Republic of Ireland Football
Shirts
The Irish football jersey is worn
with pride throughout the world as those with Irish heritage show off their
colours with pride. Between the years 1892 and 1920, Ireland, the island, was
represented by one national football team. Due to political upheaval in 1920,
Ireland was divided in to Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. By 1923,
the Irish Free State was
recognised by FIFA and they were allowed to compete in their first competitive
competition, the 1924 Olympics staged in Paris. They made an impressive start
to competitive football reaching the Quarter finals.
1936 saw the birth of the FAI
(Football Association of Ireland) as we know it today and with that, the country
would no longer be the Irish Free State but instead referred to as Eire or
Ireland. 17 years after, FIFA would allow both Irish teams to enter competition
with Ireland now being known as the 'Republic of Ireland'.
The Republic would endure tough
times on the pitch for many years. The most significant thing to happen was in
1965 when Shay Brennan became the first player to represent Ireland having not
been born there. He had an Irish parent which allowed him to represent the
national side.
Ireland Kit History
In 1986 Jack Charlton, a World Cup
Winner with England, would take charge of the Irish national side and the
countries fortunes on the pitch would soon change.
Ireland would qualify for Euro 88
after Scotland defeated Bulgaria to leave the Irish top of their qualification
group. Ireland came within a whisker of a semi-final spot despite famously
beating England in the group stages. For their first major finals, held in West
Germany, Ireland would wear a traditional green shirt designed by Adidas. It
was an updated version of the Adidas template which had already proven popular
with other national sides. The green shirt had white accented sleeves, the
shorts were white and socks green to round off a very popular Ireland kit of
recent times.
1990 would see Ireland qualifying
for another major finals, this time the World Cup held in Italy. With
qualification secured, this would mean a new kit for the national team! The
green shirt with the orange trimmed V-neck collar and subtle chevrons woven in
to the shirt would prove very popular with the Irish fans! A fans version of
the shirt was available but was different to the one worn by the national side.
'Opel' would appear on the front of the shirt as the sponsor which was a
partnership dating back to 1986 with Opel boss Arnold O'Byrne.
During the 1990 World Cup
qualifying campaign, Ireland would set a record 5 straight victories which
would help them secure their place in the finals. Despite not winning a group game,
Ireland would make the knockout stages with 3 draws. With the eyes of a nation
on the footballing team, they managed to knock out Romania on penalties making
it through to the quarter finals where they would be eventually knocked out by
hosts Italy.
Ireland would miss out on
qualifying for Euro 92 but returned to the major stage by qualifying for the
94' World Cup in USA. This World Cup would see the debut of the FAI crest on
the newly designed Irish home jersey. The shirt was actually based around the
new crest with an intricate shadow design on the front of the jersey. Adidas
also removed the 3 stripes replacing them for the classic Trefoil design in
exchange for the new Adidas branding.
The new shirt would bring some
good luck to the national side. They would avenge defeat in their first group
game by defeating the Italians 1-0 who knocked them out of the previous World
Cup. A draw with Norway and defeat to Mexico would see the Irish through to the
knockout stages where they lost 2-0 against the Dutch.
Ireland would miss out on
qualifying for Euro 96 after a play off defeat against Holland. 2 goals from
Patrick Kluivert would be enough to send the Dutch through and end Jack
Charlton's famous time in charge of the Irish!
Umbro Ireland Soccer Jerseys
Mick McCarthy would take over the
national side and would miss out on the next 2 major finals. However, after a
2-1 play off victory over Iran, Ireland would qualify for the 2002 World Cup
staged in South Korea. This was a World Cup unfortunately remembered for the
bust up between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy rather than the exceptional
performance of the 'Boys in Green'. Having drawn against the German's and
pushing Spain all the way to penalties, the Irish certainly didn't disgrace the
jersey and what a jersey it was! 2002 was the year Umbro would debut at a major
tournament with Ireland and it would also be the year Ireland would end their
association with Opel and sign a deal with 'Eirecom'. The green jersey with
white contrasting around the edge made this shirt another popular one with the
fans!
Ireland Euro 2012 Kit
It would be another 10 years
before Ireland would make another major final this time qualifying for Euro
2012 under the stewardship of Italian Giovanni Trappatoni. The shirt produced
for the tournament would have a new logo and sponsor on it. The shirt itself
was a 'two-toned' green with thin gold stripes separating the shades and was
accompanied by white shorts and green socks. The mobile phone company '3' had
acquired the sponsorship rights for the replica jerseys and are still Irelands
sponsor in 2016. Unfortunately, this major tournament would be one to forget
with Ireland losing all 3 games failing to score a single goal in the process.
In November 2013, Trappatoni
would be replaced by Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane. O'Neill would lead Ireland
to Euro 2016 after an impressive playoff victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2016 saw Umbro renew their deal
with the FAI to continue to supply the team with shirts up until 2020. The
shirt for the championships would see Ireland remain with the 'two toned' green
design but this time with diagonal stripes woven in to the shirt with white
stripes down the side. The shirt was finished off with a nice white and orange
tipped collar.
Ireland were drawn in group E and
famously beat Italy in an 'all or nothing' match to qualify for the knockout
stages. Despite taking the lead against hosts France, the Irish would
eventually lose 2-1.
Ireland Shirt Printing
Robbie Keane has just hung up his
boots after a glittering international career scoring a record 67 (unless he
scores against Oman!) goals for his country. He has been a popular choice for
fans over the years and is UK Soccershop's biggest ever seller on the back of
the Irish shirt. After his famous goals in a 1-0 victory over Germany that
secured Ireland's place in the 2016 playoff, Shane Long proved to be a popular
name on the back of shirts for the European Championships. Don't forget you can
also have legends names printed such as Damien Duff, Roy Keane, Liam Brady and
Shay Given.
