News

New England Football Kit Unveiled

The kit the England football team will wear for Euro 2012 this summer has been unveiled to a mixed reception. According to kit makers Umbro, the new kit (seen above) is steeped in tradition and English history, taking inspiration from everything from the St George's flag, to the 1966 World Cup winning team.

The shirt is the first ever to be purely white and red. The traditional blue badge has been replaced by a red one, therefore matching the colours of the country's flag. The shirt also sports an unusual collar, which looks far more like the kits of the 1960s than of this century. Supposedly the red design of the collar was "inspired by Sir Alf Ramsey's [the only manager to have won the World Cup with England] iconic 1966 jacket and the St George's flag".

However, this is not even the most ridiculous statement about the kit, as Umbro go on to describe the new shorts as "shaped to move with the player and give minimal interference during the game". Nice.

For all the grand statements are inspiration and tradition, ultimately the only thing that matters is, does it look good? Though the new design has certainly been met by a mixed reception, in our opinion, it is the best England shirt in years. Simple, elegant, classy.

The Joy of Pancake Day: Fillings and Recipe

For food lovers in the UK, today is a great day, up there with Christmas and Easter. For today is Shrove Tuesday, or as most people now call it: Pancake Day.

Traditionally Shrove Tuesday has been the last day before Lent and therefore a last chance to eat before a time of fasting. However ever since pancakes were introduced into the celebrations, this has been taken to extreme measures. Pancakes are one of those foods that are so delicious that you carry on eating them even when you're full up.

Sitting down with your trouser buttons undone? You can fit another couple of pancakes in. Lying on the floor groaning? Oh well, there is always room for one more.

The Fillings

The recipe for pancakes (which you can see below) is fairly standard, but it is the endless choice of fillings that really spices things up. You can always complete your pancakes with savoury fillings, but we are all about the sweet:

Clash Between Boxers Haye and Chisora

Two British fighters rocked the boxing world this weekend after a bare-knuckle fight broke out between them during a press conference. After former champion David Haye turned up as Dereck Chisora was being interviewed, tempers quickly flared before violence broke out.

The Ugly Build Up

The whole episode was worthy of an Oscar, and it gets a little complicated, so stay with me. Let's take Chisora first. He was in Germany last week for the biggest fight of his life, against Ukrainian Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Despite being a relatively unknown fighter, Chisora had already made headlines after he slapped Vitali during the weigh in. Controversy continued to follow him after he spat water in the face of Vitali's brother Wladimir Klitschko after entering the ring.

During the fight itself, Chisora actually impressed most people. Despite losing, he lasted the full 12 rounds, rarely looking too troubled by a fighter with vastly more experience and ability than him. However, that fight was soon to become just a footnote for the unplanned brawl that happened just a few hours later during the press conference.

Foreign Fridays Fact: England

As part of Foreign Fridays, we explore a different country each week through its most unusual, amusing and odd facts. If you want your country to appear, then simply get in contact with us either in the comments below or through Facebook or Twitter.

This week it is the turn of the England:

The world record number of people to simultaneously flip pancakes together is 890, set in Sheffield a week before Pancake Day in 2012.

Tuesday next week is Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally a deeply religious day, it is the day before the start of lent. However, as with most religious festivals these days in Britain, it is now all about food. And in England, one food in particular: pancakes.

EXCLUSIVE: Banksy vs Robbo Feud Renewed in Mayfair

The long running feud between British graffiti artists Banksy and Robbo has been renewed on a wall in Mayfair. A thinly veiled threat from ‘Team Robbo' appeared yesterday just below a piece by Banksy we revealed 3 months ago that has been dubbed ‘Shop ‘Til You Drop'.

The new scrawl appeared during the afternoon on Wednesday 15th February, some two storeys below the original Banksy (as the above picture shows).

Syndicate content