Nothing quite captures the attention of a nation like international football. From the diehard disciples that follow England, to the fans who might just be starting their journey as a supporter, UEFA Euro 2024 will unite the country.
When is UEFA Euro 2024?
The competition begins on June 14th – which you’ll be pleased to hear is a Friday. Kicking us off is the host nation, Germany, who’ll welcome Scotland to the Allianz Arena with an 8pm kick off.
Where is UEFA Euro 2024?
It’s a country renowned for its football fan culture, so it makes sense that one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments would take place in Germany.
Games will be played across 10 cities and stadiums. Berlin, Germany’s capital, will use Hertha Berlin’s ground, the Olympiastadion Berlin. It has a capacity of 71,000 and with the 2006 FIFA World Cup final being played here, it’s no stranger to hold huge international fixtures.
In the northeast of the country, matches will be played in Hamburg. To the east, fixtures will be held in the cities of Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, and Cologne.
Fans will travel west to games in Leipzig, Southwest to Stuttgart and southeast to Munich. In the heart of Germany, Frankfurt will be hosting matches.
Who has a Chance of Winning?
Finalists last time out, Gareth Southgate has a young, exciting squad at his disposal. Options aplenty with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, England are considered by many as favourites to clinch the trophy.
You can’t disregard the two-time winners, France. They’ve a solid defence that includes William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, while their attack boasts elite finishers in Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe.
Given their pedigree, coupled with having a home advantage, Germany will be in with a shout of landing silverware. Julian Nagelsmann is one of football’s brightest managerial stars, and with Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, he has the starlets to match.
Spain and Portugal also aren’t short on superstars and will no doubt be in the conversation for making the final.
The Fabric of the Game
A big part of tournament football is all-new kits that grace the pitch. This year has seen designs that defy tradition and divide opinion, while some have been accepted as future classics.
With that said, we decided to delve into the archives and find out which England kits are considered the best of all time.
To find this out, we looked at three key data points that included: search volume, fan ratings, and average resale value. After combining these criteria, we gave the kits a score out of 10.
The Best England Kits of All Time
Top of the table and recording a score of 9.23/10 is England’s 1990 home kit. Landing in a white colourway with navy details, this iconic shirt was donned by ballers like Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, and Bryan Robson. You too can rep the famous strip and cop a replica here.
In second with a score of 6.94/10 came the 1996 Euro home shirt. The tournament was hosted in England, but Terry Venables’ men couldn’t capatilise on the home advantage. Instead, Germany came out on top, could the fortunes reverse this year?
Templates from the ’98 World Cup are held in high regard. It’s no surprise England’s home shirt ranked third. Similar in design to the Euro 1996 shirt, it scored 5.59/10. Fourth spot belongs to the 1990 away shirt – the only away kit to make the top 10.
Most Searched England Kits of All Time
Proving its popularity and claiming top spot out of 10, the 1990 home shirt has 4,400 searches per month over the last five years. Taking second spot with a total of 2900 searches per month is England’s home shirt from 1996.
Breaking the trend of being a shirt from the ‘90s is the 2022 England away shirt which comes in third – incidentally, this is the only away to shirt to feature in the top 10.
This shirt by Nike comes in a red colourway and has short sleeves and a spread collar with navy trims. It certainly has a retro vibe, which maybe explains the appeal with 2400 searches per month.
Highest Rated England Kits of All Time
What’s a holy grail shirt to you could be a disaster to another. It’s always interesting to see how fans rate kits. So we set out to uncover which shirts are fans’ favourite. Kits were scored out of five, and if they received the same score, they were then ranked by how many votes that they received.
At number 1 is the England home shirt from 2024. It achieved a score of 4.1/5 and received a substantial 1167 votes. Occupying second spot with the same ranking but fewer votes (689) is the home shirt from 2020.
Two away shirts made the top 10, with one of them securing third place in the table. Banking another 4.1, the 2020 away shirt accumulated 356 votes. In fifth came the other away shirt – this worn at the 2018 World Cup – with 253 votes.
Highest Average Resale England Kits of All Time
Over the years, demand has soared for desirable football kits – particularly for those that are considered ‘classic’. Those lucky enough to own any could fetch a pretty penny for them from avid collectors.
Leading the way with the highest resale value is the 1990 England away shirt. In a red colourway with a subtle sublimated print, it’s easy to see why this shirt might be on peoples’ wish list. If you want to add this to your collection, at £350, you might be scared to wear it out!
You’ll have to part with around £275 if you want to rep the England home shirt by Admiral that was worn in 1980.
Although it’s associated with missing out on the World Cup following a controversial defeat to the Netherlands, adding the England home shirt from 1994 will make your wallet £258 lighter. And just behind in fourth with a resale value of £249.66 is the 1990 home shirt.
Blowing the Whistle
That’s full-time on the Best England Kits of All Time. We hope you’re just as excited about a Summer of football as we are.
If not, and if this blog hasn’t done the trick (insert Stuart Pearce crying meme), maybe scrolling through our collection of replica England shirts could kick off your tournament fever?
Methodology
- Index looked at three data points: Google Keyword Planner search demand, fan rating from Football Kit Archive, and highest average resale from Vintage Football Shirts
- Each of the scores from each data point was then ranked using the normalised score method (the highest score being 1 and the lowest being 0) – all three scores for each kit were then averaged and multiplied by 10 to get a score out of 10.
- Imagery from Football Kit Archive
