Sky Sports to Broadcast Start of England vs Switzerland in Black & White to Support Kick it Out

England's upcoming international friendly against Switzerland is set to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of the anti-racism 'Kick it Out' campaign by being broadcast in black and white when the teams walk out onto the pitch and kick off the game.

England games have been broadcast in colour on UK television since 1969, but Sky Sports have confirmed that a collaboration between themselves, the FA, and Kick it Out will see the walk out and opening 25 seconds of the game screened 'without colour'.

Sky will break a 49-year run of colour broadcast to support the campaign, with the last England game shown in black and white coming when the Three Lions faced Mexico in a friendly as reigning world champions. The next England game shown live after that was at the 1970 World Cup, by which time all three UK channels had the capacity to broadcast in colour.

England players will wear Kick it Out t-shirts during the pre-match warm-up and will be flanked by as many as eight mascots nominated by Kick it Out when they walk out onto the pitch.

Gareth Southgate's side played over the weekend their first game since finishing fourth at the summer's World Cup, losing 2-1 against Spain at Wembley in the opening fixture of the new UEFA Nations League competition.