England’s new football kit has been brutally mocked with fans being offered a shirt amnesty for those who purchased the £84.99 strip.
Nike opted to drop the traditional red and white cross of St George on the shirt’s collar, instead using navy, blue and purple stripes.
Ex-England players and MPs weighed in on the situation, with Reform UK’s Lee Anderson among the most vocal.
Package holiday experts On The Beach have gone one step further by offering a shirt amnesty where owners of the new strip can swap it for a holiday.
Package holiday experts On The Beach has gone one step further by offering a shirt amnesty where owners of the new strip can swap it for a holiday
GETTY/NIKE
Football fans who own the extortionately priced £124.99 authentic shirt can exchange the strip for a £250 holiday voucher to put towards their next On The Beach holiday.
Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On The Beach, said: “Along with millions of England football fans we can’t believe that the England flag has been changed on the nation’s strip.
“British holidaymakers watching the Euros abroad wear that shirt with pride, but we have no doubt that they’ll be wearing classic strips this summer and not this so-called ‘playful’ update.
“So, we’re taking action. Anyone who has bought the shirt and wants to get rid can send us the strip and we will give them a £250 holiday voucher in return.”
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Lee Anderson has voiced his concern about Nike's decision
GB NEWSHarris added: “I know many of our customers will be repping the retro shirts but if you have taken a punt on the new England strip and you’re disappointed with the unnecessary changes that have been made, we’re here to take it off your hands.”
US manufacturer Nike insisted the “playful update” was meant to “unite and inspire” fans ahead of the 2024 European Championships in Germany.
The FA referred to Nike’s statement when approached about the situation.
Britons could stay at the Club Munamar Beach Resort in Dalaman, Turkey, from April 15, with flights leaving London Luton, from £248 per person.
Nike changed the colours of the St George's crossX/NikeHolidaymakers could also go to the Alegria Maripins in the Costa Brava, Spain, from April 15, with flights leaving London Stansted, from £235 per person.
Anderson, who was recently unveiled as a defector to Reform UK, told GB News: “When I bang on about, we want our country back.
“This is exactly the sort of woke, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching, hand-wringing nonsense that I'm talking about.
“We've got the England team taking the knee. Then we've got the England captain wearing rainbow armbands. Hypocrites.
“The lot of them. Now we've got this nonsense. Where does it stop? It's a slippery slope. The FA should hang their heads in shame.
“I'll tell you what they should do they should go into a pub in Ashfield on a Sunday afternoon when the football's on and talk to some real people in the real world. And I'll tell you what. They'll get chased out of town.”