Yesterday, we had the opportunity to explore the intriguing concept behind the the New Fabric Of England, the design that features on the new England Home shirt, courtesy of the designer himself, Peter Saville. Today, we’ve got the second part of our interview with the iconic designer, in which he discusses his early years at Factory Records and the role that Manchester has played in his career…

Peter, you’ve obviously got close links to English football now thanks to this collaboration, but have you always been a fan?

‘A casual football fan! In terms of players, for me there’s been two footballers who’ve constituted a key moment – George Best, when I was a teenager he was at United, and I saw that European Cup final at Wembley in 1968. He was the footballer at that time, and he represents an important moment in sport – he was the first pop star footballer, and all of those qualities that we associate with George Best made an impression on me as a teenager.

And then 25 years later, you get Eric Cantona. Again, he was a distinctly different moment in football. We don’t often get footballers like that, who transcend football in that way.’

Both Umbro and yourself are from Manchester – what role would you say the city has had in your career?

‘Manchester has given me the greatest and most significant opportunities in my career, and has provided me with an opportunity to do what I wanted to do, that’s one of the qualities that the city has. There is a willfulness that is typical of the city, it seems to understand the individual that wants to do something, and it makes space for the individual to do things. My career starts in Manchester with Factory, so just as a 23 year-old I was able to decide how I wanted to do something and was given the opportunity without anyone forcing a compromise on me.

None of my work has ever been about Manchester, my work has always been about the wider society in which I live. The brilliant thing is that Manchester has given me the opportunity to do it. ‘

You’re perhaps best known for your time working as a graphic designer art director for Factory Records, but what part of your career are you most proud of?

‘The single piece of work that I would put forward when I’m asked to do so is a record cover or a pair of record covers: Blue Monday and Power, Corruption & Lies. They were the first piece of work where I actually felt that I had really done something for myself.

In 1983, when it came round to doing those two covers, there was a step change in the music itself. Blue Monday is an interesting point in the development of popular music, it’s a fusion of music that was almost segregated before that. I did something that was predominantly my own thinking, and not something that someone else had done at an earlier time. Blue Monday is the abstract version of it, and Power, Corruption & Lies has that abstract quality but also has an image, and as such represents the two poles of things that I like – the romantic and the harshly technical. So, still whenever I see that, it’s like a kind of self portrait for me.’

The England football shirt is probably one of the biggest canvases to work on – was it a daunting task?

It was, but actually it turns out that having some fresh impetus at this point is a good idea. This idea constitutes a new way to understand England: we know it isn’t what is was for the last hundred years, it’s a new thing now, and we’ll be positive about it and go forward together.’

Thanks again to Peter for answering our question on his New Fabric of England design – for more details on the shirt, take a look at Umbro.com. Check back here on the blog tomorrow, where we’ll be taking a closer look at the 23 players we’ve chosen as the New Fabric of England.