Blue is the colour for England as Three Lions give traditional red the boot



By Sportsmail Reporter

England will play in blue next season after ditching the traditional red away strip.



The Three Lions latest kit was officially unveiled on Friday, and David Haye will become the first person to don the strip when he takes on Wladimir Klitschko in Saturday evening's mouth-watering heavyweight title fight.

Making an entrance: David Haye will wear England's new strip when he walks into the ring to face Klitschko





The British boxer's choice of attire is likely to rile German fight fans with the fight being staged in Hamburg.



'It's an honour to represent my country away from home and as a football fan, the opportunity to launch the England Away shirt is a huge privilege,' Haye said ahead of Friday's weigh-in.





'I've had several messages of support from the England camp, including Fabio Capello, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, so I'm determined to put in a strong performance and bring all the world title belts back to England.

'Like many English sportsmen and women, I've faced opposing fans when I've fought abroad before and tomorrow night being in Germany will be nothing new for me. And I know the support back home will be right behind me.'

Sportsmail's review by Tom Derry

At first glance, the new England shirt just isn’t right. It looks like the new training or goalkeeper's shirt.

How can you have an England away shirt that’s not red? From the 140 shirts England has ever worn, 87 have been white, 41 have been red and 10 have been blue (soon to be 11), with the exception of the solitary yellow one back in summer 1973 and one grey in Euro 96.

The new dark blue colour goes against English tradition, and although some may argue that the first ever England away kit was blue, every blue away kit has been either a sky or royal blue, never a depressing dark blue.

Red represents the fire and the passion that comes with being an England supporter. The St. George's cross is red, not blue.

The iconic images of Bobby Moore lifting the World Cup in 1966, or Beckham scoring against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup just wouldn’t be the same in a dark blue shirt.

I do like the collar, it adds a touch of class but I really hope Umbro’s intention wasn’t for supporters to wear it as a polo shirt down to the pub. And what’s this funny texture on the front of the shirt? I’m not a fan of that either.

However, I can understand where Umbro are coming from, the team definitely needs a facelift, but this needs to come from within the player’s hearts, not from a fake new image.

Verdict: 5/10

Men in red: England will ditch the traditional colours in favour of a navy blue strip



