Yet another Saaremaa shirt thanks to my good friend Martti Pukk who plays for the team.
This is the current home shirt worn by Estonian First Divison team FC Kuressaare which also doubles up as the Saaremaa national team shirt when they play in the Island Games. I am told this shirt will be the one used in next year’s Island Games in Jersey.
For more information about FC Kuressaare and Saaremaa, check out my other shirt posts here and here.
An Olympic touch added to the blog as I finally got my hands on the Team GB shirt from the London 2012 Olympic Games. This shirt was designed by Stella McCartney, not that I have any idea who that is!
Great Britain were competing in the football competition for the first time since the 1960 games in Italy. They have won gold three times but didn’t do too well in 2012. They beat the UAE and Uruguay as well as drawing against Senegal in the group stage before falling to South Korea in the quarters on… you guessed it, penalties.
The team wasn’t exactly well received with the Scots moaning about a loss of identity mainly because they knew no Scottish players would get the call! In the end it was an England Under-23 team with Welshmen Neil Taylor, Joe Allen, Ryan Giggs, Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy. No wonder they didn’t do well!
As I said, I never got round to buying this after the Olympics and have have been searching for it for a while. They go for quite a bit on eBay but luckily I found one newly listed with a low buy it now so snapped it up. I don’t think Team GB will be competing at the Olympics for quite a while so it could end up being a bit of history!
A shirt I’ve been after for a while and I’m glad to finally be able to bring it to the blog. The Basque Country, otherwise known as Euskadi, doesn’t play many matches but have a formidable pack of players to choose from.
They pick homegrown players mainly from Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Osasuna. Their most recent game was in December as they thrashed Peru 6-0. Kind of puts England’s result the other night into perspective… In recent years they’ve beaten Venezuela, Estonia and Bolivia but did lose 2-0 to Tunisia.
Geographically, the Basque Country compromises the autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain as well as the Northern Basque Country of France. The region is home to the Basque people who have their own language, appropriately named Basque.
It would be interesting to see how the Basque Country team would do as a member of FIFA, I would predict pretty well. However that seems highly unlikely as they’d actually have to gain independence from Spain first and become a member of the UN. They may have to make do with exhibition matches and games against Catalonia.
The shirt is quite an old one, I think it was used in 2006. Their current shirt is very nice and has a bit of a Tibet look to it but I’ve yet to find it for a reasonable price. This shirt actually popped up on eBay so I took the plunge.
The second Yugoslavia shirt on the blog. I wasn’t actively looking for more but I saw this cheap on eBay and I really like the design so decided to pick it up on the cheap.
To find out more about Yugoslavia and its footballing history, please check out my other shirt post.
This one was worn at the 1998 World Cup in France and has Predrag Mijatovic on the back. The official numbering also had numbers on the front of the shirt so I’m thinking this was maybe printed unofficially but it’s still nice to have something different.
Mijatovic was one of Yugoslavia’s best ever players and turned out for the likes of Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante before becoming director of football at Real. He picked up 73 caps for Yugoslavia and scored 26 times.
Another shirt of interest for those north of the border after the addition of the West Scotland shirt a couple of days ago. You can’t get more northern than the Shetland Islands!
Probably known more for their ponies than their football, Shetland are far from non-FIFA heavyweights. That’s not to say they’ve not enjoyed some success though, winning the 2005 Island Games tournament they hosted themselves. Considering their best ever finish apart from that is fifth, it was rightly labelled the ‘biggest shock in Island Games football history’ as Shetland beat holders Guernsey 2-0 in the final to spark probably the biggest booze-up in island history.
They haven’t competed since 2009 but hopefully they will be in the 2015 tournament in Jersey. The Shelties also compete in the Milne Cup, a yearly game against close island rivals Orkney. It is a great, heated rivalry which Shetland have largely dominated in terms of wins. They won last year’s game 4-1 in Lerwick.
Shetland have a pretty impressive record in the Island Games against the likes of Gibraltar (three wins, one defeat) and they also have six wins against now FIFA members the Faroe Islands (which are only 170 miles north west!). Regular competition is the key though and I hope they will be present in Jersey next year.
The shirt itself is fairly plain but has some nice features such as the Shetland flag on the right arm and the star at the top of the crest to signify the 2005 Island Games success. It is made by ProStar, who many will remember from many years ago and is another good addition to the collection.
Another interesting addition and the very first goalkeeper shirt on the blog!
The shirt was used by the West Scotland team in the UEFA Regions Cup way back in 2003. For those who aren’t aware, the UEFA Regions Cup is a competition for amateur teams in Europe. Some teams represent a whole country (Andorra, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Northern Ireland etc) while others represent a region such as West Scotland, the Algarve or Kent for example.
For England’s entry, there is a competition called the FA Inter League Cup with all Step 7 leagues entering and the winner then represents England in Europe. The Isle of Man league won this year’s tournament and will play for England next year.
This particular shirt was used, and apparently match worn, during the 2002-03 tournament in which West Scotland participated. The sponsor gives away who the team is with J & R Tennent being one of Scotland’s famous lager exports. The only time I have tried one was from an ice cream truck next to the leaning tower of Pisa. Yeah…
Unfortunately, whoever wore this shirt probably ended the tournament with a bad back as they would have spent most of their time picking the ball out of the net. West Scotland kicked off with a good 1-1 draw with Latvia before 4-0 defeats to Gothenburg and the Republic of Ireland to finish bottom of their group. Piedmont from Italy went on to win it, beating France’s Maine 2-1 in the final in Germany.
It is a very basic shirt and not a fantastic one to look at but it’s another match worn shirt added to the collection and has a pretty interesting back story.
One of the more obscure additions to the blog but an interesting one nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I can’t give too much information on this one as I don’t really know anything about the team! What I do know is that it is the home shirt for the French Police football team hence the ‘Federation Sportive de la Police Francaise’ on the badge. Oh and the giant ‘FRANCE’ lettering on the back…
After looking at their website, it seems they play a hell of a lot of sports and are pretty successful on the football side. From what I can tell there is a European tournament for national police teams and there is one this year being held in the Czech Republic from June 23-30.
France, winners in 2010, will compete alongside the hosts as well as Germany, who the French beat in the final, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Netherlands, Switzerland and the winner of a play-off between Austria and Greece. Unfortunately the UK side didn’t make it. Poor form indeed…
There will be another ‘left field’ addition tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled!
The third ex-FIFA shirt to hit the blog after CIS and Serbia & Montenegro is Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav team competed from 1918 up until 2003 when it was succeeded by the Serbia & Montenegro side.
From 1918-1943, the Yugoslavia national team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which was called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes before switching to Yugoslavia. After the second world war ended up until 1991, the Yugoslav team represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This state included the modern day countries of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Slovenia so they had plenty of players to choose from!
During the Yugoslav wars of 1992, the football team was suspended due to UN sanctions and when they were lifted in 1994, it was succeeded by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia team which only represented Serbia and Montenegro. The team was known as Yugoslavia until 2003 and was then renamed Serbia & Montenegro. Got a headache yet?!
On the pitch, Yugoslavia were seen as the ‘nearly men’. They reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in the first ever tournament in 1930 and also 1962. They also got to the final of the European Championships twice but lost both times. In 1960 they lost to the Soviet Union and eight years later they were beaten by Italy. The Yugoslav team did, however, pick up a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics so it’s fair to say the 60s were the golden era of Yugoslav football.
This shirt is the last ever worn by a Yugoslav team before it changed name to Serbia & Montenegro. It was worn at the start of their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign and is a pretty basic design from Lotto. I like the retro feel to the collar though and it’s a welcome addition.
It’s a shame that Yugoslavia will probably be always most remembered for a tournament they didn’t even compete in. They qualified for Euro 92 but were then withdrawn due to the UN sanctions surrounding the Yugoslav war. Denmark took their place and the rest, as they say, is history…
We’re back to non-FIFA and probably one of the most famous and recognisable shirts in the shape of Zanzibar!
The shirt might be seen as some as a bit of a laugh but this was an official hummel design from around 2008. Whether the Zanzibar side actually ever wore it is another question entirely and one I can’t find the answer to. The shirt itself was also included in an April Fools joke by Danish club AGF Aarhus who put their own badge and sponsor on the front and told fans it was their new away strip. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and I bet Aarhus fans were gutted!
Beneath the humour, Zanzibar’s footballing story is one of despair and frustration. The Zanzibar FA was formed way back in 1926 and they are a member of the CECAFA (Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations) which is an associate member of the African governing body Confederation of African football.
However, their attempts at entering FIFA’s elite have been snubbed with their most recent try in 2005 being turned down on grounds that the island is too close to ‘parent’ country Tanzania and that they should just play their football within Tanzania. Who wants national pride, eh? Despite Zanzibar being semi-autonomous and having its own president, it wasn’t enough for Mr Blatter and co.
What makes it more frustrating is that Zanzibar wouldn’t be another whipping boy of African football. They’ve done well in the CECAFA Cup against FIFA members and won the competition in 1990. They also finished third in 2005, 2009 and 2012 and with FIFA money would surely only improve.
As a non-FIFA member, Zanzibar have also competed in other tournaments such as the ELF Cup, where they finished fourth in 2006. They came third in the 2012 VIVA World Cup and were runners up at the 2006 FIFI World Cup. Interestingly, they were knocked out of all three by the strong Northern Cyprus team.
Zanzibar were scheduled to play in the upcoming ConIFA World Football Cup in Ostersund but unfortunately had to pull out due to ‘visa issues’. In truth, it was also a bit hopeful for them to expect to compete and one of the biggest issues they have is they’re so far away from so many of non-FIFA’s heavyweights and regular competition is almost impossible without a big influx of cash.
I hope Zanzibar continue their fight with FIFA but unfortunately I can’t see the wonderful governing body budging on their ignorant stance. Until then, Zanzibar will have to make do with the CECAFA Cup but maybe a few more good showings will force the issue.
I’ve been looking to add this shirt to the collection for some time and eventually found a cheap auction on eBay and manage to snap it up for a very good price. Its leopard print design with an actual leopard on the front of the shirt is completely unique, awesome and slightly terrifying at the same time! Welcome aboard Zanzibar!
If you’ve looked at the pictures, you’re probably wondering why it has FC Kuressaare emblazoned on the shirt when I have listed it as a Saaremaa shirt. In fact, both are correct!
Saaremaa is the biggest island in Estonia and the main island in the Saare County. Kuressaare is the capital of Saaremaa and their football team play in the Esiliiga, the second tier in Estonia, after relegation last season. They have a ‘yo-yo club’ tag with 11 promotions and relegations since 1998. As a Birmingham City fan, I think I have found our Estonian counterparts!
The Saaremaa team competes in the Island Games and actually uses the FC Kuressaare shirt as its national jersey. Before the 2013 games in Bermuda, which most teams missed, it had competed in seven straight Island Games, finishing a best sixth place in both 2011 and 2005.
I would like to thank Saaremaa and FC Kuressaare legend Martti Pukk for helping me out massively in getting the shirt. Martti has competed for Kuressaare since 2004 and has been involved in all Island Games tournaments since 2005, scoring lots of goals for both sides over the years. He has informed me that this shirt was worn by Mark Svets, who has 16 caps for Estonia, in 2009 and Elar Tovstik in 2010.
The shirt itself is a very nice design and is the away shirt for both FC Kuressaare and Saaremaa. It’ll be great to see how the Saaremaa side do in the Island Games next year in Jersey and I’m hoping to add some more Kuressaare/Saaremaa shirts in the future!
No FIFA? No Problem! 