Red Star Belgrade Home Shirt

Red Star Belgrade are the most successful club in Serbian history with a record of 26 national championships and 24 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions. They also won the Champions League in 1991, and became the only Serbian team to ever win it, after seeing off Bayern Munich in the semis before a penalty shoot-out victory over Marseille in the final.

It’s fair to say that their best days are behind them, at least on the European stage. Domestically they are back to their best, winning the Serbian SuperLiga last season for the first time in seven years. They are the best supported club in the country and share the ‘Eternal Derby’ with fellow Belgrade side Partizan.

The shirt itself is very nice indeed and was a bargain buy from UniSportStore. I believe it was on special offer and I managed to pick it up for just €6! A fantastic price for a simple yet stylish shirt, what more could you ask for?

Quebec Home Shirt

Most non-FIFA sides say their mission is to share their culture and language through football. Most seem distanced and disillusioned by their surroundings and if any side can lay claim to that feeling surely it’s Quebec.

The Canadian province speak a different language to the rest of their country which I imagine is pretty tough at times. Imagine not being able to talk to the north of England because they all spoke a different language? Ok, a bad example…

They only started playing non-FIFA internationals last year at the International Peoples, Cultures, and Tribes Tournament, beating a Tibet Select side, Provence and an Armenian Select team. They lost to Kurdistan in the semi-final but it was a decent debut. They have a number of players from MLS side Montreal Impact who are obviously of a good standard.

Now the Quebecois are a member of ConIFA and will be competing in the World Football Cup in June. They have been drawn with Darfur and non-FIFA heavyweights Padania in Group C. The Quebec and Padania match should be very interesting indeed.

The shirt itself is very nice and a big thank you to the Quebec Football Association for helping me out. The shirt is made by Italian firm Mass who make a lot of Uruguayan club team’s jerseys. There are a lot of nice details on the shirt such as the Quebec flag on the arm and of course the fleur-de-lis on the chest. I always like to see those kind of things on national shirts – it really makes it stand out from the bland ‘stock’ designs that a lot of bigger nations have.

Allez Les Quebecois!

Guadeloupe Third Shirt

   

My first non-FIFA shirt and the first on this blog! I received my first three shirts today and in terms of just design, I think this is my favourite – it’s just a lovely looking shirt.

I’m led to believe this is Guadeloupe’s third shirt (the home and away are the same design but are predominantly green and white respectively) and it’s very nice indeed.

In terms of their story, Guadeloupe is a bit of a strange one. They’re not a FIFA member but are affiliated with CONCACAF so can compete in the Gold Cup and Caribbean Cup.

The main reason Guadeloupe haven’t been allowed into FIFA is that they’re an overseas territory of France. Being an overseas territory doesn’t seem to have stopped others (US Virgin Islands anyone?).

It’s also a shame as Guadeloupe, like Suriname, have missed out on some potential superstars turning out in their colours.

Thierry Henry ring a bell? He could have played for Guadeloupe alongside Nicholas Anelka, Lillian Thuram and William Gallas. Even without the big names, Guadeloupe are one of the stronger sides in the Caribbean.

In the 2010 Caribbean Cup, the Guadeloupeans got all the way to the final before losing to Jamaica in the final. They have also done well in recent Gold Cups beating the likes of Canada and Honduras.

Until France help their cause or Guadeloupe move further away politically from their ‘parent’, Les Gwada Boys might have to be content with CONCACAF tournaments.

But if FIFA acceptance does come, don’t be surprised to see Guadeloupe cause a few upsets along the way. And maybe then more people will own their awesome shirts!

Slovenia Home Shirt

I must admit that this is one of my favourite football shirts of all time. Much like the Croatia shirt, Slovenia seem to go for a very original design which makes their shirts all the more special.

As I said previously, Nike have started to go downhill a bit with national shirts but even their latest Slovenia attempt is brilliant and I may have to make the upgrade at some point.

The Slovenians used to play in all green but after a bit of research, it seems the country’s inhabitants weren’t best pleased as the national colours are actually red, white and blue (which explains the flag…).

Hence the movement away from mainly green and to white, although green still features and the away shirt is a baby blue colour which is the same design.

The design on the front is meant to depict Mt Triglav which is the highest mountain in Slovenia. The team played its first international in 1992, a year after the split with Yugoslavia.

Since then they’ve graced us with Zlatko Zahovic and, ermmm, Bostjan Cesar of West Brom fame? Still a really cool shirt though…

Croatia Home Shirt

One of, if not the most recognisable shirt in world football – and probably one of the coolest.

I always wanted a Croatia shirt so bit the bullet a few years back and I still wear it to this day. Their home shirts don’t really change much as there’s only so much you can really do with a chequered design!

I had a bit of a facination with Croatia from a young age. I was way more obsessed with Alen Boksic and Davor Suker than a nine or ten year old should be.

Back then I couldn’t get enough of Premier League football, despite my club not playing in it. I’ve since drifted away back to the lower leagues but I still look back with fondness to some players such as Boksic.

Nike’s designs, I find, are normally quite plain but even they couldn’t ruin a Croatia shirt and there’s another good Nike shirt coming up shortly…

Honduras Home Shirt

I know what you’re thinking: Honduras aren’t non-FIFA!! They’re not but while I wait for my first non-FIFA shirts, I thought I’d upload pictures of a couple of shirts I already own that I particularly like.

I’ve has this Honduras home shirt for quite a while and before their recent football revival. They’re up to 36th in the FIFA rankings although we all know how flawed they are…

Los Catrachos have only qualified for the World Cup twice and have never won a game at the finals but they enter this summer’s competition full of hope. And with a group consisting of France, Ecuador and Switzerland, they have a real chance of getting through.

So yeah, my first shirt on here and a couple more FIFA ones will follow. I really like Joma shirts and while the design is simple, there’s enough detail to make it interesting.