FA will vet England kits in wake of St George row
Nike, which designs and makes the shirts, refused to rule out changing red and white colours in future
ENGLAND’S 2026 World Cup kit will be subject to a new Football Association vetting process amid a backlash over the multi-coloured Cross of St George on their jersey for this summer’s European Championship.
The Telegraph can reveal that the FA plans an urgent overhaul of how England strips are approved in future amid extraordinary claims the man who signed off on the current shirt had failed to spot the “woke” change to the back of its collar.
The switch has been widely condemned, including by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, and Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, while Gareth Southgate, the England manager, said the controversial design could not be described as the Cross of St George because it is not red and white.
Mr Sunak said: “When it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them because they’re a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”
Sources say the design process for England’s World Cup shirt is likely to have already begun. It follows the revelation that the FA commercial director who is accused of signing off on the design of the controversial Euro 2024 kit almost two years ago, Navin Singh, may actually have missed the purple, blue and red cross when he was shown drawings of the proposed strip.
A source close to Mr Singh, who quit the FA last year to become chief operating officer at Six Nations Rugby, has denied he was solely responsible for signing off on England’s current kit.
Mr Singh was said not to have seen the cross redesign, despite the source also alleging he had thwarted plans by Nike for colours used on the shirt to have more of a “rainbow” effect amid fears that would look like “virtue signalling”.
Meanwhile, the sportswear giant has refused to commit to banning its designers from proposing changes to the Cross of St George on England’s next kit or to provide any details of its plans for England’s 2026 World Cup strip.
The FA declined to comment, having broken its silence on the kit row on Friday,
‘The new kit has a number of design elements meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team’
saying: “The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team.
“The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar.
“It is not the first time that different coloured Cross of St George-inspired designs have been used on England shirts. We are very proud of the red and white Cross of St George – the England flag. We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley [last night] – as it always is – when England play Brazil.”
Nike said: “We have been a proud partner of the FA since 2012 and understand the significance and importance of the Cross of St George and it was never our intention to offend, given what it means to England fans.”