No sign of Lampard and Terry at new kit unveiling
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Your support makes all the difference.Notice anyone missing from this picture launching the new England home kit?
The last time England unveiled a new home kit, the players revealed it at the start of the national anthem before a Wembley friendly against Slovakia amid the usual earnest secrecy about the design, not to mention a great deal of hype. Post-World Cup, kit manufacturers Umbro have cut out virtually all the big-name players tainted by failure in South Africa.
Even John Terry, Umbro's key endorsee – he wears Umbro boots – is not in the picture. He is understood to be renegotiating his contract with the sportswear company with talks at a delicate stage. In their place are two of the men Fabio Capello left behind for the World Cup: Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson. Also featured is Joe Hart, the one goalkeeper he never picked to play in South Africa. Jack Wilshere, recently relegated back to the under-21s, is in the picture as is Ipswich's teenage prodigy Connor Wickham who plays for England under-17s.
There are also places for the likes of Tom Cruise, the Arsenal 19-year-old who has played one game in the Champions League; Saido Berahino, whose family sought asylum in Britain and now plays for West Bromwich's academy teams. Also featured are Fern Whelan and Jade Bailey, two promising female players.
Another unknown in the picture is Eric Dier, who at 16 has rejected the English academy system to learn the game at Sporting Lisbon's academy. His grandfather was the late Ted Croker, once secretary at the Football Association. Only Wayne Rooney makes the cut from those England players who had a poor World Cup.
It is an acknowledgement from Umbro that they will not be able to sell England's new kit if it is too closely associated with the failure of South Africa. Fans' groups are already angry that the FA and Umbro, who are owned by Nike, have launched a new kit after promising that the previous one would be used from 2009 to 2011.
An Umbro spokeswoman said that the idea behind the launch was a "mixture of future generations of England players". She said: "We have kept some of the senior team in there. This time we have focused on the younger players." She said that the kit would be replaced in 18 months – just in time for England's arrival in Poland or Ukraine for Euro 2012. Providing they qualify.
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