Gareth Southgate has addressed the ongoing dispute over the new England kit, saying the fuss about the St George’s Cross ‘is not on his list of priorities’.
The new England kit, which will be worn by the men’s senior side for the first time against Brazil on Saturday night, has caused major controversy on social media after Nike chose to make a ‘playful update’ on the design.
On the new shirt, the usual red cross of the England flag on the back of the shirt’s collar has been replaced with purple and blue stripes.
Nike have defended the redesign, which is based on England’s 1966 training kit, with the Football Association also standing its ground, ruling out any chance of the new kit being withdrawn.
The kit has faced strong criticism on social media, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer also expressing disapproval of the design.
Speaking to reporters in his pre-match press conference on Friday night, however, Southgate stressed that ‘the most important thing’ was that the iconic Three Lions badge remains prominent.
‘It’s not been high on my list of priorities but it depends which bit it is,’ the England boss said.
‘I don’t know if the debate is about the St George flag needing to be on the England shirt because it obviously hasn’t always been.
‘I think the most important thing that has to be on an England shirt are the three lions. It’s our iconic symbol.
‘It’s what distinguishes us not only from football teams around the world but from England rugby and England cricket. It’s the thing that when I put my kit on 30 years ago and looked in the mirror, the three lions really stood out.
‘Should we be tampering with the cross of St George? In my head, if it’s not a red cross on a white background it isn’t the cross of St George anyway.
‘So it’s a hard question to answer. It’s presumably some artistic take, which I’m not creative enough to understand, really.’
England take on Brazil on Saturday night before another friendly clash against Belgium on Tuesday.
