1980 – Pyro On The Pitch

Kit Interested #1 – Chelsea; Australia; Portugal; Porto; Ireland

Welcome to our newest feature here on PyroOnThePitch.com, with a series for the kit interested, by the kit interested, and containing interesting kit things (of the vintage variety of course). “Kit Interested” joins Retro Shirt Reviews, the Cold War Classic (over on MuseumOfJerseys.com) and Champagne Kit Campaigns in our regular explorations into the ‘fabric of football’, the appeal of which often results in small decreases in social media followers when certain folk realise that we are equally likely to focus on the grittier side of supporter culture history.

We wanted to stress the “interested” part (rather than all-knowing), as we are also keen to learn ourselves, as well as inform. That’s where you lot hopefully come in , as any feedback to fill us in on what we may not know is very welcome.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea, 26/08/1978:

A common complaint of many modern kit-fanatics is that of away and third strips being used in fixtures where they were historically not necessary, mainly – it is assumed – due to marketing reasons (often correctly so). At best, this is considered a callous disregard for the team’s proud traditional colours and at worst can actually create somewhat of a clash where none had existed before (Sheffield Wednesday vs Arsenal in 2015 being a prime example, graciously provided by MuseumOfJerseys since the modern game is not really our era of expertise).

Like many aspects of football, however, the tradition of seemingly inexplicable changes stretches back far longer than many might imagine – at least to 1978 when Tottenham Hotspur took on Chelsea in a Division One match. The white shirts of Spurs against the blue of their London rivals never caused an issue of course, but the navy shorts of the former against Chelsea’s continued blue, along with both sides’ white socks, did create a “lower-half clash”.

This had been negated in various ways in the past, such as the 1967 FA Cup final in which full blocks of white and blue were worn – one of three times Chelsea used the combination that season:

In the 70s, Chelsea then had the innovative idea to introduce an “alternate first-choice kit” to be worn against teams who had white socks, in which amber socks were used (distinct from the yellow socks of the yellow and blue away kit). But delightfully, instead of simply pairing the alternates with the rest strip, these were accompanied by shirts and shorts featuring amber trim, replacing all white from the regular kit (seen here against Real Madrid in the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup final):

Tottenham took a similar approach when playing away in Stamford Bridge for the 71/72 League Cup semi-final 1st-leg, by donning white shirts, white shorts, and yellow socks. In doing so, they also removed the shorts clash, although this was less-concerning than the socks which covered an area more in-need of distinction for officials:

When Chelsea traveled to White Hart Lane at the end of the 74/75 season – for a game that would ultimately see them relegated to the Second Division – another set of alternate home socks were used; this time blue like the rest of the kit, but featuring predominantly red trim:

The socks were slightly odd, as the red used now was a reference to the away version, which had green in place of the blue as the primary colour but contained the same red/white ratio on the turnovers. This trim was to compliment the red shirts and white shorts of the away kit, but the colour was only to be found on a sliver of the crest as far as the regular first-choice elements went at the time.

Following a season back in an all-yellow away kit (with blue detailing), Chelsea combined their recent change-colourways by bringing in a yellow/green/yellow strip for 1978/79, with Umbro sleeve-taping retained from it’s debut the year before. Now back in Division One, the campaign started with the previous season’s home attire employed against Everton at the Bridge, and away to Wolves.

But for any internet kit nerds of the day, all eyes would be on the Tottenham vs Chelsea derby coming up next to see how the sock issue would be handled this time. When the teams emerged, traditionalist Chelsea fans who made the short journey over may have been upset to see their side in an away kit for, perhaps, the first time ever at White Hart Lane:

Without home-alternates this year, the idea of blue and white shirts and shorts with yellow and green socks may have been out of the question even for Chelsea, who had questionably (in a fashion sense) combined their home shorts with the red and green away kit at Millwall in 1977:

While the change may have seemed utterly illogical to some, it seems that using the full away kit was considered the easiest option to avoid any sort of clash entirely. Except to a significant portion of the audience watching highlights at home on TV, a new clash was very much in effect that was far worse than anything seen in the fixture before.

Commentator Brian Moore explains as the match kicks off:

And it’s Chelsea in a change strip of yellow shirts and green shorts, and yellow socks, who are attacking the goal to our right… We apologise if there’s something of a clash if you’re watching in black and white, Spurs in the slightly darker shorts and the slightly whiter shirts.

Maybe the amount of viewers effected was already negligible (we’d love to see some records for colour vs black and white TV licenses in the UK in 1978), but clearly there had been a significant oversight. For those who tuned in to watch on an older/cheaper set, we can see from converting a suitable screen shot to black and white that “something of a clash” was an understatement:

While it may have been unfair on some, the only eyes that really mattered were the ones witnessing and participating in the game live in colour, and to the players, officials and fans, there was a clear, if unusual, distinction. It would have been interesting to see if any of those in attendance that day were savvy enough to cop the potential problem the kit configuration would have without colour, and in fact many doubtlessly did realise when watching the game later on The Big Match.

Over the coming years, the black and white clash became less and less of an issue as technology advanced and prices of colour televisions lowered (although, surprisingly, 12,000 black and white TVs remained licensed in the UK as of 2014). But on a global scale, with the world’s varying degrees of ‘development’, the clash remained an important factor for FIFA and contributed to the the strict distinctions demanded (resulting in some memorable mash-ups) in World Cup matches for years to come.

Greece vs Australia, 11/11/1980:

One kit trope that we love here at POTP, is when a team who aren’t usually known for it wear white shorts with their otherwise usual home colours. Two classic examples stem from the 1978 World Cup, when both Brazil and Spain (see last link above) were forced to swap their blue shorts for white due to clashes against Argentina and Sweden respectively.

In a similar way, we are also big fans of strips consisting of ‘colour/darker colour/white’ in terms of the shirt/shorts/socks. Australia sported this look to great effect at their debut World Cup in 1974 with yellow/green/white (seen vs West Germany below), while more notably wearing one of the most bizarre shirts of all time due to the fact that the double diamond of Umbro on the chest was accompanied by the three stripes of Adidas on the sleeves:

Several years later, Australia (now “fully-Umbro’d”) traveled to play Greece in November 1980, as part of a European tour that also included a game against England at St. Andrews, before a ‘club vs country’ affair with Leicester City. While the English match would be the main event, the Greeks themselves had just come off their first ever major tournament appearance at Euro 80, which they had followed with 0-1 World Cup qualifier defeat to Denmark.

As of that year, the “Socceroos” were still using their yellow/green/white format, as seen in another match against the English back in May (an Australian football centenary game in Sydney). But for the Greek encounter on November 11th in Athens, Australia reversed the shorts and socks colours to create a yellow/white/green strip, much to our satisfaction:

While not as crazy as the 1974 jersey, the Australian shirt by this time was still pleasingly odd in a perfectly Ozzie way. In the late 70s, Umbro had introduced a wordmark under their diamond logo, including on Australian kits. But uniquely (?) for the 80-82 iteration, the “umbro” now appeared on one side of the centralised crest, and the double diamond on the other.

The host side, meanwhile, were in their change strip of white/blue/white, which had actually been used with black shorts at the Euros. The logo of ASICS can just about be seen…:

…but an advertising hoarding with the same logo displays the word “Tiger”:

This is because the company had originally started life in 1949 as the Japanese footware-firm ‘Onitsuka Tiger’ and had only rebranded to ASICS (an acronym for the Latin “anima sana in corpore sano” – “healthy soul in a healthy body”) in 1977, with the logo having first appeared on running shoes back in 1966. The ‘Tiger’ theme is still used by ASICS to this day when it comes to trainers, but evidentially it might also have applied to their tentative first steps into the football kit world in the early 80s.

Breaking down the kit choices side by side, it seems plausible that the reason for the Greeks not to wear their home blue shirts may have been because the Australian ‘keeper was also wearing blue (see below), and so the away shorts and socks were also used. Then, even though sock clashes wouldn’t have been considered a pressing issue in friendlies, the Australians changed to their alternative white shorts and green socks, perhaps to account for the aforementioned “black and white clash” which would have occurred on certain TVs (presumably a greater issue in poorer Greece than it was in the UK in 1978).

After a 3-3 draw, the boys from Down Under moved on to Britain for their match against an English side who, like Greece, would be in white/blue/white. Unlike with the Greeks though, this was England’s expectant first strip so perhaps yellow/white/green had been the Australians plan for the tour all along.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any visual evidence for the England game or what was worn. But this brilliant website does display an Australia away jersey that was apparently used against Leicester a few day later, suggesting that two full kits were more than likely brought with each element used as needed. Or was there just two jerseys?

Portugal, 1990/91

We have one more example of white shorts being surprisingly inserted into an established national kit, but this time it would not be a forced mash-up – rather, a conscious change of style direction. The country in question is Portugal, who may have took inspiration from their Iberian cousins change at World Cup 78 and decided they wanted the look for themselves…twelve years later.

As we saw in the recently published Euro 84 Football Special Report, the Portuguese were an Adidas side had who worn the stunning diagonal-pinstripe “Chelsea” template at the tournament. By the end of 1989, Portugal were playing out their fruitless World Cup 90 qualifiers in the usual red/green/red home colours, now with a with a greater presence of white on a shirt that featured dual sleeve ‘flashes’ (seen below away to Brazil in a friendly), and an all-white away kit that kept the same jersey template in reverse, but with different-style shorts (seen away to Switzerland in a qualifier):

After a 0-0 draw away to Czechoslovakia in the change kit on November 15th, 1989, Portugal would not take to the field again until August 29th, 1990, when they would host now-World Champions West Germany in Lisbon for a friendly. A 1-1 draw was played out, but the 20,000 in attendance at the Estádio da Luz were lucky enough to witness the home side’s new change in kit direction:

The jersey from 1989 remained but the green shorts were gone, now replaced by a rarely seen design in white with red details to better matched the shirt. The “missing” green was transferred downwards, however, to the socks (with white Adidas branding), where red lost out:

The kit made it’s competitive debut away to Finland in a Euro 92 qualifier the following month, before a visit of the Dutch to Porto for another qualifier on October 17th, 1990. With the away side in white/orange/white, both teams engaged in dual Adidas ‘jacket-porn’ before the match with two outstanding anthem-tracksuit tops on show (some of which didn’t have a crest on the Portuguese side):

A friendly in January 1990 away to Spain provided the answer to a question on everybody’s minds: which shorts would be used with the away shirt? As mentioned, the white shirt that had been around since at least 89 had been used with it’s own pair of shorts originally, when the home pair were green. But with the new shorts seemingly matched specifically with the shirt template (which was the same for home and away), it makes sense that 1990 shorts were indeed retained:

These configurations were used in qualifiers in February against Greece, Malta (away) and Malta (home). But come the Autumn, for the return tie against the Finns (see below; and possibly a preceding friendly against Austria), a new kit was introduced that revived the old red/green/red system. A friendly away to Luxembourg in October, in which a new white/green/white away kit was used, confirmed that this experimental era was over:

Porto vs Werder Bremen, 24/11/1993

Ditching the white shorts theme, but very much continuing with the Portuguese theme, Portugal are well known around these parts for their continued use of an Adidas trefoil shirt as late as December 1994 (seen below vs Lichtenstein, December 94; the same template that had debuted in it’s away version against Luxembourg in 91). This seems shockingly out of date when some nations, such as Ireland, were on their third generation of shirt past the trefoil (Equipment; World Cup 94; Umbro), and were most likely the last ‘major nation’ to do so (at least in Europe).

It seems that at club level, things weren’t TOO different either, as demonstrated by 92/93 Primeira Divisão champions Porto in their Champions League campaign of the following season. Also with Adidas, Porto started the competition wearing a ‘trefoiled- kit’ that used the same shorts-template as Portugal 90/91 (see above), as used against Feyenoord in the second round…:

…before moving onto a strange new shirt featuring just an ‘adidas’ wordmark, but with a miniature variation of the “Equipment” logo incorporated into the collar, as seen against Milan:

The away and third kits that year, however, were full on Adidas Equipment – the “post-World Cup qualifers style” that added corresponding lower sections the diagonal shoulder bars. While most sides used this template with a primary background colour and secondary bar colour, Porto ingeniously only coloured the outlines of the bars, effectively creating all-white and all-blue strips that wouldn’t cause an issue against the blue or white clad team that had triggered the switch in the first place.

Considering that, the situation that would occur when Werder Bremen arrived for that year’s Champions League group stage (which only came after a first and second round and led directly to semi-finals) was most peculiar. The main issue was that the Germans had seemingly only brought their home strip of white/green/white, which wouldn’t do against the white and blue stripes of the home team:

Perhaps the blue version of the bars template was not yet produced by this stage, but needing some sort of alternate attire Porto emerged in a top that was presumably a change shirt from the season before. It appeared to be the Adidas Equipment template used the likes of Spain and France that featured a total of six bars across the two shoulders, but, unlike those, the Porto version incredibly displayed a trefoil in the collar (which was also white, unlike the other versions) instead of the “triangle” (or, eventually, a lone wordmark in the case of the French, meaning that this template had seen all three Adidas logo varieties):

The unusual jersey proved good luck, whatever the case, as a 3-2 victory was secured while wearing it (or Porto were just better). A few months later in March 1994, when Anderlecht were the Portuguese champs’ opponents in the same group, again white was worn by the visitors. But by now, the “correct”, up-to-date shirt was available, and Porto played and won – en route to making it to the quarter-finals – in the same template as their opponents:

Funnily enough, the only consistent feature throughout was those old 1990-shorts from the home kit, which had been retained in the first-choice strip when the trefoil shirt was dropped. This meant that during Porto’s 93/94 season, the shorts had somehow ended-up paired with at least four different jerseys that they had never intended to be used with.

Finally, for this bumper first of edition of Kit Interested, we turn to the Republic of Ireland, who’s 1992-1994 Adidas strips were recently highlighted in Campaign Kit Campaigns #4 and #5. In the latter of these, it was mentioned that after two World Cups the Irish had yet to lose a WC finals match in their home shirt, and equally yet to win a WC finals match in their away shirt.

After switching to Umbro following the USA edition, amazingly the Boys in Green’s only other World Cup appearance to date at Japan/Korea 2002 produced the same result after four matches. We thought a sort-of handy graph/timeline was in order show how this phenomenon of the “cursed away” jersey unfolded:

YouTube Links:

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur, 1967
Real Madrid vs Chelsea, 1971
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur, 1972
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea, 1975
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea, 1978
Millwall vs Chelsea, 1977
West Germany vs Australia, 1974
Greece vs Australia, 1980
Brazil vs Portugal, 1989
Switzerland vs Portugal, 1989
Portugal vs Germany, 1990
Portugal vs Netherlands, 1990
Spain vs Portugal, 1991
Portugal vs Finland, 1991
Luxembourg vs Portugal, 1991
Portugal vs Lichtenstein, 1994
Porto vs Feyenoord, 1993
Porto vs Milan, 1994
Porto vs Werder Bremen, 1993
Porto vs Anderlecht, 1994
Ireland vs England, 1990
Ireland vs Egypt, 1990
Ireland vs Netherlands, 1990
Ireland vs Romania, 1990
Ireland vs Italy, 1990
Ireland vs Italy, 1994
Ireland vs Mexico, 1994
Ireland vs Norway, 1994
Ireland vs Netherlands, 1994
Ireland vs Cameroon, 2002
Ireland vs Germany, 2002
Ireland vs Saudi Arabia, 2002
Ireland vs Saudi Arabia, 2002

*****

Football Special Report #7: Euro 84

Our previous Football Special Report was the first to deviate from the original format of highlighting a specific interesting match and what it entailed (but that is currently a fanzine exclusive installment). Now, having continued to peer quizzically around the retro footballing world, we cast our gaze upon the Euros of 1984.

Background:

The 1980 European Championships in Italy had been the first to feature eight teams in the competition, rather than the four that had been involved since the inaugural 1960 edition. But, uniquely for an eight team format, 80 would only see the top placed team in each group progress, with the two runners-up granted the “honour” of a third place play-off.

West Germany defeated Belgium in the final in Rome to take their second championship in the last three Euros, after the Soviet Union, Spain, Italy and Czechoslovakia had also picked up continental wins in the 60s and 70s. The latest West German triumph, following their second World Cup victory in 1974 (with further runner-up spots at both a Euros and World Cup to their name), had consolidated their status as Europe’s top team, and the nation’s footballing administrators hoped to be rewarded by bringing the tournament to their country in 1984.


The West German squad celebrate on the pitch after winning the Euro 80 final against Belgium, 22/06/1980.

The only other nation to contest the bidding process was France, who had hosted the original competition in 1960. The 74 West German World Cup was perhaps too fresh in the memory of the UEFA Executive Committee, who unanimously voted for the French to hold the next European Championships in a December 1981 meeting (although Germany would not have too long to wait for their turn).

With the ball for Euro 84 now rolling, the next step was the qualifying draw in Paris in January 1982. France of course entered automatically as hosts, leaving 32 other European nations to make up seven groups of four and five where the top placed finishers would progress.

Played out between May 1982 and December 1983, the only group that proved particularly clearly cut for the eventual victors was Belgium’s Group 1. Entering a third European Championships, the Belgians had comfortably seen off Switzerland, East Germany and a poor last placed Scotland, with their only group loss coming to the Swiss after qualification had already be secured.


Belgium vs Scotland in the yet-to-be-infamous Heysel Stadium, 15/12/1982.

Group 2, conversely, came down to a last day decider between Portugal and the USSR in Lisbon. With Poland and Finland already out of the running, the Portuguese claimed a 1-0 win to leapfrog the Soviets into first, and in doing so made their first major finals since World Cup 66.

Group 3 started with a smoky affair in Copenhagen between Denmark and England where the points were shared. A further blip occurred for the the English when they drew 0-0 at home to Greece in March 83, before the Danes astonishingly took “all two points” (still awarded for a win instead of three at this time) in Wembley in September. 9-0 and 0-4 defeats of Luxembourg, as well as home and away victories over Hungary, were not enough for the unconvincing English, as a 0-2 win over Greece in November 83 sealed an exciting Denmark team’s qualification by a single point.

In Group 4, three-time tournament participants Yugoslavia proved too strong for the Welsh, Bulgarians and Norwegians, taking pole position with eight points to Wales’ seven. Similarly in Group 5, Romania impressively came out trumps over Sweden by a point, as supposed heavyweights Italy and Czechoslovakia disappointingly finishing third and fourth with Cyprus propping up the table.


The picturesque scene for Yugoslavia and Wales' Euro qualifier in Titograd (now Podgorica, capital of Montenegro) that would end in a 4-4 draw, 15/12/1982.

While Austria, Turkey and Albania made up the numbers, Northern Ireland looked set to qualify ahead of West Germany in Group 6 after a marvelous 0-1 upset in Hamburg in November, 1983, having already won on home soil in Belfast. The Germans still had to play Albania in Saarbrücken five days later, but the waiting North were on course to make it to their first ever Euros until the 79th minute when the home team finally went 2-1 up; both West Germany and Northern Ireland finished level on 11 points, but the former went through on goal difference.


Northern Ireland fans in Hamburg for their side's 0-1 Euro qualifier win away to West Germany, 16/11/1983.

The last group, Group 7, turned out to be a similar situation, as Netherlands and Spain emerged ahead of Ireland, Iceland, and group whipping boys Malta (although they did beat Iceland 2-1 in the first game of the group). But what was to come in the final round of fixtures proved the most intriguing situation in all the qualifiers.

Having lost only once (away to each other) in their games up to now, the Dutch and the Spanish went to into December 1983 level on eleven points, both with one last respective home game against Malta to come. It would effectively be a straight shoot out against the poor Maltese, to see who could amass the greater goal difference and advance.

First came the attempt of the Netherlands who ended up 5-0 winners in Rotterdam, delivering a final goal difference of +16. As Spain currently had +5, this meant an eleven goal victory was needed in Madrid five days later for the home side to qualify, but the Maltese goalkeeper brazenly and bizarrely claimed beforehand that the Spanish could not even score eleven goals past a team of children.

Spain missed a penalty minutes into the match, before going into the break only 3-1 up. To the delight of the crowd though, an amazing nine goals were scored after half time, with the last in the 84th minute making it 12-1 come the final whistle. The Spanish were through, but of course questions of bribery were instantly raised, along with sinister claims by two Maltese players of doping as “they (the Spanish players) had foam in their mouths and could not stop drinking water”.


The 12th goal in the 12-1 win over Malta that sent Spain to Euro 84, 21/12/1983.

Like the 78 World Cup final, the Dutch could perhaps feel hard done by and, after already missing out on Euro 80 and World Cup 82, they would have to wait another four years before they would finally return to the big time when they would at last win a trophy. Regardless, the eight finalists going to France had been decided, pleasingly with two debutante qualifiers (Portugal and Romania); two making their second appearance (Denmark and France); two making their third appearance (Belgium and Spain); and, you guessed it, two making their fourth appearance (Yugoslavia and West Germany).

The format for the upcoming tournament was again adapted, as the top two countries in each group would now thankfully progress to semi-finals before the final; equally thankfully, the rather useless third place play-off was dropped. The eight cities of Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Lens, Nantes, Strasbourg were to host the matches, and a trim squad of twenty was to be brought by each qualifying nation.

UEFA European Championships 1984

We cannot confirm, but presumably the final draw took place in Paris sometime between December 83 and January 84. The two groups created were:

Group 1

Belgium
Denmark
France
Yugoslavia

Group 2

Portugal
Romania
Spain
West Germany

One thing that jumps out about this tournament was some amazing synchronicity in scorelines between games played on the same day. Only one goal in each group would end up preventing identical scorelines in Group 1, and identical results in Group 2.

Another major feature was some of the revolutionary jerseys on show, with both France and Belgium in spectacular bespoke Adidas designs that were primed for retro-revivals in years to come. The Germans and Romanians used Adidas’s slightly more understated “Aberdeen” template, with Portugal and Yugoslavia rocking the mega-classy, diagonal pin-striped “Chelsea” variety. The only non-Adidas apparel was provided by recent converts Spain, now in Le Coq Sportif, along side the always welcome Hummel of Denmark.


France home, Belgium away, Portugal home.

Round 1:

The hosts kicked off the show taking on the Danes in a sold out Parc des Princes, Paris, on June 12th. The real talking point for us was the huge plume of smoke coming from outside the stadium at half time. Whether this was a controlled industrial blaze, or if something was seriously on fire is unknown (it was probably explained by the commentators but we don’t speak French):

A huge marching band also entertained the fans before the game and during the break:

As can be seen in the background, the visitors were well represented in the stands with some nice flags on show:

Not so nice, however, was the injury suffered by Danish striker Allan Simonsen, after a 50-50 challenge left him with a broken shin. Apparently the sound in the stadium was like “a branch breaking in a tree” as it occurred:

Despite a red-card for Frenchman Manual Amaros – for throwing the ball at/headbutting Jesper Olsen – a second half Platini goal gave the home side the win. The following day in the Lens’ intimdating Stade Félix-Bollaert, Belgium took on and beat Yugoslavia with a comfortable 2-0 win, as many fans with yellow hats looked on:

Group 2 was to commence on June 14th, first with the meeting of West Germany and Portugal in Strasbourg – a game notable as the scene for the only major hooligan disturbance during the final. Apparently a group of Germans were responsible for the incidents (we are unclear on what happened exactly), but were swiftly arrested and sent the short distance back across the border.

Of course when it came to hooligans, the main difference between Euro 80 and the other European Championships of the time (Euro 80, 88 and 92) was a lack of England, who’s presence would have almost certainly increased the rate of trouble by several hundred percent. The failure to qualify also meant that the ever-insular English decided against broadcasting most of the tournament live on TV, with only the Spanish-German match and final set to be shown in the UK as they happened.

In the match itself at Stade de la Meinau, the Portuguese managed to hold the cup holders to 0-0. As always, the Germans were well represented in the stands, as evident by their array of flags which included one banner in the German Empire colours:

The less political, but just as colourful, Portuguese savored their first summer back in action in nearly two decades, as well as celebrating a great result:

Later that evening in Saint-Étienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Romania began their first ever major finals. Like Portugal earlier, they will have been satisfied to take a 1-1 draw from their encounter with another former champion in Spain, especially having come from behind:

Back to Group 1 and June 16th would see the first regional derby of the Cup, with France taking on Belgium in Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire. The teams emerged to show that France – led by a Platini who looked dead inside – were debuting their stunning change kit (as they were the “away” team in the tie), while the Belgians strangely wore what looked like Argentinian-inspired anthem jackets:

Once the jackets came off, the traveling team’s own home jersey was revealed for the first time in tournament, which was another masterpiece:

A match-fixing scandal involving Belgian clubs Standard Liege and Waterschei a few years earlier had left the Belgium without several key defenders, who were suspended. This weakness, as well as the host’s strength, was evident as the French booked their place in the semis with an embarrassing 5-0 defeat for the visitors, as a now smiling Platini bagged a hat-trick (pictures of fans are more interesting though):

Stade de Gerland in Lyon was the scene a couple of hours later for Denmark vs Yugoslavia and amazingly it would be another 5-0 scoreline, this time with the Danes taking the points. The heavy loss was not what you would expect of the “Brazil of Europe” (as the Balkan superstate were known with regards only to football) and, reflecting this, their manager Todor Veselinović was admitted to hospital after the game for stress and exhaustion.

The next day, Lens hosted a now “hooligan-free” German contingent for their game against Romania. Although the team were under-performing, the German supporters on the terraces more than made up for it with their banners:

In this “battle of the Aberdeen shirts”, the Romanians in their red change kit will have been hopeful for a repeat of their earlier match, as the sides went into the break at 1-1. But Rudi Voller’s second of the game after the break secured West Germany’s first win of the competition:

That evening, Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome – the largest stadium in the Championships with 55,000 capacity – saw it’s first use for the Iberian derby between Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, less than half the ground was filled as only 24,464 watched another 1-1 draw.

On June 19th, Group 1 would conclude with simultaneous games in Saint-Étienne and Strasbourg. The French continued their championship form with a 3-2 win over the hapless Yugoslavs (although they had gone 0-1 up), as Platini bagged his second consecutive hat-trick – seven goals in only three games overall:

But continuing on from the manager’s health scare following the Belgium game, there would be more darkness for Yugoslavia at full time as the team doctor of all people suffered a heart attack on the pitch and later died in hospital. The cause of death may indeed have been the sudden appearance of a nightmarish chicken-man:

After what must have seemed like a cursed tournament, Veselinović unsurprisingly resigned as Yugoslavia coach as short time later. The other match between Denmark and Belgium, meanwhile, was a more exciting affair to see who would take second place in the group:

The Belgians were 2-0 up after 40 minutes, but one pulled back before the break followed by two in the second half gave the delirious Danes a famous 3-2 victory. And, for the second time in two Group 1 days, five goals had been scored in both games:

Nantes and Paris played host to last group matches on June 20th, with Portugal taking on Romania in Stade de Beaujoir. The game saw both sides in their away kits, with guards conspicuously standing on front of the stands:

Just about coming out on top both in the fashion stakes and on the pitch, the classy-kitted Portuguese were able to secure their place in the next stage with a 1-0 win:

But the big game was happening in the capital, as even the English watched on from home to see West Germany take on Spain. With the Spanish having only managed two points so far, the Germans looked set to progress until the 90th minute when goal scoring defender Antonio Maceda – who had found the net four times during qualifying – arrived in the box to head in a 1-0 winner:

Like the “miracle of Madrid” against Malta, once again the Spanish had somehow managed to progress, while the Germans would be following their hooligans with an early trip home:

Semi-finals:

On June 23rd, the Velodrome would at last be used to it’s potential as locals filled the stadium to capacity for the home nation’s semi against Portugal – ultimately the biggest crowd of the tournament. With the score at 1-1 after 90 minutes, extra-time was needed in which another two goals made it 2-2 with seconds to go:

Penalties looked assured, until that man Platini scored in the last minute of extra-time to deliver another 3-2 win. Absolute carnage of course ensues, and pyro:

The second semi-final in Lyon on the 24th proved an equally tight encounter between Denmark and Spain. The Danes went one-up early on through Bayern Munich’s Søren Lerby, but amazingly Maceda was again on hand to equalise in the 67th minute:

This time, after two hours of football, it did go all the way to a shoot-out. Unfortunately, Danmark’s star man Preben Elkjær was the only player to miss his spot-kick as the Spanish triumphed by five penalties to four, but his displays at the tournament earned him a transfer from Belgium club Lokeren to Italy’s Hellas Verona shortly afterwards.

Final:

Only 15 days after they had started the cup there, France returned to Paris for the final against Spain on June 27th. The media hyped an epic contest and of course all eyes were on Platini, who kicked off the game to a vintage cacophony of horns from the crowd:

Pockets of colourful Spanish also made themselves seen among the overwhelmingly home support:

The match turned out to be somewhat of an anti-climax for the neutral. At the break it was still 0-0, as we can see from the excellent graphics:

The French substitutes demonstrated some of the other beautiful gear that the team had, with an array of sweat-shirts based off the jersey (one not pictured was devoid of any insignia):

The home nation soon reveled as Platini did indeed fulfill his destiny of scoring in every game (9 overall, still a record) by giving France the lead on 57 minutes. Winger Bruno Bellone secured the trophy with a second goal on the 90th minute – the French had won their first ever piece of silverware at senior level:

With some exciting games, decent football, and a lack of major trouble, the tournament was deemed a resounding success. These would go on to be crucial factors in France’s bid to host the 98 World Cup, which would turn out to be scene as they next won a trophy in the exact same stadium – fittingly wearing a tribute shirt to the 84 design. But worryingly, unlike 1984, this time the English were coming.

Helpful ‘1980s Sports Blog’ post on Euro 84
Video links:
West Germany vs Belgium, 1980
Belgium vs Scotland, 1982
Yugoslavia vs Wales, 1982
West Germany vs Northern Ireland, 1983
Spain vs Malta, 1983
France vs Denmark, 1984
Belgium vs Yugoslavia, 1984
Portugal vs West Germany, 1984
Spain vs Romania, 1984
Belgium vs France, 1984
Denmark vs Yugoslavia, 1984
West Germany vs Romania, 1984
France vs Yugoslavia, 1984
Denmark vs Belgium, 1984
Romania vs Portugal, 1984
Spain vs West Germany, 1984
France vs Portugal, 1984
Spain vs Denmark, 1984
France vs Spain, 1984
France vs Spain, 1984

*****

Gif of the Day Superpost, Part 4: #76-100

It’s another weird and wonderful array of gifs from our not-quite-daily Gif of the Day on the POTP Facebook and Twitter pages. Once the series goes past another century we will add the next four blocks, but for now click here for parts 1, 2 or 3.

January – February 2019

Gif of the Day #76: 1992 – Nigerian supporters celebrate in Stade de l’Amitié, Dakar, Senegal, after their team go 1-0 up against Kenya. African Cup of Nations, first round, 14/01/92:

Gif of the Day #77: 1991 – Days before Croatia’s independence referendum, Davor Šuker scores his one and only goal for Yugoslavia on his second and last cap (having already played for an unofficial Croatian selection against Romania in 1990) with the 7th goal in a 7-0 drubbing of Faroe Islands. Great kit too. Euro 92 qualifying group 2, Belgrade, 16/05/91:

Gif of the Day #78: 1986 – Not phones, but lighters in the air act as make-shift pryo for a penalty. Nantes vs Internazionale, UEFA Cup quarter-final 2nd leg, 19/03/86:

Gif of the Day #79: 1983 – 36 years ago today Leeds go on the rampage by the family seats of the Baseball Ground. Derby County vs Leeds United, League Division 2, 22/01/83:

Gif of the Day #80: 1980 – A cold weather European classic with beautiful luminous yellow Adidas Tango ball, often overlooked for it’s equally great orange counterpart. Sochaux vs Eintracht Frankfurt, UEFA Cup 3rd round 2nd leg, 10/12/80:

Gif of the Day #81: 1981 – Raucous scenes in the Idrætspark, Copenhagen, following a fabulous 3-1 victory for the home side. Denmark vs Italy, World Cup qualifying Group 5, 03/06/81:

Gif of the Day #82: 1988 – Manchester United in beautiful away kit score against Liverpool in Anfield, note the pockets of United fans on the left celebrating in the home sections. League Division 1, 04/04/88:

Gif of the Day #83: 1988 – Ultras Bari in action. Bari vs Bologna, Serie B, 24/04/88:

Gif of the Day #84: 1992 – Classic Adidas Ghana kit and line-up graphics for the day, vs Zambia, African Cup of Nations first round, 15/01/92:

Gif of the Day #85: 2008 – Not as retro as usual, but one of the most emotional and beautiful moments born out of tragedy in football history (along with the Christmas truce of WW1 in our book) as Rome unites in memory of Gabriele. Lazio vs Roma, Serie A, 19/03/08:

Gif of the Day #86: 1973 – Police try to create a terrace divide (apart from one nonchalant fan) between rival supporters in the Eastville Stadium. Bristol Rovers vs West Ham United, Watney Cup first round, 11/08/73:

Gif of the Day #87: 1993 – Flags! Padova vs Ascoli, Serie B, 13/06/93:

Gif of the Day #88: 1988 – What at first may appear to be a running flare-launch attack turns out to be the fusing of an elaborate chain of pyro arranged by Cosenza’s Nuclei Sconvolti (Stoner Core). Cosenza va Reggina, Serie B 23/10/88:

Gif of the Day #88.5: 1988 – Heartwarming joy as the display is deemed a success. Cosenza vs Reggina, Serie B 23/10/88:

Gif of the Day #89: 1966 – Welsh ecstasy in Ninian Park, Cardiff, as the home side go 1-0 up in what was both a British Home Championship 66/67 game and a Euro 68 qualifier. Wales vs Scotland, 22/10/66 – taken from People On The Pitch #2:

Gif of the Day #90: 1979 – A packed terrace, flags and torrential rain combine to make a perfect European night as fans celebrate the goal that will win the tournament (the result of a dubious penalty), Borussia Monchengladbach v Red Star Belgrade, UEFA Cup final 2nd leg, Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, 25/05/79:

Gif of the Day #91 – 1977 – Everton in Swindon Town’s County Ground, FA Cup 4th round, 29/01/77:

Gif of the Day #92: 1994 – Bizarre/great footage of fan-band on pitch (with unplugged instruments..) spliced in between that of supporters and the match. US Alessandria vs Mantova, Serie C1 Group A, 22/05/94:

Gif of the Day #93: 1978 – Italian fans in Mar del Plata, Argentina, for their tie with France, World Cup first round, Group 1, 02/06/78:

Gif of the Day #94: 1990 – A pre-match fracas breaks out at Landsdowne Road as an English mob scatters the crowd. There would be clashes in Dublin after the game also, coinciding with a protest march against the extradition of an IRA political prisoner (now a sitting member of the Irish parliament) to Britain. Republic of Ireland vs England, Euro 92 qualifier, 14/11/90. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F2IY–CnjM):

Gif of the Day #95: 1993 – Heroic head-gear, tracksuits, and a great Puma template of the era on show from the home team. Ruch Chorzów vs Widzew Łódź, Ekstraklasa (Polish top flight), 21/05/93:

Gif of the Day #96: 1983 – Mesmerising flag and Roma is magic. Roma vs Cagliari, Serie A, 16/01/83:

Gif of the Day #97: 1992/93 – This is great, player for the away team scores a penalty and then runs the length of the pitch, ignoring every team mate as he goes, to celebrate on front of the traveling fans. Cavese vs Nocerina, Eccellenza Campania (Italian 6th tier) Group B, 92/93:

Gif of the Day #98: 1989 – Japan vs North Korea, kits including a unique Adidas affair for Japan in red, and fans including a sizable amount of Korean support (made up of state officials no doubt) with even a card coreo visible to left. World Cup 90 qualifiers AFC 1st Round Group 6, Kita, Tokyo, 04/06/89:

Gif of the Day #99: 1990 – Absolute terrace carnage and a flying Yorkshireman. Leeds United away to Oxford United, Division 2, 10/03/90. Taken from Supporter Snap Back #4:

Gif of the Day #100: 1985 – ULTRAS, Avellino vs Atalanta, Serie A, 14/04/85:

*****

Gif of the Day Superpost, Part 3: #51-75

The third block of the first one hundred Gifs of the Day from our Facebook and Twitter pages, and it’s another marvelous selection. Anything can happen in the Superpost. Click here for part one, part two or part four.

Gif of the Day #51: 1993 – Hagi scores against Wales in Cardiff. The 1-2 defeat eliminated the hosts while securing Romania‘s place in the finals on the last day of the group. World Cup 94 qualifier, 17/11/93:

Gif of the Day #52: 1993 – To make it up to our Welsh followers for yesterday’s heartbreaking reminder, here are happier times from earlier in the same game as pyro is let off in the Cardiff crowd while Eric Young hashes out with manager Terry Yorath, plus a huge can of Coke. Wales vs Romania, World Cup qualifier, 17/11/93:

Gif of the Day #53: 1985 – Quintessential scenes from the East German DDR-Oberliga as BSG Wismut Aue go 0-1 up away to BSG Motor Suhl, 16/03/85:

Gif of the Day #54: 1988 – The scene as Nacional (Uruguay) and Newell’s Old Boys (Argentina) take to the field for the second leg of their Copa Libertadores final, 26/10/88:

Gif of the Day #55: 1981 – Stadio Olimpico’s Curva Sud ahead of AS Roma vs SSC Napoli, Serie A, 08/03/81:

Gif of the Day #56: 1973 – Flag bearers in Greek traditional dress lead the AC Milan and Leeds United teams as they parade with a large Greek flag ahead of the Cup Winners Cup final, held in Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessalonica, 16/05/73:

Gif of the Day #57: 1973 – Violent scenes at the end of the Cup Winners Cup final. AC Milan vs Leeds United, Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessalonica, 16/05/73:

Gif of the Day #58: 1985 – Maradona channels his inner Steve Staunton with an “Olympic goal” (that is straight from a corner kick). Napoli vs Lazio, Serie A, 24/02/1985:

Gif of the Day #59: 1983 Manchester United fans chanting at Arsenal, FA Cup semi-final, Villa Park, 16/04/83:

Gif of the Day #60: 1968 – Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (revered as god incarnate by the Rastafarian movement) watches the final of the African Cup of Nations, alongside the tournament trophy, in the humbly titled Haile Selassie Stadium. Democratic Republic of Congo vs Ghana, 21/01/68:

Gif of the Day #61: 1980/81 – Scenes from the Italian ultra scene. Taken from People On The Pitch #9:

Gif of the Day #62: 1991 – Curva Fiesole ahead of Fiorentina vs Juventus, Serie A, 07/04/91:

Gif of the Day #63: c.1979 – Scarves and smoke in the Shed at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea vs unknown:

Gif of the Day #64: 1998 – Intro to “World Cup 98” for the Nintendo 64:

Gif of the Day #65: 1994 – “Fog of war”, the Rome derby is shrouded in smoke after pyro from both curvas. Lazio vs Roma, Serie A, 06/03/94:

Gif of the Day #66: 1990 – Intro graphic before Barletta vs Torino, Serie B, 25/02/90:

Gif of the Day #67: 1993 – Curva Nord at the Stadio Armando Picchi in Livorno, formally known as Yankee Stadium during the post-WW2 years due to it’s use by American soldiers. Livorno vs Savona, Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti (Serie D), 10/01/93:

Gif of the Day #68: 1991 – Iceland go 2-0 at home to Spain, en route to one of their greatest victories ever up to that point. Euro 92 qualifiers Group 1 (an unbeaten France progressed), 25/09/91:

Gif of the Day #69: 1981 – A home end Bunnikside bomb explodes by the head of away goalkeeper Joop Hiele. FC Utrecht vs Feyenoord, Eredivisie, 15/02/81, taken from Pyro On The Pitch 13:

Gif of the Day #70: 1987 – A lone dancer solemnly performs a traditional Basque folk dance for veterans of the 1937 “Euzkadiko Selekzioa” (Basque national team) to mark 50 years since their first match abroad (taking on Racing Paris the same day Guernica was bombed in the Spanish Civil War) in the the San Mamés stadium ahead of Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad, La Liga, 17/10/87:

Gif of the Day #71: 2001 – Irish international David Connolly scores his first of two goals in a 3-4 away win at the Ajax Arena, Ajax Amsterdam vs Feyenoord Rotterdam, Eredivisie, 13/05/01:

Gif of the Day #72: 1991 – Stadio Olimpico’s Curva Sud celebrates the first goal in 2-1 win for Roma against Brøndby to send the home side through to the final after a 0-0 in Denmark. UEFA Cup semi-final 2nd leg, 24/04/91:

Gif of the Day #73: 1981 – Scenes of jubilation, as well as aggravation in the away sector, after Norway‘s famous 2-1 victory over England in Oslo, World Cup qualifier, 09/09/81:

Gif of the Day #74: 1982 – A small but colourful away crowd are rewarded as Mick Martin’s own goal silences Lansdowne Road. Ireland vs Spain (final score 3-3), Euro 84 qualifier, 17/11/82:

Gif of the Day #75: 1991 – The greatest “strike” in football history as an away ball boy feels the wrath of home ‘keeper Wolfgang Wiesner during a post-reunification East vs West German club clash. BSV Stahl Brandenburg vs FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen, 2 Bundesliga Nord, 16/11/91. Taken from Football Special Report #4:

*****

Gif of the Day Superpost, Part 2: #26-50

Part two of our compilation of Facebook/Twitter “Gifs of the Day”, follow the pages to catch the gifs as they come in real time (thick and fast). Click here for part 1, 3 or 4.

Gif of the Day #26: PAO pryo, Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos, Greek Cup Final, 28/05/1986:

Gif of the Day #27: World Cup 90 coverage on Japanese TV, 1990:

Gif of the Day #28: Red Star banners, Red Star Belgrade vs Portadown FC, Champions League, 19/09/1991:

Gif of the Day #29: Home fans celebrate the third goal in 3-1 win, Lithuania vs Albania, World Cup 94 qualifier, 14/04/1993:

Gif of the Day #30: Winning goal in Ghana 3-2 Italy, Olympics, Atlanta, 23/07/1996:

Gif of the Day #31: AS Roma supporters, Cup Winners Cup 84/85, vs Bayern Munich, 20/03/1985:

Gif of the Day #32: The disappointed “just conceded a goal” terrace sway, Everton vs Bayern Munich, Cup Winners Cup Semi-Final, 24/04/1985:

Gif of the Day #33: In 1992, BSV Stahl Brandenburg goalkeeper Wolfgang Wiesner disciplines a Bayer 05 Uerdingen ball-boy for kicking the ball away. He is immediately sent off:

Gif of the Day #34: Netherlands vs Germany, European Championships, 18/06/1992:

Gif of the Day #35: Crazy Dortmund terrace after goal, Borussia Dortmund vs Auxerre, UEFA Cup semi-final 1st leg, 06/04/1993 (credit to the YouTube channel of the amazing Soccer Nostalgia blog that we love https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrJOu5SKZimBK2s6N4VYUUw):

Gif of the Day #36: Packed Bayern Munich terrace vs AC Milan, European Cup semi-final 2nd leg, 18/04/1990:

Gif of the Day #37: Recipe for trouble, Ajax Amsterdam away fans celebrate a goal in a terrace also populated by home supporters, vs FC Utrecht, 1979/80:

Gif of the Day #38: FAI Cup final 1996 – after Shelbourne FC goalkeeper Alan Gough is sent off with no sub GK on the 3-man bench (on either side), an unhappy Brian Flood is forced to go in goal. vs St. Patrick’s Athletic, 05/05/1996:

Gif of the Day #39: 1983 – Scoreboard and fireworks, Anderlecht vs Benfica, UEFA Cup Final 1st leg, 04/05/83:

Gif of the Day #40: Italian TV “EuroGol” graphics, 1987:

Gif of the Day #41: 1977 – Superb bicycle trick pre-match entertainment ahead of Hafia FC (Guinea) vs Ghana, 28/09/77:

Gif of the Day #42: 1980’s – Karlsruher SC home terrace in their recently deceased Wildparkstadion. Click here for our recently existing article that looked at their UEFA Cup tie with Bordeuax in 1993:

Gif of the Day #43: 1997 – Italian supporters in Stadio Nereo Rocco, Trieste; the city near Italy’s most eastern point that’s less than 10km from the Slovenian border. Vs Moldova, World Cup 98 qualifier, 29/03/97:

Gif of the Day #44: 1988 – Dutch supporters burn the host country’s flag after victory in the semi final. West Germany vs Netherlands, European Championship, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, 21/07/88:

Gif of the Day #45: 1987 – A firm of Chelsea arrive in the away end at Vicarage Road with their side’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Watford already underway, 01/02/87:

Gif of the Day #46: 1979 – A passionate/delirious Inter fan wishes a nerazzurri player well before the match (continuing on for several more seconds after the gif). Internazionale Milano vs Juventus, Serie A, 11/11/79:

Gif of the Day #47: 1970 – Classic terrace avalanche of Chelsea fans in White Hart Lane for the FA Cup semi-final vs Watford, 14/03/70:

Gif of the Day #48: 1991 – FC St. Pauli going 1-0 up en route to a famous win in the Olympiastadion, away to Bayern Munich, Bundesliga 02/03/91:

Gif of the Day #49: 1985 – *clap clap clap* “United!” The Red Army occupy Manchester City’s Maine Road at Manchester United vs Liverpool, FA Cup semi-final replay, 17/04/1985:

Gif of the Day #50: 1986 – Linesman can’t abide time wasting. Mexico vs West Germany, World Cup quarter-final, 21/06/86:

*****

What Football Is Supposed To Look Like #9: “In The Studio” Special (Gallery)

Welcome back to another edition of the hit gallery series What Football Is Supposed To Look Like. If it is your first time, this is where we pay homage to the glorious aesthetics of football past by letting the pictures do the talking. After our gritty Belgian league special in WFISTLL#7, we now zoom in once again on a specific area with a look at the television side of football around Europe in the 80’s and 90’s (mostly) with a selection of amazing retro graphics, sets, fashion, and presenters.

Belgium, 1991:

Ireland, 1987:

Italy, 1984:

England, 1982:

Germany, 1996:

Italy, 1987:

Italy, 1985:

East Germany, 1980:

East Germany results, 1980:

Spain, 1993:

Germany, 1991:

Italy, 1999:

Belgium, 1987:

Belgium, 1988:

Italy, 1989:

England, 1970:

Germany, 1993:

Ireland, 1988:

England, 1988:

West Germany, 1989:

East Germany, 1989:

East Germany results, 1989:

East Germany table, 1989:

Denmark, 1992:

Germany, 1995:

Italy, 1982:

*****

Retro Shirt Reviews #8

It’s been far too long since our last Retro Shirt Review, as the previous edition was an exclusive article for the pages of Shelbourne FC fanzine Reds Inc. and focused mainly on Shels’ lesser known shirts of the late 70s to early 90s. Now we return to our usual formula with a close up look at a vintage jersey from our own collection, and a piece of fabric that was definitely worth the wait (plus, stick around for the bonus International Selection at the end).

Club: N/A
Year: Early 1980s
Make: Le Coq Sportif
Sponsor: Brousse-Cardell
Number: 13
Similarly Worn By: ?

Sweet baby Jahova, will you look at what what we have here. A strong contender in the “best thing we own” category, this sleek, long-sleeved, double pin-striped(!) LCS effort from the early 80s can be perfectly described with one word: *insert one of several superlatives here*:

The shiny white material is perfectly complemented by the blue collar and cuffs, with the former a rather thick wrap-around style. As usual, we have no idea what club this is, but from the make and sponsor it is safe to say that this is the shirt of a French amateur team.

The sponsor in question is French firm Brousse-Cardell (brousse=bush), which as far as we can tell were (are?) an import company. Both their wordmark and the manufacturer’s logo are of dark blue felt:

Going closer we get a better look at the glorious and lovingly created double pin-stripes, individually stitched on to the shirt, which are a lighter blue than both the collar’n’cuffs and corporate logos. Speaking of which, the Le Coq Sportif logo is perhaps the most interesting thing on the shirt, as it is our main clue as to when the jersey is from:

Like with Adidas’s logos, there have been several iterations of the trademark triangle-cockerel over the years, corresponding to different eras. Since the 70s this often saw the cockerel standing “on front” of the triangle, or sometimes within while touching the sides, and usually a Le Coq Sportif wordmark was underneath.

As you can see above, none of this applies to our shirt as a more minimal design was preferred, used by LCS back in the 60s. With the shirt material and pin-stripes suggesting an 80s shirt anyway, the closest we can find in terms of the logo is on Argentina’s 1980-82 model so we’re going to haphazardly guess that what we’re looking at is from around then (or maybe a couple years after to account for the style).

Unfortunately the inner label has faded and is completely blank, eliminating it as a possible source of information. But on the back we have one last feature in the number, which employs thin, blue felt stripes of it’s own to beautifully form a 13:

Really outstanding stuff all around. A classy crest applied to the front would be the only thing we can think of that could improve things, although we are now well used to crestless-shirts in this series given the nature of who they were used by.

With this gem from “The Sporting Cock”, we have continued our streak of highlighting a different shirt manufacturer in every installment of Retro Shirt Reviews to date. This will change for the coming episodes, but with a whole lot of old-school Adidas awesomeness on the horizon you won’t mind too much.

International Selection:

Country: Republic of Ireland
H/A: Home
Year: 1998–99
Make: Umbro

Back in Retro Shirt Reviews #5 we checked out not one but two white Republic of Ireland away shirts from 1994, that featured a whole lot of green and orange. A few years later and the Irish had mostly abandoned orange, save for their crest, with navy introduced instead.

This began with an interesting and unique jersey debuted at home to Croatia in the first game of Euro 2000 qualifying in September 1998. Below we have the replica version featuring an Opel sponsor, as all Ireland supporter shirts had done since the 80s – a delightfully capitalistic practice we are surprised hasn’t spread to other countries (click here for our look at when sponsors were a semi-regular sight in international matches themselves):

The shirt is noteworthy as the first Irish jersey to feature a central crest since 1985. The main body consists of a sort of shadow-stripe system, where one of the alternating stripes is made of two dark green borders and a “mesh” of diagonal dark green squares within. Interesting to note is that the stripes on the right side align with those on the sleeve while those on the other side do not.

The mesh is also used in the large sublimated rendering of the FAI logo that dominates the shirt, sitting over the stripes, with the half of another crest in the left corner overlaying it in turn. The navy element is confined to the trim on the collar turn-over and it’s lower section, which is unfortunately missing the original button, while single white hoops toward the end of either sleeve complete the look.

Inside the collar the words “VAPA TECH” are repeated over and over – Umbro’s name for their futuristic fabric technique of the late 90s. The label on the lower left side of the shirts says “Only Ireland”, reflecting Umbro’s “Only Football” tag line of the time, but accurate here as this certainly is a bespoke design.

The back of the shirt, if nothing else, provides a nice look a the stripes without the gigantic badge:

While not exactly considered an all time-classic, the shirt has grown on us to the point that we consider it a respectable entry in the pantheon of Irish shirts. Certainly better than most of what was to come over the 2000s and the future crest we like to call the “modern marketing abomination“.

***

What Football Is Supposed To Look Like #6 (Gallery)

In this series we’re not really suggesting that football go back to looking like any of the pictures below, since the world they are from is gone forever and there’s nothing you can do about it. But we can at least bask in rays of nostalgic wonder by looking at the variety of features that made old school football magical, and sometimes hilarious.

Cold War-era stadium with built-in administrative building and running track, Yugoslavia vs Denmark, World Cup qualifier, 1980:

Slightly wet pitch, Derry City vs Shamrock Rovers, League of Ireland, 1989:

Classic kits, Romania vs Azerbaijan, European Championships qualifier, 1994:

Marching band and giant scary rabbit, Netherlands vs Austria, friendly, 1974:

Ticker-tape pitch, Argentina vs Colombia, Copa America, 1993:

Classic graphics and Cold War-era stadium with massive tunnel, Poland vs Greece, friendly, 1978:

Tracksuit and sweat tops, Preston North End vs Swansea City, Division Two, 1981:

Wonderfully muddy pitch, Everton vs Liverpool, FA Cup, 1981:

Concerned young supporter/style icon with camera at terrace fence, FC Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga, 1993:

A stadium at what appears to be some sort of holiday resort, Australia vs Taiwan, World Cup qualifier, 1985:

A stadium at what appears to be some sort of holiday resort, Canada vs Honduras, World Cup qualifier, 1985:

***

Heroic Hang Jobs #2 (Gallery)

It’s high time for another edition of this new series where we look at classic flag and banner hanging, great and small. Throw in some of the best sinister old school railings and fences for a winning formula.

Austria Vienna vs Zalgiris Vilnius, UEFA Cup, 07/10/1988: