‘Trying to change our history!’ Peter Shilton rages at Team GB Union Jack revamp: ‘This is OUR flag’

Speaking on GB News, Shilton joined Patrick Christys to lament a further ‘desecration’ from designers that follows on from controversial changes made to the England football kit.

“I’m a traditionalist. I played for England for 20 years at football and playing for the flag was everything”, he said.

“I think in this day and age, it’s not just a few colours, it’s the way life is going.

“There’s a lot of people who want to change this country and the way it is. I think this is just one of those things, changing our national flag.

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“This is a fantastic country. It’s very diverse, but there’s still people who want to change out history and want to change what our country represents.”

Asked whether there is a ‘determined attempt’ to do away with Britishness, Shilton said there is an element of people trying to ‘undermine’ British traditions.

“British people, I think they’re very proud of our traditions and our flag and everything else”, he said.

“I do think there’s an element of trying to undermine the way our country is.

“I just feel that they’re looking for anything. They’re desecrating statues, there is a lot of things going on and I think this is a small part of it.”

Shilton said he does not expect players to take a stand against such changes, telling Patrick those types of decisions are often made by officials.

“Obviously, players can say I am not happy with it”, he said.

“But it’s normally left to the officials.”

The designers for Team GB claimed the Union Jack was "far from unique" and felt the need to push the design "as far as we could".

A statement on their website read: "As with many sport brands, colour was a point of contention.

“Obviously red, white and blue is synonymous with Great Britain, but it’s far from unique, with nations such as France and USA also sporting the same colours.

“We needed to find a way of refreshing Team GB’s colour palette in a way that is both flexible and ownable.

“Rather than trying to look beyond the traditional colours, we decided to embrace them and push the iconic red, white and blue as far as we could.”