Three Lions on a Shirt: The Official History of the England Football Jersey

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Ding Dong Merrily on Sky…oh no it’s not on Sky…it has to be on terrestrial doesn’t it…for legal reasons… Juventus won the Italian League on the last day without ever having been in first place the entire season. Has this ever happened before in any league?" asks Filipe Lowndes Marques. In 1984, Richardson scooped the first part of a personal treble by winning the FA Cup with Everton. Then, five years later, he was part of the Arsenal side that famously won the title at Anfield with Michael Thomas's last-minute goal. The original, which topped the charts along with the reworked Three Lions '98, has sold almost two million copies and has been streamed tens of millions of time. He and David Baddiel subsequently revived and re-recorded “Three Lions” with updated lyrics for both France 98 and the South Africa World Cup in 2010 but, if you still only know the chorus, here are the lyrics in full (vintage commentary in italics).

Look closely and you’ll see the lions have company with more royal links. There are also ten Tudor roses on the badge worn proudly by England’s footballers but, for some reason, the floral motif has never been as famous. Why do Italy play in blue when their national flag does not contain this colour?" asks Kerry Gallant. Ever wondered how the three lions got on the shirt? Here's the low down on the evolution of the England football shirt crest. Skinner sings 'loving the Lionesses win' during the opening verse, before singing the chorus: 'Three Lions on a sleigh, with She-Lions inspiration. Santa says let’s play, the Christmas tree formation.' This time it features Christmas-themed lyrics - including 'Three Lions on a sleigh' and 'football's coming home for Christmas' as well as a festive music video featuring a World Cup made with a Christmas pudding and custard.Speaking about the song, Skinner said: 'We just had to do it. Christmas World Cup songs are not like buses. Richard Gough may have insisted that he played in six derbies, including "the one that just might stump you, San Jose Clash v Los Angeles Galaxy" - but John Clements is less convinced. "The cities are 343 miles apart!" he exclaims.

A vote for Nigel Farage's lot would put Starmer in No 10, warns Rishi Sunak... but he admits he's 'too busy' to watch the former UKIP leader on I'm A Celeb Then, in 1152, Henry I’s grandson Henry, Duke of Normandy married Eleanor of Aquitaine – whose family also had a lion on its crest. Young Henry himself became King Henry II of England in 1154 – founding the great Plantagenet dynasty And to this day, the three lions can still be seen flying proudly on the UK’s Royal Standard. But why they are on the England shirt?

The Azzurri wear blue because it is the colour of Savoia, the ruling house of Italy from 1861 to 1946. When the Italian Republic was established in 1946, the tricolour was adopted as the national flag - however Italy's famous azure blue kit remained. Mr Baddiel admitted when the song launched on BBC1 last night: 'Some might say that should be the end of it. Stop singing it. But we decided to give it one more go on the basis that the blokes haven’t brought it home'. There is also several nods to The Lionesses who won Euro 2022 this summer, England's 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst is a carol singer and Frank Skinner even dresses as Noddy Holder from Slade.