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Chris Byfield
People are only just realising why England play in white.
In the second international break in as many months, England takes on Australia at Wembley in a friendly, before facing Italy in a crucial European Championship qualifier.
Ahead of the two international encounters, the England faithful are discovering why the Three Lions play in white.
Indeed, England have donned an all-white kit since the first-ever international fixture against Scotland at the West of Scotland Cricket Club back in 1872, with the two sides playing out a 0-0 draw.
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On that day the Tartan Terriers wore a full navy kit, with the team of 11 Queen’s Park players actually wearing their club kit.
In turn, the Three Lions had to go for another colour to ensure the two sides could be distinguished.
According to the Sun, for the fixture, the FA supplied the England side with white kits, which may have been spare cricket tops.
Upon the conclusion of the game England did not immediately stick to the white strip, however. For a while, the side would merely sew their England badge onto their club kits.
Then, for a period, white-collared shirts were introduced with players wearing their club shorts and socks.
By the late Nineteenth century, however, the press pushed for consistency, and England subsequently opted to wear white shirts, navy shorts, and white socks.
Indeed, the navy shorts were allegedly chosen to differentiate from Germany’s all-white strip.
There has been some variation to this combination in recent years, such as the white shorts of 2009 and the red shorts of 2012, yet generally speaking, these tend to be the colours England still wear to this day.
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