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In 1974, out went Sir Alf Ramsey and Umbro and in came Don Revie and Admiral. Revie had a relationship with the Leicester-based sportswear company from his time at Leeds and brought them to the national team. With it came new designs and colours as well as a commercial relationship between kit suppliers and teams. I love that it’s become a song about so many things. I don’t think it was ever just about England: American baseball teams have adopted it; Werder Bremen rewrote the words one year. The lyrics seem to have gone into the vernacular. No one said “years of hurt” before. When we first recorded it, lots of people said to me – even journalists: “What’s the three lions in reference to?” We’d say: “Well, they’re on the shirt.” It’s amazing that when you think of Three Lions, people still think of the song rather than the shirt. ( Ian Broudie was talking to Rich Pelley) David Baddiel, comedian, writer and “singer”
Which is why I think that when it caught fire, chiming with other fans’ experience, and people sang it at Wembley, it had this strange, brilliant effect – which is it’s a football song, for a country, that doesn’t feel nationalistic or triumphalist or aggressive. It’s upbeat but it retains throughout something melancholy and vulnerable. The first time I heard it sung by 78,000 people I could hear that too: the pain and the hope, as well as the joy. ( David Baddiel) England wore red for the first time in May 1947 against Switzerland (Image credit: Three Lions on a Shirt Book) Then, in 1152, Henry I’s grandson Henry, Duke of Normandy married Eleanor of Aquitaine – whose family also had a lion on its crest. Young Henry himself became King Henry II of England in 1154 – founding the great Plantagenet dynasty After nine years with Admiral, England and Umbro rekindled their relationship in early 1984. This time the manufacturer's double diamond logo appeared on the front of the lightweight polyester shirts. By the time the World Cup in 1990 came around Umbro had gone for a shirt that was complemented by a simple yet striking pattern of zig-zags and diamonds within the fabric and navy collar. And while the look of the Three Lions may have changed over the years, they have been ever present on the England kit since the 1870s - apart from a few rogue shirts in the 1970s - but we’ll come to that later.When we sat down to write, the first thing me and Frank talked about was reality: the reality of being an England fan that is. The show was about the reality of being a football fan and the way we approached the song was the same. Instead of writing an idealised or triumphant song, like most of the ones beforehand, with their visions of winning the cup, this time more than any other time, we decided to write a song about assuming that we, England, were going to lose. Because that’s what experience had taught us. Three Lions, really, is a song about magical thinking. About assuming we are going to lose, reasonably, based on experience, but hoping that somehow we won’t. That’s why the lyrics move from: Everyone seems to know the score / They’ve heard it all before / They’re so sure / That England’s going to blow it away … To But I remember… – those fragments of glory in England’s footballing history that, above and beyond your own rationality, give you hope.
June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. Three Lions on a Shirt is a beautiful, high quality coffee table book containing an incredible collection of historic match worn England football shirts. England played Czechoslovakia in 1975 and seven of the Admiral kits did not have the Three Lions badge on (Image credit: Three Lions on a Shirt Book) Look closely and you’ll see the lions have company with more royal links. There are also ten Tudor roses on the badge worn proudly by England’s footballers but, for some reason, the floral motif has never been as famous.But what is the origin of England’s association with the King of the Beasts, and why do they adorn the crest on the shirts of the the national team? Here’s all you need to know. Why are three lions associated with England?
It was their son Richard the Lionheart – famed for his exploits in the Crusades (he actually spent very little time in England, was once held for ransom by an Austrian and a German, and was killed by a Frenchman while besieging a castle) – who decided to combine all three lions to make up his arms. The three lions is the emblem of the Football Association – which would have had to ask for permission to use it due to its royal association. This time round Shakey turns his attention to the England shirt with this new book (published November 2022), ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’. An official FA publication, collectors Daren Burney and Neville Evans (owner of without doubt THE most incredible football shirt and memorabilia collection) join Shakey once again, as they both did for the Spurs book, and open their archives. Three Lions on a Shirt is a beautiful, high quality coffee-table book containing an incredible collection of historic match worn England football shirts.Fascinating feature articles, covering everything from grass-roots football to the international scene Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth The song rang out around Wembley louder than ever after England reached the final of Euro 2020 with Wednesday night’s amazing 2-1 win over Denmark.
The badge on the English football team's shirts bears another very English emblem, a smattering of ten Tudor roses, the propaganda device that symbolises Henry VII uniting the house of Lancaster and the house of York after the Wars of the Roses. The England third shirt made famous by the World In Motion video (Image credit: Vision Sports Publishing) Harry Kane wearing the all red England away kit for 2022 at Wembley against Germany (Image credit: Getty Images) The very first England shirt worn by Arnold Kirke Smith in the game against Scotland in 1872 (Image credit: The National Football Museum ) Three Lions”, referring to the England national team’s badge, has helped inspire Harry Kane and his teammates right up until the moment he slammed in the rebound from his saved penalty in extra time to send the fans wild, and ensure his country’s first major final since the 1966 World Cup victory – a 55-year wait.With the 1978 World Cup in Argentina on the horizon Admiral started looking at their own lightweight, ventilated material similar to that used on Umbro’s airtex shirts. There can’t be many football kit afficiandos who are not familiar with Vision Sports’ series of match worn shirt books, driven by kit expert Simon ‘Shakey’ Shakeshaft. In each tome Shakey is joined by fellow collectors and between them, using photos of the actual shirts, they tell the story of a club’s kit history. So far Arsenal and Spurs have been featured in the weighty, coffee table editions alongside a companion publication ‘The Rangers Shirt’. In May, the FA revealed a new lion logo for its grassroots initiative England Football. It features a red lion, lioness and cub, and aimed to the give the crest “a fresh purpose that symbolises inclusivity at all levels of football,” the FA said. However, it does not replace the Three Lions on the national shirt. Fast forward a few decades and Richard was getting ready to choose an emblem of his own. He was the son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and his powerhouse of a mother also had a lion on her own family coat of arms. So Richard added a third lion to his personal crest and suddenly, we’re singing. Goalkeeper shirt fans (Rob Stokes, I’m looking at YOU) won’t be disappointed either as keepers’ attire is also well documented in the book. There is something here for England fans and kit obsessives alike. Matchday embroidery, shirt numbers, variations, trim – it’s all covered in comprehensive detail and always presented in a very readable way.
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