Following our recent What Football Is Supposed To Look Like focus on the Belgian league scene of the late 80s and early 90s, our also-usually “random” International Duty gallery series now gets a similar treatment with a special look at the club banners of the 1988 European Championships.

Of course we cannot highlight every flag representing a domestic side present at the tournament, as we are beholden to the TV directors, distant blurriness, and the general footage available, while certain country’s supporting styles mean more numerous example than others. As a result, England, Italy and the hosts West Germany are unsurprisingly the best represented, while the likes of eventual champions the Netherlands, who surely must have had some such banners present among their large array, have unfortunately not made the cut.

Group 1:
Denmark
Italy
Spain
West Germany

Group 2:
England
Republic of Ireland
Netherlands
USSR

Group 1: West Germany vs Italy
Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, 10/06/1988:
West Germany
VfB Stuttgart and Rot-Weiss Essen:

TSV 1860 Munich:

Borussia Dortmund (with “SS” far-right symbolism):

Italy
Irriducibli of SS Lazio:

Commando Yankees Curva Sud of HC Merano:

AS Roma:

Group 2: England vs Republic of Ireland
Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, 12/06/1988:
England
Swindon Town and Chelsea FC:

Plymouth Argyle:

Bristol City:

(Possibly Bristol Rovers)

Southampton:

Leeds United:

Manchester City (“Beer”) and neutral (West Germany) Vfb Stuttgart:

Bushwhackers of Millwall FC:

Ireland
Jacobs FC:

Group 1: West Germany vs Denmark
14/06/1986, Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen:
West Germany
Rot-Weiss Essen and VfB Stuttgart:

Group 1: West Germany vs Spain
Olympiastadion, Munich, 17/06/1986:
West Germany
Rot-Weiss Essen and 1.FC Koln(?):

Hamburger SV:

Arminia Bielefeld:

Group 1: Italy vs Denmark
Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, 17/06/1986:
Italy
Testaccio of AS Roma:

Group 2: England vs USSR
Waldstadion, Frankfurt, 18/06/1986:
England
Blades Business Crew (BBC) of Sheffield United:

Bolton Wanderers (BWFC):

Semi-Final 1: West Germany vs Netherlands
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, 21/06/1988:
West Germany
Hamburger SV:

Freiburger FC:

Semi-Final 2: Soviet Union vs Italy
Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, 22/06/1988:
Italy
Vis Boys of Vis Pesaro 1898 and Viking of Juventus:

Internazionale Milano:

Boys Novara of Novara Calcio:

SSC Napoli:

Final: Soviet Union vs Netherlands
Olympiastadion, Munich, 25/06/1988:
Neutral (West Germany)
Wuppertaler SV (WSV):

Netherlands
And so as not to end on somewhat of an anti-climax, we can see that one reason for the lack of Dutch flags is that most of them are laid out flat on the running track. But luckily they are virtually visible from space:

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Video Links:

West Germany vs Italy
England vs Ireland
West Germany vs Denmark
West Germany vs Spain
Italy vs Denmark
England vs USSR
West Germany vs Netherlands
USSR vs Italy
USSR vs Netherlands
General (“Tor! Total Football (Euro 88)”)

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