The new England home and away kits have finally dropped ahead of Euro 2024 and although they’ve gone down as ‘instant classics’ amongst many fans, the one thing people can’t stop talking about is the price.
As mentioned, most England supporters and kit enthusiasts seem to be pretty happy with the two new designs — the home kit featuring a new thick dark blue collar and trims, as well as an eye-catching purple, textured look for the away kit — the story seems to be the same as last time around.
They’re just too bloody expensive.
Don’t just take our word for it; you only need to hop on social media to see the countless people complaining that what is essentially a templated Nike jersey being minorly tweaked across many different national teams is simply not worth how much you’ll have to fork out.
Went to order my daughter the new England kit, with @bmeado9 on the back. @nikefootball that pricing is an absolute disgrace.
£122.98 for a kids kit – and that doesn’t even include socks
For that cost, she should be getting tickets to a game and the opportunity to be a mascot. pic.twitter.com/9swxkxJXx5
Yes, that’s right, a replica England shirt will set you back £84.99 and the authentic ‘Dri-FIT Adv’ versions that the players wear are being sold at a whopping £124.99. Crikey.
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As for children’s sizes, a home or away shirt will still cost £64.99; mini-kits for toddlers and younger are still £54.99 and even just a pair of kid’s shorts are £32.99.
Several commenters quipped along the lines of, “the people’s game” and, “You can get twelve loaves of bread at Waitrose for the money these shirts cost!”, others were much more upset in their reaction.
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Another wrote: “The price of these kits is a disgrace. With a cost of living crisis currently going on. How do we find £85 for a replica? They should be lowered in a gesture of goodwill to your loyal support.”
Very late 90s/early 2000s vibes.The panelling along the side of this shirt is what makes it.The new England kits will be worn by both the men’s team and the Lionesses — again, both great shirts but come on,
Once again, there seem to be few moans about the new kits themselves but there seems to be an almost universal cry of ‘what a rip-off!’ from England supporters.
Moreover, many online are already calling for Three Lions fans to boycott Nike over their “outrageous” price point — and not just when it comes to these kits but club jerseys in general of the past few years too.
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Are you willing to pay this much for an England shirt and, if not, what price do you think they should be sold for?
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
21st March 2024 
