Goalkeeper 1995/97
Matchworn/Matchprepared Shay Given U21 in 1995
Manufacturer: Umbro
Source: Alexander Manninger's collection
The 90’s were a wild time – especially when it came to clothes! Football jerseys were no exception – on the contrary: the colorful and sometimes bizarre jersey designs of the 90’s are particularly popular among collectors.
Goalkeeper jerseys were an improvement on the already eccentric player jerseys and were sometimes real fever dreams. From burning football comets to radioactive color combinations, there were no limits to the imagination. Ultimately, the guiding principle seemed to be: the uglier the better!
A good example of this is Ireland's goalkeeper jersey from 1995. Here, all professionalism was put aside and instead a toddler was apparently taught the letters F, A and I and then let loose on a canvas with some wax crayons. What goes better with the green and orange of the Irish? Of course: purple and completely different shades of green and orange! A few brown accents would certainly have been nice, too.
Goalkeeping legend Shay Given was certainly not to be overlooked in this yarn! The second most-capped player in the Irish national team wore this and another jersey in matches (presumably U21) against Austria and eventually swapped it with Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Manninger, from whose collection it also comes.
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