Yesterday, we revealed the new England home kit for the first time, an exciting new venture that’s introducing some exciting concepts into the world of football kits. But what about the items that’ll accompany it?
With the home kit, we’ll also have a new Anthem jacket that the players will wear alongside their new shirts. In a rich royal blue with white collar trim, it’s a smart accompaniment to the main shirt.
In cotton with the multi-coloured motif featuring as a subtle piping trim on the inside of the jacket, the Anthem will look perfect on or off the pitch.
Yesterday, we also revealed the new goalkeeper shirt, which comes in black, but we wanted to do something special for the England women’s team to recognise their tremendous recent achievements and the distinct nature of the women’s game.
Reversing the colours of the men’s goalkeeper kit, the women’s kit comes in purple with a black piping trim. Peter Saville’s modern England motif is featured throughout the kit in a subtle tonal purple. With purple shorts and socks, it should ensure that our goalkeeper stands out on the pitch for all the right reasons.
We’ve got plenty more to tell you about the new England home kit and the ideas behind the New Fabric Of England – check back here on the blog tomorrow for more, or head over to Umbro.com to get the full story.
Earlier, you got your first glimpse of the brand new England Home kit, which will be worn by the players for the first time as they take on Bulgaria in the first of their qualifiers for the UEFA 2012 European Championships on Friday. But what does the kit actually look like close up?
The shirt, like the previous England home and the current England away, is inspired by English tailoring heritage, but with the latest in innovative, technical design. Constructed from two distinct cotton-based fabrics, the shirt is thicker for protection on the front and back, and more flexible in the under-arm, increasing movement.
The neckline is perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of the new kit, with a square collar accompanied by a longer, more open neckline which increases the amount of movement in the garment across the chest. This is particularly important for players when they’re running and changing direction quickly on the pitch.
With the New Fabric Of England graphic on the shoulder and a blue Umbro logo on the chest, the new home shirt certainly adds colour to the England palette. This continues with the shorts, which are royal blue, and the socks, which are white with a royal blue trim. Both are developed into an ergonomic shape that again provides a fantastic fit for the players and aids their on-pitch movement.
Goalkeepers always stand out on the pitch, but in terms of the new England goalkeeper kit, it’s built using exactly the same framework as the outfield kit to emphasise team uniformity. In black with purple piping which was added to give the look of a formal shirt, the goalkeeper shirt features the New Fabric Of England motif in a subtle tonal black throughout the shirt. With shorts and socks also in black, goalkeepers such as Joe Hart will look be looking sharp on the pitch, whilst having the freedom to let their football do the talking.
The new England home kit is sure to capture plenty of attention, but they’re not the only part of this range. Check back tomorrow when we’ll have more details on other items in the new range that the players will be wearing, or head over to Umbro.com for the full story on the New Fabric Of England.
(Top row: Joe Hart, Adam Johnson, Eric Dier, Jade Bailey, Saido Berahino, Thomas Cruise; Bottom row: Jack Wilshere, Fern Whelan, Wayne Rooney, Connor Wickham, Theo Walcott)
As England look to the start of their campaign for Euro 2012, we’re very excited to announce a new deal between the Football Association and Umbro, that will see us working together until at least 2018. At the same time, we can also reveal a new home kit that the team will wear as they battle for a place in the finals.
Giving the team a fresh new look, the new home shirt builds on the tailored principles behind the previous shirt and the current away kit, using the latest in design technology whilst adding a new, colourful graphic design to the template.
So what’s the thinking behind this design? The idea, another innovative approach to football kit design from Umbro, is inspired by the involvement of a true cultural icon in this particular project. Peter Saville – iconic graphic designer and all-round cultural connoisseur – has designed a special fabric print for the new kit, which features on the shoulder panels of the shirt.
Saville – who initially made his name through his work with Factory Records, and is now recognised as one of Britain’s leading creative minds – has crafted this design through a consideration of England’s cultural makeup. Inspired by the increasingly diverse fabric of England, the design takes the traditional St. George’s cross and reinterprets it as a reoccurring motif in four different colours – the traditional red, blue and green which feature in England’s three lions crest, plus a blend of all three which comes out as a striking purple.
Players names will appear within the fabric, to underline how they’re a part of the fabric of modern England. The shirt itself is inspired by the formal designs in England’s past, combined with the latest in design innovation.
Inspired by the idea behind this cultural fabric, we decided to reveal the new kit on a special England team line-up that you can see at the top of the page, made up of some of the best young footballing talent in the country. Alongside established names such as Rooney and Joe Hart, we’ve also picked out players such Jade Bailey, one of the best prospects in the England Women’s team, and Eric Dier, an English teenager playing abroad in Portugal.
Together, they epitomise the different ideas on what it means to be English that the new fabric of England represents. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a closer look at the kit itself, the players we’ve chosen and the man who’s designed it, ahead of the shirt going on sale on October 12th. Ahead of that, you can see the kit being worn for the first time when England take on Bulgaria in their opening Euro 2012 game this Friday. In the meantime, here’s a video that offers a quick glimpse into the idea behind the new fabric of England:
For more on the New Fabric Of England, take a look at Umbro.com. And check back here later for a closer look at the new Home kit.
As a reward and thank you to the winners from our recent The World At Your Feet competition, we have had some special edition Speciali football boots made up for them, featuring their very own designs on the sole.
The ‘South African Soul’ entry chosen to be worn by players in South Africa was created by Jorge Angulo from Ecuador, which you can now see in all its glory above.
Eduardo Napoleao from Brazil was the runner up with his ‘Zebra’ design for the soles of our special Specialis. Their boots are now in the post – congratulations once again to both our winners! For more pictures of the boots, take a look at our special Flickr set here.
It’s a Bank Holiday this weekend here in the UK, which for many of us means one thing – a trip to the seaside! With this in mind, it was an easy choice for this week’s Friday Fun Pun choice of category.
Once again, we can only thank you for getting involved and giving us a laugh on a Friday afternoon, it’s been great seeing some of your great (and frankly terrible) puns! If you want to get involved, head to Facebook or Twitter on a Friday afternoon and get your punning hat on…
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been exploring the different worlds of five-a-side and futsal, as part of our Umbro Vs campaign, but today we get to hear about it from one of the finest futsal players on the planet. You’ve already seen his skills in action in the video above, and here’s a quick chat we had with futsal superstar Falcão about the game and why he thinks it’s the finest form of football…
Futsal isn’t that well known at the moment over here in the UK. For anyone who hasn’t played it before, how would you describe it?
‘Futsal is a team sport and very simple to play. For a fun game between friends, you just need 10 players, a ball and a pitch to start the game. I guess futsal nowadays is played by many children and adults without distinction of age or gender. The rules are very clear and straight to the point so any child will be able to learn. It’s no wonder that futsal is the most practiced sport all over the world.’
What’s the main difference between futsal and 11-a-side football?
‘The difference is not just the 11 players but also the space and the thinking during the game, because futsal is more dynamic than 11-a-side football. I’ve had the experience of playing football, and I can assure you that playing football is easier than futsal. In football, the bigger space provides a privileged view, making it easier. In futsal spaces are smaller and decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds.’
There seems to be a strong idea of fun and humour when playing futsal, is that important?
‘Yes, this is very important. Since I was a kid I like to have fun when playing futsal and if there was ever a time when I didn’t have fun while playing, maybe it would be time to quit. Happiness and fun are central to the idea behind futsal. I can say that, although I do have fun while working, it’s always with objectivity and determination.’
What could the world of football learn from futsal?
‘Futsal is the place where many future football stars players started out. There’s lots of great Brazilian players that have played futsal and gone on to become famous in football. Some examples are: Ronaldo Fenomeno, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Rivaldo, Ricardinho, Rivelino, Robinho, Neymar, Paulo Ganso, Alex, and many more. If you analyse the technical skills of these players, you’ll see that they all have skills from futsal. It helps them to process information and tricks in small sided games, making them outstanding players in comparison to others.’
And vice-versa – what could futsal learn from football?
‘Both follow the same way of thinking, but with different dimensions. Football and futsal are complementary. They will always be together both in tactics and in technical ideas. ‘
How did you get into playing futsal?
‘My dad used to play “várzea” football and futsal and I was always following him to the games. I always had a special relationship with the ball, and I realised that I would be able to find success through this relationship. My family always supported me in terms of practicing sports, and then I started to play for “Clube Guapira” and began in the world of futsal. Some time passed, and then I went to Corinthians, where I learned the tactics and technical side of the game, improving my skills and fulfilling my dream to be a professional player. ‘
When did you realise that you were a great player, and that futsal rather than regular football was for you?
‘When I went to Corinthians and used to play really well in the games, the coach always directed me to train for football, but that was not what I was looking for, so I always went back to futsal. My life is futsal, the dynamic provided by futsal is beautiful, and that’s what inspires me to practice and play futsal every day.’
What kind of skills does a futsal player need to succeed?
‘Skill is not a prime factor for a futsal player. The technical, the tactical and, most of all, loving the sport are most important.’
Who were your footballing heroes when you were growing up?
‘There were so many. But I really liked Vander Iacovino, Douglas and Jackson, all of them used to play futsal and I learned so much with them.’
Futsal could be seen as quite a South American thing, do you think that European players can excel at the game?
‘Futsal is a global sport, for example Spain have twice been world champions, while Russia, Portugal and Italy are recognised as great teams. Europe really excels at futsal, but I still think the Europeans need to evolve their youth ranks for players, like Brazil who do it very well.’
It seems like part of the culture in Brazil, where you’re from. Do you think it fits with Brazilian music and dancing? Would you ever listen to music whilst playing? If so, what would you listen to?
‘Yes, futsal combines with music and dancing, if you analyse the futsal tricks you’ll see an artist, a wizard or even a dancer, because the “ginga” is about us Brazilians. I really like music and I’m very eclectic with my tastes, I like listening to good music, as I like to do good tricks !’
Do you think that futsal could ever be as popular, or more popular, than football?
‘Futsal is very popular and practiced all over the world. May be the great difference is about the marketing and advertisement work, which is not explored globally. In Brazil it is not this way, we have great sponsors and media in general that support futsal. The unique difference between football and futsal is we are not an Olympic sport as football is.’
Thanks to Falcão for taking the time to answer our questions, and for showcasing his skills in our video! For more information on our Umbro Vs range, take a look at Umbro.com, and remember that if you’re in a 5-a-side team and want to be in with a chance of playing at Wembley, the FA Umbro Fives is now open for applicants – click here to sign up.
With our Umbro Vs collection, we’ve been exploring the worlds of five-a-side and futsal, aiming to gain a glimpse into the distinct worlds of each. But what does it actually look like on the pitch? There’s no one better placed to offer us a glimpse into the world of futsal than Brazilian superstar Falcão. We’ve got an interview with Falcão that we’ll be able to unveil tomorrow, but for now here’s a look at the Brazilian magician showcasing his skills on the pitch. Providing a unique director’s commentary are our Manchester 5-a-side players, listen closely to hear what they think of Falcão’s silky skills!
Yesterday we saw the culmination of the fourth Umbro Industries with the staging of a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style final at Dale Street, which resulted in an unprecedented three projects gaining funding to develop and progress their projects. Up for grabs was funding to the sound of £10,000, awarded quarterly to support local creatives in realising their finest ideas.
Competition to get to the final was intense, with plenty of entries putting forward plans across a broad spectrum of arts in the Greater Manchester community.
Four ideas were chosen from those put forward and invited to present their ideas to a panel of well-known locals from the creative scene, there to decide using their expertise how to best allocate the grant. The proposals that emerged successful were Krysko and Kashiwagi, Streets Above and TOURIST magazine.
Krysko and Kashiwagi were awarded £6,500, which will go towards an exciting event they are staging which will mix music and art together. The duo are set to perform in the Whitworth Art Gallery on the 2nd October, combining wind-up gramophones and the latest DJ technology to create a musical accompaniment to the Gallery’s exhibitions. The Umbro Industries grant will help get more people from the community involved in the performances, as well as with the production of an album of the commissioned music.
A £3,000 grant will help Streets Above produce a pilot drama webisode centered around the lives of locals in a free-running group. They are then hoping to build on this by getting others involved with additional content across different media platforms such as blogs and events.
Last but not least, TOURIST magazine have been awarded £500 which the panel specified should go towards producing a business plan to track its future direction, from an online platform for art, music, fashion and literature, into the future.
All four finalists impressed the panel with their ambitious ideas, and they’ll be hoping for more of the same from the next round of Umbro Industries. You can upload your ideas through the Umbro Industries website now, with the next final being held in November. For more pictures from our latest final check out our special Flickr group, and if you’d like any more information on the project, feel free to contact us on industries@umbro.com.
As the delegation arrive in Manchester today, we thought it would be the perfect chance to show our support for England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018 here at Umbro. So we held our own ‘wear your shirt to work’ day, with some classic and current kits being worn today to show our support – check out these pictures of the Umbro staff who made the effort! Also, check the rubbish attempt by those in the photo below at pretending to be working!
If you want to show your support for England’s 2018 bid, don’t forget to visit our special website, where you can win a VIP trip to Wembley.
We often see players going through rituals before a game, but do you have any before you step onto the pitch? That’s the idea behind the latest video from our Umbro Vs collection.
Looking at the rituals that our players in Manchester and São Paulo go through before a game, it reveals that, despite the many differences between the 5-a-side and futsal cultures, there’s plenty of similarities as well.
Cartoonist Todd James has used real interviews with players in both cities to create these two terrific animations. First of all, the Manchester players reveal the rituals they have to go through before kick off:
Here, the São Paulo team tell us about the rituals they perform before showcasing their skills on the pitch:
Check back for more on Umbro Vs later this week, when we’ll also be speaking to one of the world’s finest futsal players, Brazilian superstar Falcão.
Reference to specific teams, players or organisations within this blog - or links from it to external team, Player, individual, media, community or organisational websites - does not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation of umbro or the umbro brand. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of umbro.
