England and Fulham's Rachel Yankey is one of the stars of the England kit launch
England and Fulham's Rachel Yankey is one of the stars of the England kit launch today, along with her international team-mate Casey Stoney and their counterparts David Beckham, David James Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand.
Yankey has taken part in national advertising campaigns and is one of the top names in women's football, scoring a goal in the 2002 FA Cup Final in front of 2.5 million viewers on BBC1. Here Ben Rice of TheFA.com talks to Rachel about the launch.
Are you looking forward to the kit launch?
Yes it should be fun. I have worn the new kit, it is very nice. For the first time there is a difference between the men's and the women's kit. The women's fit is obviously different, it is fitted for a women. And the collar is different to the men's. The men's is a flip over collar but the women's is a 'v' neck.
When did you see the kit?
Casey Stoney and myself did a photo shoot with Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole. We wore the kit and they took photos of us. It was good, they are really nice people.
Did you get to have a kick around with them?
No. It was in a studio so if we had of kicked the ball around we would have probably damaged the equipment!
Had you met any of those players before?
I've met Ashley Cole before when I was at Arsenal but it was the first time that I had met Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard. They were really nice. England play the USA in a friendly in May.
You must be looking forward to wearing the new kit for that one?
Hopefully. Obviously if we get to wear the new kit, it would be really good. With the 2005 European Championships coming up it would be nice to bring some success to the national side in the new kit. Yeah, definitely, and with Umbro launching a women's kit it would be nice for all the women out there to go and have their own kit. Then the women who come to the games can actually wear the England Ladies kit so it is pretty cool.
What does the launch entail?
I don't really know. Obviously David Beckham, Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand will be there so I will meet them but I'll just turn up and see what happens.