England's Away Uniform 1996

Notes

Although, as the Football Association insisted, this Umbro jersey was indigo blue, it appeared a particularly dull grey to spectators watching from a distance and to television viewers, and it proved highly unpopular with England fans.  Fortunately, England wore it in only three official international matches. 

But it will be long remembered because its second appearance came in the European Championship semi-final at Wembley Stadium on 26 June, when Germany eliminated England on penalty kicks following a 1-1 extra-time draw.  Some superstitious fans even blame the jersey for England's failure to advance to the final.  England fans overwhelmingly prefer red as the alternative jersey colour, and the Football Association is unlikely to experiment with other colours again, at least for the next few years.

The jersey continued to bear the manufacturer's name in large, capitalised letters above the three-lions emblem in the middle of the shirt, although now the team name, England, also appeared in smaller capitalised letters below the emblem, perhaps to dispel the impression it might give a stranger to football that it was the Umbro team's jersey.  It was the first time the team name had appeared on the shirt itself.

From the infamous Germany match in the 1996 European Championship onwards, each player's number appeared on both the front of the shirt, underneath the emblem, and on the right thigh of the shorts, above the emblem. For the Germany match, surnames were added to the back of the shirt, above the number, and logos were sewn onto the upper outer arms of the shirt.  In common with all the teams competing in the tournament, the left arm featured UEFA's Fair Play logo, whilst the Euro '96 tournament logo adorned the right arm. - GI

 

Matches in Which England Wore the 1996 Away Indigo Uniform
No.	Date	Opposition	Venue	Type	F	A	Result	H.T.
718	27-Mar-1996	Bulgaria	Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London	F	1	0	HW	[1-0]
726	26-Jun-1996	Germany	Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London	ECF	1	1	HD	[1-1]
1-1 full-time, 1-1 after extra time, 5-6 on penalty kicks
729	09-Nov-1996	Georgia	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	WCP	2	0	AW	[2-0]

image supplied from and available at Wiggysports

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