When I was growing up, having a players name on the back of your jersey was almost like a status symbol. When you were playing football with your friends, it was nearly like you transformed into the player on the back of your shirt. However, name sets on jerseys have always been an added expenditure on top of an already expensive clothing item.
Back in the day, my parents were definitely delighted that my favourite Man United player was Ryan Giggs, because they only had to pay for five letters. The joy you would feel as a child when the shop would inform you that they had all the numbers and letters in stock was unmatched. You were not just about to get a brand new football jersey of your favourite club, but you were also going have the ability to represent your favourite player too.
In 2022, I was over in England watching a few games at the Euros and it was the first time I’d ever seen women’s names on the back of fans jerseys.
The only time I’d ever seen a fan at an Ireland game wear a jersey with a player’s name on the back, was if they were lucky enough to have an actual players jersey that they had been given by the player themselves. But seeing ‘Williamson 6’ or ‘Bright 5’ jerseys scattered around Old Trafford and then Wembley, I was taken aback. Not only did the Lionesses get their own unique kit that was separate to the men’s for the tournament, but fans could also get their favourite players names on the back as well as the number across the chest.
I wanted to see how easy it was to get this done from an English fan’s perspective. I walked into Nike Town on Oxford Street and looked for the women’s orange kit, which was in plenty of supply. In fact, the entire entrance of Nike Town was decorated to show support for the team. I walked up to the jersey printing, and decided to go further against my morals as a United fan, and asked for ‘Hemp 11’ to be put on the back. Without hesitation, I was met with a “Sure, great choice” from the staff member as they got straight to work on the jersey printing.
So, once the Euros had finished, I presumed it would be a simple task to pick up an Ireland jersey with a player being represented on the back. However, I was completely wrong. Ireland men’s and women’s team are in the same boat in terms of not being able to purchase name sets from the official Ireland Football website.
When the Ireland women’s team qualified for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, travelling fans rushed to shops to pick up the latest gear to show off at the tournament. There was slim pickings when it came to getting the Ireland women’s jersey, which had the Sky sponsorship splashed across the front. Ireland fan’s saving grace was probably FIFA’s no sponsorship rule, so fans who were left with no choice but to buy the men’s version of the jersey that at least matched the players. But all fans were looking for was accessibility to the choice of buying the women’s jersey, which seemed to be on sale nowhere.
I’d even made the trip to the Castore shop, located in Kildare, and while there were Sky jerseys there on sale, the sizes were limited. I asked the sales assistant if there was more sizes on the website, which he said there was and whipped out his tablet to show me. He seemed a bit perplexed to find that the jersey with the logo, which was currently in my hand, wasn’t even for sale on the website.
It seemed like no matter where the Irish fans looked for jerseys, they came up empty and had to go back to the drawing board to hunt down something that should be easily accessible. Going back to the England women’s team, the Lionesses had a range of World Cup kits available on the England website as well as Nike’s online shop. You could get the jerseys in men’s, juniors and women’s sizes with ease. Again, custom printing and player printing, easily accessible for England fans.
When fans were left disappointed on the official Ireland Football website, they began to look around massive retail outlets in Ireland for alternatives. From glancing over the websites of these stores, I was met with just more problems and more importantly, zero options. Life Style Sports are showcasing the “women’s home jersey” as the old men’s one, which does not include the Sky logo across the front. This was due to when the jersey was first unveiled for both the men and women’s teams, Sky Ireland was the sole sponsor of the women’s team, therefore the sponsor was only shown on the women’s jersey.
LifeStyle sports seem to be using recycled men’s jerseys since the change in kits for the men’s teams, labelling them as the women’s jerseys, and still charging fans €80. On top of this, there’s no option for player or even custom printing on their website. Moreover, Sky has since became the joint sponsor of both Ireland teams, and the mens new kit is readily available with the Sky sponsor on the front. JD Sports are not even selling the women’s jersey anymore, with or without the Sky logo. Intersport Elverys have the away jersey available, again, without the Sky logo.
It begs the question of how are Ireland fans getting jerseys with printing or the Sky logo on them? While slim and few seem to have a jersey with a name set, a few frustrated fans got in touch with me to tell me their stories of getting a jersey.
Some have been gifted by the players or won in competitions ran by Ireland Football or alternative companies in association with them. Others have had to source alternative options from websites that sell jerseys or websites that offer “up cycling” and printing. However, some fans were left disgusted that the printing was not done in the Irish team’s font, the printing had been damaged, or only certain players were available (usually Littlejohn or McCabe).
It seems since Ireland have made the switch from Umbro to Castore that name printing has taken a huge step back. It would be good to see Football Ireland and Castore bring about more accessibility for fans to get printing and correct sponsorship on the jerseys. The demand is there from fans, and players deserve to see their names on the backs of jerseys.
Photo: https://media.zenfs.com/en/gcn_uk_889/6b97974caaa9f0e242bf8ee1079dda8f
