With work starting on the St George’s Park development in March, the plans to improve English football at all levels is well underway, but it’s not just a set of football pitches. In February, Gareth Southgate was appointed as the FA’s new head of elite development, and he’s directly involved with St George’s Park and the work that it will do for the game. We spoke to him recently about what the new centre hopes to achieve.

What does your role with the FA involve?

‘My role at the moment is to implement a lot of the plans that the development team have come up with, and that is an 18-month role. So, the end of that should coincide with the opening of St George’s Park, and so my role once its up and running has yet to be decided. But at the moment it’s looking at what’s going to go in there from a football perspective. There’s so much going on in terms of the hotel, the medical centre, but of course we need some technical football people to have an input into that side of things.’

Is that the people that are going to be doing the coaching then?

‘That is part of the review of all our coaching that’s constantly being updated, but it’s also about the physical facilities at the centre. We need to make sure that certain things are there from a football point of view, the quality of the pitches for example, the equipment, the logistics of the dressing rooms, it all needs to be decided.’

It must be exciting to be involved in such a significant project at an early stage?

‘Well, I would say that I’m lucky that I wasn’t involved at an early stage, as this has been a ten year project! For a lot of people, this has been a long and difficult road, and it’s great that we’ve got the go-ahead to do it now. Lots of people have put years into these ideas, and it’s very exciting to come in and be involved now.

As a former England international, if I was playing now and turning up at a national football centre as either a senior or junior international, I would have been very proud and felt better about myself as a player. Rather than staying in a random hotel that could be anywhere in the country, you’ll have a sense of belonging here that’s very important. From a coach’s point of view, when I did the coaching awards that I’ve got, they were done in various universities around the country, and again if you were going to a national centre you’d feel like you were part of something very special. To have that home for everyone is so important as we move forward.’

Is part of the aim of the centre to bring everyone together?

‘Definitely. There will be occasions when the under-17s are training there at the same time as the senior team for example, and that’s an inspiration for those younger players who can learn from the first team.’

What is the ultimate goal for St George’s Park?

‘That it’ll be an inspirational venue for English football. That includes elements of it that are community based, there’ll be pitches that the local community can use, and it’s a place that people will aspire to go to. It’ll have top class facilities, world class training facilities, and it’s a really healthy step forward for us all.’

Thanks to Gareth for taking the time to speak to us about St George’s Park. We’ll have more on the centre and the work it’s going to do as the project develops, so keep your eyes peeled!

Ahead of tomorrow’s crunch Euro2012 qualifier against Wales, we sat down with England captain John Terry. Armed with a handful of questions from some of the finest minds in online football blogging, we quizzed JT on all things England, young prospects at his club and the prospect of him becoming a manager one day. Here’s what he had to say…

How are you feeling ahead of the Wales match?

“I’m looking forward to it, looking forward to playing them in the Millennium stadium, obviously the fans are going to be really up for the game, and the players are as well. It’ll be full of passion, and in that first 15 to 20 minutes of the game it’ll be a good old ding-dong!”

Brooks Peck, Yahoo!’s Dirty Tackle: When on England duty and holed up in the team hotel, which of your teammates is the most fun to have around and why?

“Obviously Wayne has always got some good banter around the changing room, and he’s always buzzing around, he can’t sit still! He’s always looking to get involved in the banter, and he’s one of the funniest.”

Since you’re working on your coaching badges, would you rather manage England or a club side one day?

“I think initially for me I’d love to manage Chelsea, whether that comes two years after I finish playing, straight away or five years away, I’d love to manage Chelsea Football Club. I’ve been there all my career, and I want to stay on here to the end, and I feel that I’ve got some knowledge to pass on, maybe to the youth team at first and then the first team. I’m doing the badges at the moment, and hopefully that’ll be done sooner rather than later, and then I can look towards that.”

Have you ever heard Rio Ferdinand call someone an “egg” or does he just do that on Twitter?

“That is one of his words, yeah! It’s like a donut or something like that. Maybe it’s a southern thing, but he does say that!”

Ben Hooper, The Original Winger: Do you see a difference in the type of player that is breaking into the England team now, compared to when you first were called up?

“The confidence that these players that are coming through seem to carry is really impressive. I’ve seen players come into the side with so much self-belief, whether it’s on the training ground or in a match, and that can only serve them well. When I first came in I was shy, I didn’t really want to speak to anybody, but the lads that come in now are very assured of themselves, which is great.”

Mark Apostolou, CaughtOffside: With Fabio Capello set to leave the England post after the Euro 2012 competition, who would you like to see take his place, and should the new boss be English or does that not matter?

“I don’t think it matters, a lot of people are saying that, everyone’s putting Harry Redknapp’s name in there already, and with what he’s done at Tottenham and at Portsmouth you can understand it. What I will say though is that Fabio has been great, I don’t think he gets enough credit for the work he does on the training ground and in the team meetings as well. He has been very good, and we have been fortunate to work and to learn from him. But who knows? It’s down to the FA at the end of the day, and that’ll be left with them.”

Richard Anderson, The Spoiler: Who are the most promising young England players coming through?

“For me, the players that are coming through are really encouraging. Everyone’s talking about Jack at Arsenal, we’ve got Josh McEachran at our place as well, and he’ll definitely play for England one day. It just looks so easy for him. He’s got great feet, he’s similar to Jack in that he looks slight, but he’s actually really strong, and that’s down to the work he does off the field. We’ve got a young lad Nathaniel Chalobah, who’s just turned 16, he’s been training with us since he was 15. He’s really good, and confident in himself again. It’s difficult for me to see players in other clubs, but those two at Chelsea have definitely impressed me. I have played against Connor Wickham, physically he’s very strong, and he’s quick as well. Definitely one for the future, scored a great goal recently. Very difficult to play against!”

Chris Toy, Studs Up: You’ve captained both England and Chelsea, what are the main differences between the two?

“People ask that quite a lot actually, and the only difference really is that you get to have that day-to-day relationship with the other players, where you get to know what makes people tick. England’s different because you get a shorter space of time to get to know people, but there’s not too much really. Whoever is captain, with England there’s always players in that squad that are bringing experience to the dressing room. One player might have the armband, but there’s always plenty of people talking in there.”

If your career could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

“That I always give my all. From a personal point of view, whenever I pull a shirt on, I always give everything I’ve got. I might not always play well, but I always gave everything. Obviously, winning a tournament would be the ultimate – you look at the respect that people have for those players from 1966, and you have to hope that one day that could be you.”

Thanks to John for taking the time to answer our questions, and to our blogging friends for sending the questions over! If you want to get a new England shirt as the team play their crucial qualifying matches, don’t forget that you can get free shirt printing at England Store.com.

We’ve already mentioned the Modern England range, inspired by Peter Saville’s England home design, but we thought you’d like to know that you can now get the complete range – including the Geometric Tee above – online exclusively through Harvey Nichols here in the UK. For more information on the premium lifestyle range, which uses Saville’s New Fabric Of England as inspiration for jumpers, tees and polos, click through to the Harvey Nichols store.

To see the complete Modern England range, head over to Harvey Nichols now. If you’re in the USA, you can check out the range at Pro Direct Soccer, and you can also check us out in Japan at the very cool sounding Eliminator. Modern England, all around the world!

Last night at Manchester’s Harvey Nichols store, legendary designer Peter Saville was in town to help us unveil the Umbro Modern England collection. In front of a special invited audience that included Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart, Saville took part in a special Q&A hosted by XFM DJ Gareth Brooks.

Saville, the man behind the New Fabric Of England pattern which features on the current England home shirt, talked about his involvement in the process, his design, and his thoughts on design in general. Luckily, we were in the crowd to grab some video of the man in action. Unfortunately we couldn’t grab any canapes for you, but here’s the video that should give you an idea of what Saville’s idea and the collection is all about:

On changing the colour of the St George’s Cross

On the Modern England collection

On the link between fashion and football

The Modern England collection is inspired by Peter Saville’s design, and features a range of items including graphic tees, sweaters and lightweight jackets. It’s available exclusively from Harvey Nichols, and you can grab a sneak peak of some of the items right here:

Think you know the Umbro Ramsey jacket? Think again! These four one-off designs are putting a new spin on our classic design, which was famously worn by England‘s World Cup winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey. Each of these new designs gives a distinctly different look to the classic design, with the Checkmate jacket (above) adding a sharp blue check.

The Wooster jacket adds a brown herringbone look to the Ramsey, making an already classy jacket look even classier.

The Blue Monday jacket features a outer layer crafted from 100% recycled polyester, meaning you can look good and feel good about doing your bit at the same time.

Finally, the Back In Black design goes for a sleek all-black look, giving the Ramsey jacket an edgy makeover. With so many different designs, there’s sure to be an Alf Ramsey jacket to suit everyone!

As we head towards the end of the year, we’re going to be checking in with some of our top players to find out their best moments over the past twelve months, both on and off the pitch, with some quickfire questions. We’re starting today with a player who’s had a fantastic year, Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart. Here’s Joe’s answers to our rapid set of questions…

Joe Hart’s Best Of 2010

Best footballing moment? ‘Got to be being part of England’s World Cup squad.’

Top match? ‘That would be getting the shout to play for City against Tottenham in the first game of this season.’

Top player at City? ‘Carlos Tevez.’

Top player outside of City? ‘Lionel Messi.’

Song of the year? ‘Erm… Jay-Z and Alesha Keys – Empire State Of Mind’ (Actually released in 2009!)

Film of the year? ‘What did I like this year… the new Harry Potter one. That’s the most recent I can think of!’

TV programme of the year? ‘The Unit’.

We’ll have more quick-fire answers from our players soon…

Taking a break from charming the nation every weekend on The X Factor, boyband One Direction got the chance to meet the England squad last week as they went along to Wembley. The result might not have been what we were hoping for, but the boys certainly enjoyed their visit – and the England players looked pretty excited to be meeting one of the nation’s hottest music acts!

The One Direction guys also looked pretty good in the new England kit, which has been created in collaboration with top creative designer Peter Saville. Whether their football is as good as their singing is up for debate!

The new England shirt is available to buy now – for more information on the kit and the story behind it, take a look here.

Around the time that we revealed the new England kit, we also put together a squad which we felt represented the New Fabric Of England; young players that we felt would go on to have a great future in football and represent their country with pride. So we’re really pleased that one of our squad, Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson, is making the step up to the senior team tonight. The young Wearsider has continued his great form from last season into the current campaign, and is rated as one of the best upcoming midfielders in the country.

Some of the other players included in our New Fabric squad had already established themselves in the England setup, and some of the others are also stepping up, such as Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere and Adam Johnson. For the full squad that we’ve put together, take a look at this special section of the Umbro website.

And good luck to Jordan Henderson for tonight!

Earlier this year, our crest design competition caused a bit of a stir amongst football fans and designers who wanted to create their own badge for their team. We were inundated with fantastic ideas, created by either using our own Umbro Crest Designer or uploading a DIY design, and spent a good while picking out our five winners.

Now, we’re very pleased to reveal their prize – a one-off, extremely limited edition shirt featuring their design. We think they look absolutely fantastic, and we’re sure you’ll agree! Check out the five winners here…

Peacock India by Regulus Fernandez

WAGs United by Russell Jones

Slug FC by Jack Faulkner

Rosbeef FC by Antoine David

Havana Moon by Toshiyuki Aida

You can still use the Umbro Crest Designer to test out your best crest ideas – check it out here and give it your best shot!