Northern Ireland v Netherlands

JUST REMEMBER TO WEAR IT WELL

Words Heidi McAlpin

There’s something about football, as I suppose there is with many personal passions, that gets people emotionally attached to inanimate objects.

the crowd. His wee pot belly was a bit snug in it, bless him. Mind you, I doubt it’ll be any roomier stretched across my middle-aged spread. It was a delightful vintage find among his many sporting possessions which also featured retro tops, scarves and coats representing all his favourite teams, each garment worn with pride over the decades and subsumed with memories of great and, let’s face it, not so great matches of old. Items I, too, will treasure and share with fellow fans and friends. And it’s why I find it perfectly plausible when a fan feels the loss of something as unassuming as a Norn Iron hat. Thankfully, when that very thing happened after the Rotterdam game, fellow GAWA stepped up and saved the day. The delightful ‘Airport’ Shirley (you know the one: green wig, big flag, mad as a box of frogs) takes up the tale: “My husband Gary found a Northern Ireland baseball cap covered in national team badges on the top tier of the Rotterdam stadium so he put out an online call in a bid to track down the owner.” Copious comments, shares and multi-angled imagery of said titfer later and owner Ian Bell was duly unearthed.

I’m talking badges, scarves, flags, tops, even bucket hats. An army needs a uniform and this is ours. Take tonight’s match. More than likely you knew what you were wearing well ahead of kick-off. And in avoidance of that last minute hoke, perhaps you have a section of your wardrobe dedicated to your precious football attire. For me, it’s a basket beside the bed within which I have a hotch potch of Norn Iron and Crusaders tops, scarves and beanie hats. It’s simply a case of grab and go. You may well have treated yourself to the latest replica shirt, you dedicated follower of fashion you. Meanwhile, I’ll be strictly retro in the IFA 125th anniversary top I bought my dad for Christmas 2005. Dad recently passed away and, all my life, I never knew him to correctly co-ordinate his sporting attire with the match. Blackburn Rovers hat at Seaview? Mais oui. New York Mets jacket at Windsor Park? That’ll do nicely. And God only knows what he wore at Shea Stadium when the Mets won the 1986 World Series. Hence the need for the purchase of a special Northern Ireland shirt to help him blend in with

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www.irishfa.com