All white on the night...or purple pain for England?
THE England team’s hopes of glory at Euro 2024 could be in peril if they opt for the new purple kit which was unveiled last month.
The recent form of top stars such as Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham makes the Three Lions one of the favourites for the tournament, which kicks off in Germany in June. But number crunchers have discovered that the side get far better results when they stick to the traditional white shirts.
When they experimented with an unusual yellow strip in 1973 the results were disastrous.
They only managed a 1-1 draw with Czechoslovakia, a 2-0 loss to Poland and a 2-0 defeat by Italy.
Since the glory of theworld Cup win in 1966, England have played 643 games.
Despite famously wearing red shirts in the 4-2 win against West Germany, England have won the fewest games wearing red, aside from the ill-fated “yellow experiment”.
Wearing a white shirt is by far and away the most successful, with a win ratio of 58 per cent since 1966.
A quarter of games have been drawn, with just an 18 per cent loss rate.
Wearing a blue shirt came in second place, with a 53 per cent win rate. The Three Lions drew 27 per cent of games while wearing blue, and lost 20 per cent.
Wearing a red shirt resulted in just a 50 per cent win ratio, with 31 per cent of matches drawn and 19 per cent lost. So, despite England wearing white shirts in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, which they lost on penalties, wearing a white shirt gives them the biggest chance of glory. Fan Sam Potter, 42, of Harrow, North West London, agreed and is “desperate” for England to avoid wearing the purple strip.
He said: “Red, white and blue – those are our colours. Purple doesn’t belong at all, and you saw what happened when we wore yellow.”
The FA has chosen purple for the “away” kit for this summer’s Euros.
With Serbia and Denmark coming up in the group stage, on June 16 and 20, England will likely wear white, as both opponents wear red for their home shirts. England’s final group fixture, on June 25, is against Slovenia, who also wear white.
But since England are the designated “home team”, they get first preference and will likely pick their all-white home kit.
So it means England are only likely to be seen in their controversial purple strip if they reach the knockout rounds. A spokesman for casino guide Nodepositdaily.com said: “There is no sure-fire way to predict who will win the Euros in Germany but perhaps if they’re wearing white, history will be on their side.”