Nike England kit flag: Sheffield public have their say on controversial St George's Cross change

The new Nike England football shirts have caused a stir throughout the country, after the US company added what they described as a “playful interpretation” of the St George’s cross on the back of the collar, using blues and purples instead of the usual red.

Such has been the outcray, both Rishi Sunak and Sir Kier Starmer have got involved in the debate, with the Prime Minister saying: “Obviously I prefer the original, and my general view is that when it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them. Because they are a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”

Labour leader Starmer believes it should be changed back to its traditional colour, saying: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men and women’s games, and the flag is used by everybody. It is a unifier. It doesn’t need to be changed. We just need to be proud of it.

“So, I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change it in the first place.”

The Star went into Sheffield city centre to garner the opinion of the public and none appeared to be that bothered about the change to the flag on the shirt.

“I’ve got to be honest I couldn’t care less to be brutally honest I couldn’t care less I’ve got zero opinion on it, it looks alright to me,” said one man.

Another added: “I’m not overly bothered in the debate about the cross on the back of the shirt but I do like the shirt though, it is a nice shirt”

Sunak and Starmer's opinion has been widely shared. A change.org petition being set up in a bid to get the shirt’s design changed already has over 24,000 signatures.

There have been previous shirts which have featured an adjusted flag with the 2010 England home shirt including a small multi-coloured St George's cross pattern dotted across the shoulders. England shirts in 2011, 2012 and 2018 have also featured the Saint George’s cross as a design element.

Another Sheffielder added on the topic: “I can’t say it makes any difference to me and I am English so maybe it doesn’t make a difference to anyone but I can’t see why anyone would be upset by it”

However, one did feel it's a daft idea in the first place. “I heard something on the radio about it and I do think it’s stupid I mean if you’re going to put an England flag on the kit which you don’t normally have do you – you normally have it white with three lions then it should be the [English] flag.”