The Good, The Bad, The WTF

We don't talk a lot about Northern Irish football here on the site. In fact, if it weren't for a link to this fine lovely in Backpasses a while back (NSFW-ish), then I don't know that the subject of the IFA premiership would have ever come up. Hideous at just a glance, this Glentoran shirt reveals some special surprises with a longer and closer look.

Glentoran are one of the big two in Northern Irish football, along with Linfield (the team in the above link). The 1960s were the international high water mark for the club. In successive years, the club played Panathinaikos, Antwerp, Rangers and a Eusebio-led Benfica to tight losses. In fact, Glentoran were the first team to lose out on the away goals rule, which happened in the Benfica tie in 1967. Not bad for a team described as part-timers. Glentoran also had a North American presence at the time, running the Detroit Cougars franchise in the ill-fated United Soccer Association in 1967 (Aberdeen were the Washington Diplomats).

That's all very well and fine, but in 1992, Glentoran wore this shirt:


I've said it before. You have to be careful with red and green. Too much of both and you look like Christmas, or worse. This is worse. That design on the green is just plain bad as well. What's with that, you ask? Let's see:


Hey, sublimated print! An old favorite (which seems to be making a comeback, BTW). And why does it look like a builder's logo? In all honesty, I would look at this and think a roofing company was behind the club. But that's not all. They may be tucked away in the picture, but this is the Umbro style that had lace-up at the neck. Cantona may have been able to pull off the Manchester United version, but I doubt anyone with similar continental flair played for Glentoran at the time. They just need to stick with something like this, and be done with it.