Nike's first ever England shirt has been accused of looking so much like that of their main rivals that German newspapers have declared: "The English have copied our kit," according to Ben Bloom of the London TELEGRAPH. The new kit "is the first" to be made by Nike. The plain white shirt with a dark ring around the neck "has prompted many people to remark that it looks exactly like the top that West Germany used to wear in 1966, when England beat their old enemy in the World Cup final." It isn't just the Germans who Nike "have been accused of copying though." Former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool forward Stan Collymore thinks that "England have a legitimate claim to the design, finding inspiration in an old England Schoolboys kit" (TELEGRAPH, 5/21). In London, David Kent wrote German newspaper Bild mocked the "desperate attempt" to bring a trophy back to England. The paper asked, "Who doesn't see the same shirt as Beckenbauer & Co.?" (London DAILY MAIL, 5/21).
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Also in London, Jonathan Liew opined, "Yes, it looks a little bit like the German kit from the 1966 World Cup Final." This in itself "should not be so surprising." When Nike came to designing the England shirt "they were unable to adorn it with gold leaf, or trammel it with kinky lace detail up and down the flanks, or stud the collar with glittering sequins." Above all, "they were constrained by colour." But none of this should detract from the real issue, "which is that there really is no issue at all." It is "just a shirt, for heaven's sake" (TELEGRAPH, 5/21).
