THE VITALS:

Team: England

Brand: Umbro

Era: 2005-06 (Used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and during the 2008 UEFA European Championships Qualifying campaign)

Name/Number: Rooney #9

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

This article comes to you in very good condition as it soon closes in on its twentieth birthday. There are inevitable signs of wear and tear, it is nothing less than you would expect for a shirt this old.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19.0 inches

Shirt Length: 27.5 inches 

Made by Umbro in their 'X-Static' range of shirts which they released in 2005; these shirts have a lovely fit and this shirt is no exception with excellent dimensions for a size small football shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

Umbro’s third presentation of England’s home shirt during the decade of the 2000’s continued the motif of including a form of St. George’s cross as part of the shirt design and after a vertical and horizontal red stripe in the 2001 and 2003 releases; the 2005 edition would include a stylised version down the right shoulder to create a fantastic expression of the country’s flag! This shirt also employed a stylish mini collar while the crest and Umbro diamond were restored to the each breast after the centralised positioning that was used for the 2003-04 home shirt. This shirt would be synonymous with end of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reign as England’s manager as the ‘Golden Generation’ took to Germany for the World Cup in 2006 where they were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals by Portugal. There was also epic victory over Argentina in their glamour friendly that was held in Switzerland in November 2005 and also their first games against Northern Ireland and Wales since 1987.

THE SEASON(S):

England came into 2005 in fine standing to reach the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany with 10 points from their opening four games, making their 1-0 defeat to Spain to end the 2004 fixture calendar almost inconsequential. ‘The Three Lions’ gathered for the first time in 2005 to take on a familiar foe on the friendly circuit in the Netherlands on 9th February and the two nations would battle to a goalless draw at Villa Park.

Up next came the first meeting between England and Northern Ireland since 1987 in a World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford on 26^th March and England would continue their march towards Germany with a commanding 4-0 win. Four days later, they would see off Azerbaijan to continue their unbeaten qualifying campaign. At the end of the 2004-05 European season; England would cross the pond to meet the United States in Chicago where Kieran Richardson’s sensational brace helped the visitors to a 2-1 win on 28^th May, and then three days later in New Jersey; Michael Owen would help himself to a hat-trick as England ousted Colombia 3-2!

On 17^th August, England would travel to Denmark to meet the Norse country in a friendly, only to be stunned 4-1 in a sensational game where all five goals were scored in the last half an hour of the game! After seeing off Wales 1-0 at the Millenium Stadium on 3^rd September, England would be stunned 1-0 by Northern Ireland at Windsor Park to allow Poland a route into the automatic qualification hot-seat at their own expense.

The national side would reconvene in October where they defeated Austria 1-0 at Old Trafford, however, captain – David Beckham would get sent off; thus, ruling him out of the must win game with Poland on 12^th October. In order to finish 1^st; England would have to beat Poland at Old Trafford, and Frank Lampard’s 81^st minute winner would ensure they won 2-1 to pip the Eastern European nation to 1^st place and book their place amongst the final 32 teams at the World Cup! England would enjoy a glorious end to 2005 when they took on Argentina for the first time since their meeting at the World Cup in 2002 and came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 on 12^tH November in Switzerland!

2006 would be just 23 days old when it was revealed that Sven-Goran Eriksson would be resigning from his position as England’s manager! His farewell tour began on 1^st March when England overcame Uruguay 2-1, however, ‘The Three Lions’ would not come together again until 30^th May.

With just ten days until they kicked off their World Cup campaign against Paraguay on 10^th June; England eased past Hungary 3-1, before putting six goals past Jamaica with Peter Crouch scoring a hat-trick in their final friendly before the World Cup.

England would edge past Paraguay 1-0, before sealing their place in the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago; however, 1^st and 2^nd place would be decided when England met Sweden on 20^th June in Cologne. England needed to avoid defeat to Sweden and one of the games of the tournament ended 2-2 – thus setting England up against Ecuador in the next round.

David Beckham’s free-kick was enough to punch England’s ticket to the quarter-finals; and the next chapter of a modern rivalry would be written as England rematched Portugal just over 24 months to day of their legendary encounter at Euro 2004. Although this affair would end goalless, there would be no shortage of incidents – most notably when Wayne Rooney was sent off after what appeared to be simulation by his Manchester United team-mate – Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately for England; they would be beaten on penalties once again by the Iberian nation in what would be Sven-Goran Eriksson’s final game in-charge of the national side.

Steve McClaren was chosen to be his successor and his first match in charge would be a resounding 4-0 win over the European champions – Greece on 16^th August. The road to Euro 2008 would begin on 2^nd September and a pair of victories came their way over Andorra and Macedonia, before drawing with the Balkan nation in the home fixture on 7^th October.

England’s 15 match unbeaten run (excluding penalties) came to an abrupt end when Croatia inflicted England’s first defeat in European Championship qualification on 11^th October. The year of 2006 would end with a friendly against the Netherlands on 15^th November that ended in a 1-1 draw; making it the third draw in a row between the two countries.

The notable players that season(s) were:

Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Aaron Lennon, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves, David Beckham, Kieran Richardson, Ashley Cole, Gary Neville, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, David James