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The new England football shirt has been launched to an eager public by UK soccer clothing manufacturers Umbro. This has been a long awaited release and some UK stores had upset both Umbro and the English Football Association by selling them days before the official launch at the England v Uruguay match on Wednesday. Both Umbro and the F.A had also been publicly annoyed at the English newspaper, The Sun, for releasing photographs of the new kit in the newspaper some weeks ago.

Although the launch has been a media nightmare, these new shirts are bound to fly out of the stores as one of the must have fashion garments of this summer. The style of the shirt is very close to that of the jersy worn by the victorious England team of 1966, which is still the only side to win the World Cup for the nation, and as retro fashions are most definitely "in" at the moment, sales should be very strong.

The shirt itself is a very simple design, almost totally red except for the manufacturers logo and a small shoulder flash. On closer inspection there is an intricate woven pattern on the back of the shirt that displays Englands famous three lions crest. The front of the shirt also features a single golden star, which is in honour of that famous victory in 1966.

It is not likely that many of these shirts will be used for the purpose it was intended. Far more will be propping up bars around England, rather than being worn out on a field kicking a ball around.

Replica football shirts always become prized fashion accessories in a World Cup year and I expect the sales to continue until the tournament kicks off in June, when sales will obviously increase. Englands fanatical football fans will see to it that this shirt is a big success, and expect Umbro to be rushing back to the sewing machines if England perform well at the tournament.