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Over the years, a huge variety of new additions and then changes have been made to the England football shirt. It has taken years to arrive at the familiar design that we recognise today.

Although we all think of player numbers on their shirts as the norm today, originally football shirts did not display numbers at all. The England football team first wore team numbers on their shirts in 1937, in a match against Scotland in Glasgow. The next major milestone in the uniform’s history didn’t occur until over ten years later in 1948, when the team displayed the crown symbol on their emblem for the last time. A year later the Tudor Roses were introduced to the emblem for the first time. Another thing we take for granted with football shirts today is the short sleeves, at least for the outfield players. However, that was only introduced in 1950, prior to which the entire team wore shirts with long sleeves.

The numbers introduced to the shirts in 1937 were team numbers, but were updated to squad numbers in 1954. The actual design of the shirt underwent another significant change in the same year when England wore shirts with a V-neck for the first time, setting the precedent for the next few decades. The tradition of long white socks on the England team began in 1957. Their old royal blue shirt was worn for the last time in 1959, and the all red shirt donned for the first time a few years later in 1962. The first time a light blue uniform was introduced was in 1970, with a yellow shirt donned in 1973 but quickly gotten rid of later that year.

There have also been several milestones in the development of the goal keeper shirts. In 1958, the England goal keeper of the time was Colin McDonald. He wore a numbered jersey for the very first time. In 1970, the England keeper Gordon Banks wore a red jersey for the first time. He was also the first player to wear the Umbro logo, introduced to his uniform in 1971. Tracksuit bottoms have become a norm for goal keepers as they are permitted to wear them instead of shorts according to the Laws of the Game. England goal keeper Peter Shilton was the first to wear tracksuit bottoms in 1973.