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Northern Ireland's World Cup of Kits 2022 - Group K & L

By jcd

Through November and December 2022, to coincide with the FIFA World Cup, NIFG will be running polls to definitively select Northern Ireland’s greatest ever kits.

Starting with a daily group stage, the best kit from each group will proceed to the knock-out rounds, with the final two facing off and the ultimate winner to be crowned on the day of the World Cup Final.

Kits are being judged in their default format, with minor variations ignored. Voters can use whatever criteria they wish to identify their greatest - whether that is style, a favoured match, or a childhood memory.

[unless otherwise stated, stats are based on senior men’s matches and are based on “best guesses”*]

To vote, please visit and follow on Twitter. Group polls will be open for two days, with a new one unveiled every other day.

GROUP K

* note typo in poll. Kit is 2006 Home (UMBRO) not Adidas.

GROUP L

 

1976 Home

1970s football fashion landed squarely in the IFA HQ in 1976, as Umbro sent out this startling kit – there was no mistaking who owned it or who made it! It got off to a glorious start. Danny Blanchflower brought George Best back into the team as they travelled to face Johan Cruyff’s Holland, went toe-to-toe with one of the world’s greatest sides, and claimed a well-deserved 2-2 draw. Sadly, the results didn’t hold-up over the kits short lifespan, and it never saw a victory.

Umbro

(1976-1977)

Debut:

13-10-1976 vs Netherlands

D 2-2 (A)

(1978 World Cup Qualifier)

Pl: 7

W: 0

D: 2

L: 5

2019 Home

A Steven Davis skied penalty is perhaps the only thing that stands between this kit being regarded as a classic rather than just a bit meh. The Dutch visited Belfast for this kit’s debut, and had Davis found the net, Northern Ireland could have been set for a famous victory. As it was the game petered out to a credible but useless draw as the Netherlands secured qualification. Most of the remainder of the kit’s tenure overlapped with the COVID pandemic, and with limited fans, most of the matches were forgettable. The kit itself featured a diagonal brush-stroke pattern which harkened back to the Mexico 86 kit, while the blue sock turn-overs seemed like a pointless flourish.

Adidas

(2019-2022)

Debut:

16-11-2019 vs Netherlands

D 0-0 (H)

(Euro 2020 Qualifier)

Pl: 17

W: 3

D: 7

L: 7

2022 Away

In the list of controversial kits, this is the most recent. Yellow has never featured as a main colour on a Northern Ireland outfield kit, with queries as to whether Shayne Lavery was actually wearing the goalkeeper kit during the promo photoshoot. Further observations were that surely a “Not Brazil” kit should feature some blue and green rather than black and red. Eventually it was announced that the kit was inspired by the famous Harland & Wolff cranes, Samson and Goliath. Big claims for a standard template that looks more Belgium than Norn Iron. Still, as pointed out before, a big result and who knows what we’ll think of it?

Adidas

(2022-date)

Debut:

Unworn to date

Pl: -

W: -

D: -

L: -

2006 Home

After a good start to their return as suppliers in 2004, Umbro’s 2006 offering offered even more features. A large IFA crest was embossed on the shirt’s back and the Umbro logo was positioned such that it made sense for someone buying a replica to pay for a front number too. This was the first Northern Ireland shirt to be worn with white socks as standard. It was worn throughout the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, including when David Healy’s hattrick famously saw off Spain.

Umbro

(2006-2008)

Debut:

21-05-2006 vs Uruguay

L 0-1 (N)

(Friendly International)

Pl: 15

W: 8

D: 2

L: 5

1984 Away

Marketed (with green shorts) alongside the 1984 home shirt release, this kit eventually got an airing in 1986 when Northern Ireland faced France on a freezing February night in Paris. The most notable feature of that match was that it saw the international debuts of Colin Clarke and Jean-Pierre Papin. The kit itself was a half-way point between the away shirts worn at the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals.

Adidas

(1984-1986)

Debut:

26-02-1986 vs France

D 0-0 (A)

(Friendly International)

Pl: 1

W: 0

D: 1

L: 0

Can only guess the alternative Ireland shirt would have been similar to England's

1902 Alternate

It is believed that Ireland wore white jerseys as an alternative on occasions when facing Scotland during the 1890s, and it is assumed these would have been in the same style as the contemporary “home” blue versions. As with several kits of this era, there is no photographic evidence of these kits available, or confirmed details of matches worn in. Ulster and Belfast selects of this period are known to have worn white in representative fixtures.

-

(1893-1897)

Debut:

25-03-1893 vs Scotland

L 1-6 (A)

(British International Championship)

Pl: 4*

W: 1

D: 0

L: 3

2004 Away

This classically simple kit was worn just once, in a match in Cardiff best remembered for the sendings-off of Michael Hughes and David Healy. That was the only outing for the shirt, but the shorts would see further action alongside the home shirt for a trip to Austria in late 2005 that also saw Damien Johnson dismissed.

Umbro

(2004-2005)

Debut:

08-09-2004 vs Wales

D 2-2 (A)

(2006 World Cup Qualifier)

Pl: 1

W: 0

D: 1

L: 0

2000 Away

With the two previous suppliers providing red/white away kits, Patrick went safe in 2000 when they released this dark blue effort with plenty of green/white trim. Sadly, it was another shirt limited to just one outing, but it did see David Healy record his third goal in just his second international. The shorts got two further outings, paired with the home shirt for World Cup qualifiers in Denmark and Malta.

Patrick

(2000-2001)

Debut:

28-03-2000 vs Malta

W 3-0 (A)

(International Friendly)

Pl: 1

W: 1

D: 0

L: 0

Results:

-

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