Historical Football Kits

Ireland's original colours were "St Patrick's Blue" and white rather than the more familiar green and white we associate with Irish teams. In fact the association between Ireland and blue goes back to Norman times whereas green has been associated with Irish republicanism since the 1790s. Although the few team photographs to have survived appear to show the team in pale tops, The National Football Museum has an original shirt worn by Andrew Gara in 1902 that is a deep shade of blue, suggesting the contemporary photographs are misleading due to the peculiarities of the emulsion used.

Ireland's first game was against England at the Knock Ground in Belfast when they suffered a 0-13 defeat, a record that stands to the present day. In 1883 the Home International Tournament was inaugurated, which provided the four home nations with matches against each other every season. Ireland were the whipping boys of this competition for the rest of the century, finishing last on ten occasions and third on four.

The Irish team would have changed for games in Scotland and they are thought to have worn both white and green shirts in these matches. Both white and dark knickers are evident in some early team photographs suggesting that Ireland followed the practice of the English FA and required players to provide their own equipment apart from the shirts. By 1890 the entire team was kitted ut in white knickers but club socks were still worn.

Blue remained the Irish team's first choice but the national amateur side wore green. A change kit was required every other year for the match with Scotland and I believe the first team borrowed a set of green tops from their amateur colleagues. A rare match programme from 1903 indicates that the Irish team wore green shirts in the match with England. Players provided their own club stockings. Generally Ireland remained the weakest of the four British teams but their performances did improve steadily. In 1903 they tied for the championship with England and Scotland and in 1914 they won it outright for the first time. It is established that the Irish wore blue shirts with collars throughout this period.

International football resumed after the First World War in October 1919 when Ireland drew with England in Belfast, Ireland finishing last in both 1920 and 1921. Match worn shirts used by Patsy Gallagher, Hugh Davey and Alan Morton during the post war period confirm that the shade of blue worn remained deep blue. Change shirts would have been needed for thr mstch in Glasgow in March 1920.

In 1921, shortly before the partition of Ireland, the clubs playing in what would become the Irish Free State broke away from the Irish FA when that body ordered an Irish Cup replay between Glenavon and Shelbourne to be played in Belfast rather than Dublin. Ostensibly this was because of the security situation in the south but to the southern clubs and the Leinster FA, it was symptomatic of how the IFA neglected the development of the game in the south and discriminated against the clubs from outside Ulster.