Umbro’s brand new England away shirt has been unveiled and deposed captain John Terry has been kept well away from the launch. The Chelsea star had been an important part of the shirt’s marketing process and was heavily featured in viral advertisements and on the Umbro official website.
Alas, in a shift away from using the Chelsea defender and his national team cohorts to launch the kit, the English sports brand instead turned to popular rock band Kasabian.
Chelsea star Terry was last week stripped of the England captaincy by Italian coach Fabio Capello after allegations surrounding his sexual indiscretions caused a media storm. The Blues defender has since been replaced by former vice-captain Rio Ferdinand, although the Manchester United centre-back is currently sidelined by suspension.
A shirt worthy of Bobby Moore and co...but are the players themselves?
Sporting the brand new replica kit during a gig in Paris, Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan spoke to esteemed music publication NME about the honour:
“I'm the first person to wear it which is crazy.
"They said they wanted to take it away from the footballers for once and do something up to date. They wanted to combine with rock n roll. They're two powerful things... I'm honoured to wear it.
Classic red design with oversized white cuffs
The shirt, based heavily on that worn by the 1966 World Cup winning side, will be first worn by England in their friendly at London's Wembley Stadium against Egypt on March 3, and will go on sale on the same day.
Current England home kit as sported by Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry
What do you make of the latest England kit? Will you be wearing one this summer when England head to South Africa? Do you prefer the White or the Red shirt?