Ireland are back in orange, should Roy Keane grow back that mullet?
Picture: James Meehan/INPHO April 1997
News breaks today via Umbro and the FAI of Ireland's new orange away kit, part of an 'Our Time Starts Now' campaign that seemingly "reflects a newfound togetherness between the Irish fans and a young and exciting crop of men’s and women’s playing talent representing Ireland".
Whatever about that, when Ireland last sported orange back in 1997, Roy Keane was rocking the full Rambo look.
And then Jason McAteer went 100% Bruce Lee on Macedonia's Artim Sakiri to see red as Ireland slumped to a 3-2 loss that would live long in ignominy and training ground folklore.
For years afterwards, the worst player in training would sport a goalkeeper's top with ‘I had a Macedonia’ on the front.
As the bible of all things kit related, The Museum of Jerseys points out, Ireland wore that kit one more time, in a 1998 friendly at home to Mexico.
Now, 25 years after orange was last launched, it's back and will be worn by Stephen Kenny's side in the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Luxembourg.
Our Time Is Now 👊
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) November 5, 2021
We’re proud to unveil the 21/22 Away Kit for the MNT & WNT from @Umbroireland 🇮🇪☘️
On Sale Now!
Grab yours at @officialfaishop or @Elverys #COYBIG | #COYGIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/OEv6fSOfKb
Will it bring out their animal instincts or risk being a garment of shame forever more?
Jonathan Courtenay, Managing Director of JACC Sports, Irish Distributor for Umbro, said: "We have listened to the fans and a huge amount of people had been looking for Orange to be brought back into the kit rotation. 2022 is significant as it is 25 years since Umbro first brought out an Orange Ireland kit so we felt it was time to run with that colourway again.
"The previous Orange kit, despite only being worn twice by the Senior Men’s team has gained an iconic status in Irish kit folklore over the last quarter of a century so hopefully we can make more positive memories in this kit."
Positive memories might be stretching things, but Stephen Kenny is chilled about it: “The reaction to the Centenary Umbro St Patrick’s Blue jersey last month was phenomenal from players and fans alike and we look forward to seeing this new away shirt on for the first time against Luxembourg next week."
And women's boss Vera Pauw is all in: “It’s always exciting to launch a new jersey and we look forward to wearing it in future games. It’s also fantastic that there will be a specific women’s fit version and our team thanks Umbro for creating that.”
What they are essentially saying is, bring back the mullet Roy.
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