit 3, 1988
The third kit seen, was the 1988 3rd kit from Umbro. At this time all three England kits had the same template. This is my favourite of the all the Sky Blue kits that England have but unfortunately did not see action with the Senior Team, it did make an appearance for the U21’s though.
However the Senior Team did pose for this wonderful team photo…. which I also use as my cover picture on my twitter account (@kit_geek)
Kit 4, 1990
One of the most famous Sky Blue England kits and only the 2nd time that England wore a full Sky Blue kit in a Senior game, this kit made its one and only appearance in the 1991 in the Euro 92 qualifier against Turkey.
This kit was also part of the Italia 90 World Cup kit line up and was famously worn in the video of “World in Motion” by New Order front man Bernard Sumner.
The shirts design and pattern also formed part of the England training kits at the time and was often seen here with just a large central Umbro logo within the shirt.
Kit 5, 1992
Arguably the most famous of the Sky Blue England kits and I would say in many people’s eyes one of the most popular of all England kits not just the blue ones.
This kit also is the only Sky Blue kit to be worn more than once, making two appearances in 1992 against Czechoslovakia and Spain. The shirt, including it’s “Three Lions” is what makes this such an iconic kit.
Although Sky Blue has featured on several other home and away kits over the past years, I hope that the colour will be revisited as main kit colour in future, unlikely I know given that the “rules” state that second (or third) choice kits should be a contrast to the first choice kit and not sure that Sky Blue and White fit that model however as a simple kit geek I can hope…..!!
Sites I used to research this article:
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 