When it comes to football, the Republic of Ireland has often punched above its weight in the international game. The Irish fans bring colour and enthusiasm to major international tournaments.
The FAI is proud to launch our new Ireland National Team home kit.
Developed with Castore, our new kit celebrates our colours and honours the history of our jersey, whilst ensuring it has a modern look for today’s game.
Pre-order now https://t.co/FxaLHCfBmC#IrelandFootball pic.twitter.com/Md3Xp7rR1A
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 20, 2023
The fans tend to wear their country’s colours almost as proudly as their players do on the pitch. These colours are taken from the flag and are often reflected in the team’s kit. In this article, we will look at the history of the Republic of Ireland kit and how it has changed over the years.
The early years
The history of the Republic of Ireland’s international kit is slightly complicated. The country previously played alongside its Northern neighbours in a unified team called Ireland.
However, in 1922, Ireland was partitioned, and the Republic of Ireland, as we know it now, became the Irish Free State. The new country was accepted by FIFA in 1923 despite being boycotted by four British football organisations.
The team’s first kit was the traditional emerald green jersey with a white collar and a badge bearing a shamrock. The team also wore white shorts and black socks. However, the team is reported to have worn a royal blue jersey for the opening game of the 1924 Olympics against Bulgaria, with the same white shorts and black socks.
The kit remained largely the same except for the World Cup qualifiers, when it featured the Irish tricolour on a shield with embroidered scrollwork. However, in February 1930, against Belgium, the shamrock returned to replace the Irish tricolour on the badge.
Only slight changes in recent decades
In 1937, the Irish Free State became a Republic, severing all links with the United Kingdom, and became known as Eire in the Irish language. The kit remained largely the same, although from 1937 until 1939, the team wore socks that had a green and white hoop design rather than the black socks worn previously.
The kits were mainly designed in-house until Symco International made the strips in 1962. In 1966, Umbro designed the kits, and the company made the jersey far sleeker than the previous designs.
In 1969, Umbro slightly changed the kit design, producing jerseys without the white collar, which had been virtually present on the team strip since its first inception.
However, when homegrown company O’Neill produced the kit, the white collar was back. In 1976, O’Neill was also the first kit producer to decide to put white lines down the sleeves.
The company also introduced thin lines in the body of the jersey in 1984 and a yellow block on the chest for the 1985 edition of the jersey.
The Republic’s jersey has remained loosely the same in recent decades, sticking with tradition. However, the kit has been altered slightly with the occasional splash of white or orange on the sleeves or collars of the jerseys, but it was never going to stray too far from the heritage of the kit.