This year for the first time the England football kits are being manufactured by American sportswear company Nike. Umbro has been supplying the shirts since the 1950s, Umbro was bought by Nike in 2007 but retained it own brand identity and continued to supply Umbro branded football shirts. However, Nike decided to sell Umbro and focus on the Nike brand in May 2012, at this point Nike made the Football Association an offer regarding the future manufacture of the England football kits, the FA announced in September 2012 that a deal had been agreed. The home kit was worn at Wembley for the first time last week, and the official launch of the England Away Shirt took place in time for the team to showcase it during their friendly against Brazil at the Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janerio. The England team produced a decent performance in their new kit drawing 2-2 with the mighty Brazilians.Nike has focused on producing simple, elegant styles that reflect the traditional heritage of England. This year is the 150th anniversary of the English national football team making them the joint oldest club in the world alongside the Scottish national side, the crest and banner below are white and gold in colour and the banner reads "150 years, 1963 2013". The England Away Shirt has returned to the well known and loved red colour, after last year's Umbro kit was blue. Red or blue away shirts are the traditional choice however since its introduction in the 1950s red has been the most favoured with supporters. The kit the England team were wearing during their World Cup win in 1966 included a red away shirt.
The style of the new shirt is all red in colour and includes a traditional polo neck style collar, the collar features two buttons, a red one at the bottom, and white at the top, these are said to reflect the colours of the St Georges cross.  The bottom hem features a split panel that reveals a stitched St Georges cross. Above the badge there is a gold coloured star to represent England's World Cup success. The shirt is teamed with white shorts and red socks that complete the look perfectly.
Nike produce some of the most technologically superior football kits in the world and the England Away Shirt is no exception. Nike are an extremely environment conscious company and have worked tirelessly to develop the technology that uses recycled plastic bottles to produce their football kits, the new England kits are manufactured from no more that thirteen recycled plastic bottles. The kit is very lightweight weighing no more than 150g and uses Nike's exclusive dri-fit technology to increase sweat evaporation, and ventilation to keep the wearer cool and dry.
What do you think about the new Nike England Away Kit?
Do you think the new Nike kits are better than the previous Umbro designs?
You can show your support for the England football team by ordering your England football kits from Soccer Box.
