England’s kits of the 00’s and the memories that made them

Twenty years ago today commentator Gary Bloom set the scene perfectly for one of the most evocative moments in the history of the England national team. With moments to go David Beckham placed the ball down 30 yards from Antonios Nikopolidis’ goal.

“We’ve played two-and-a-half minutes of stoppage time. England trail by two goals to one. Beckham could raise the roof here with a goal.”

“I don't believe it. David Beckham scores the goal to take England all the way to the World Cup finals. Give that man a knighthood”

Absolutely iconic.

Just a few seconds of Gary Bloom’s commentary is enough to transport you right back there. The goal, along with a certain 5-1 hammering of Germany a month earlier, also served to make England’s 2001 home shirt one of the most memorable the side have donned this century.

Because how much we like a shirt can often have as much, if not more, to do with the success our respective teams experienced while wearing it. So with that in mind we’ve gone back over the decade that Beckham kicked off so spectacularly to have a retrospective look at the shirts England wore throughout the 2000’s, ranking their designs from our favourite to least favourite and highlighting the very best and worst moment England experienced during each shirt cycle.

For anyone who experienced the aggressively underwhelming England team of the 00’s it will inevitably bring back some pretty rough memories, but where there is darkness there is light and where there is crap football there’s always the occasional 40 yard Joe Cole thunder bastard.