The reason why England’s football teams play in white shirts dates back to well over a century ago and owes much to bitter rivals Scotland.
The Three Lions will again pull on their iconic white jerseys for tomorrow’s Euro 2024 final showdown against Spain as they bid to win their first men’s trophy since 1966.
But ahead of the game, the origins behind the colour have again surfaced online.
It has been revealed that England have typically donned white since the first-ever international fixture against Scotland in 1872 – a goalless draw.
With Scotland wearing navy – indeed, the team, made up of 11 Queen’s Park players, wore their club gear – the Three Lions were forced to choose another colour.
In the end, they settled for an eye-catching white. According to The Sun, the FA supplied the team with kits that may have in fact been spare cricket tops.
After the game, England did not immediately stick with their white strips and for a little while would instead sew their badge onto their club kits.
For a period, white-collared shirts were then used alongside club shorts and socks.
By the end of the 19th century, however, the press demanded consistency and England turned to their now-traditional white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.
It is said the navy was chosen to differentiate from Germany’s all-white strip.
Meanwhile, ahead of tomorrow night’s final in Berlin, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate insisted he wanted to win the trophy ‘so much it hurts’.
‘I know the job now and I’m my own biggest critic, reviewing everything clearly,’ Southgate said.
‘I know there is a body of work there and how we’ve worked with different groups of players to get the outcomes we have.
‘I want to win so much it hurts, don’t get me wrong, but I can handle what comes.’
