Home 1996/97
Matchworn Marians Pahars 08.06.1997 LAT 🇱🇻 : AUT 🇦🇹 1-3
Manufacturer: Tro
Source: Collector
THE COUNTRY
Latvia’s football history already began in 1922, when they played their first match against Estonia. Sixteen years later, the team almost managed to qualify for the 1938 World Cup, after finishing second of their group.
In 1940, however, Latvia’s football ambitions were suddenly brought to a halt, when a few hammer-and-sickle-equipped guys showed up and decided that the country is now theirs.
After fifty-one years of being part of the Soviet Union, Latvia played its first game as an independent country against fellow ex-commies Estonia in 1991.
THE SHIRT
Alongside its brother, the 1996/97 away jersey, this gorgeous pair of shirts stands out as the best ones the Latvian team ever had.
While Latvia wore both shirts pretty much interchangeably, not really distinguishing between a home and away shirt, it is likely that this was intended as their home jersey, since it is primarily kept in Latvia's iconic maroon.
Made by Austrian manufacturer "Tro", the design features small geometric shapes, reminiscent of feathers as well as maroon stripes at the bottom, with the collar being an inversion of the one on the away shirt.
The only downside of this spectacular jersey is the fact, that there is no embroidery, as the federation badge is simply sublimated into the shirt.
The jersey was worn by ex-Southampton player Marians Pahars, when Latvia played Austria in June of 1997. Pahars will certainly not have the best memories of this evening, as he managed to concede two yellow cards within four minutes, forcing him to leave the pitch after just 39 minutes of playtime. Eventually, his team lost 3-1 to the Austrians, who would later win their group ahead of Scotland and Sweden. After the game, the shirt was swapped with Austrian midfielder Arnold Wetl.
