Football Shirts: England Away

After much waiting and over-blown hype the new England away kits have been revealed. Last year's home shirt set new levels for design and quality and there was hope that the away shirt would follow suit. It was an open secret that it would be red, and due to the simplistic and nostalgic influences of the 'Tailored by Umbro' range that it would bear a striking resemblance to the mythical shirt worn when Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup trophy in 1966. However, the devil is in the detail and so there was a fair degree of baited breath until the kits were seen in the flesh for the first time.

And now we have them, both the red outfield shirt and the goalkeepers jersey. Both are wonderful. There is no question that they take an unapologetic influence from the '66 shirts, but rather than being a totally plain red shirt it is pleasing to see the designers have taken pains to make it more than a total homage and so hopefully play down the '66 references and make it something of it's own. The sleeves are capped with a white cuff and the sleeves are rendered in a slightly darker shade of material to the main body that gives the shirt a sense of strength.

I am also over the moon with the goalkeepers kit. Again, like the outfield players shirt it takes it's cues from the 1966 iteration but the styling and the colour are perfectly done.

I reached 25 without ever owning an England shirt. Having already acquired the home goalie shirt for my recent birthday (thank you special person!) I now find myself clamouring for both these new shirts and the white home shirt. They are just too beautiful to resist, and I know that is likely that there will probably not be another set of England shirts to rival them. I am compelled to have the set.

Merchandise Fail!

This is the truly unbelievable result of incredibly poor quality control, and probably careless copyright licensing controls. This West Ham piggy bank was spotted this weekend in Sports Direct, Tottenham Court Road. Bizarrely it's the Tottenham Hotspur version next to it that's been price reduced, presumably leaving this botch job still retailing at a whooping £6.99.

It's kind of ironic that something designed to help you save money is actually a total waste of cash!

My Weekend

Saturday: Craven Cottage, Fulham vs. Aston Villa. Celebrating my Dad's birthday with a 2-0 Villa victory

Sunday: The British Museum. Enjoying a calm Sunday exploring the galleries before late afternoon tea with friends and an inquisitive child

Buddies, Beer, Bubbles, Baby and Bagpipes - New Year's Eve

Happy New Year!

Snow Comes to London

Queen Takes Train

The Queen has indulged in a bit of economy when travelling to to Norfolk for her annual Christmas holiday at Sandringham. Like a mere mortal, she's jumped on board the train. There's something odd about the whole thing, a true clash in the juxtaposition, like seeing her shopping at Poundland. Still, she got to go first class, and no doubt she got a whole carriage (maybe even whole train) to herself. It might even have been cleaned for her too - no empty coffee cups under the chairs for Her Maj!

She doesn't look that happy about it. Maybe they've just announced that she'll have to change to a rail replacement bus service at Diss? (so true isn't it Norfolk travellers!).

Figueroa Wondergoal!

A little quick one here. Wigan's Figueroa makes a pre-Christmas claim to the Goal of the Season award. A fantastic shot, accompanied by a not so sublime sexist comment by Match of the Day's Alan Hansen. Someone should remind Hansen who Gabby Logan is married to! Surely the Scot is no match for a international class rugby player.