Retro jersey route is one worth exploring for Cork

The Guinness Six Nations Championship commences this evening as Ireland take on France in Paris.

If you’re wondering about the unusual Thursday-evening slot, it’s to do with the avoidance of clashing with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Which take place in Milan – the one in Italy, an entirely different country to France, but, as ever, the safe bet is that televisual considerations are overriding everything else.

Since 2024, France have been back in adidas jerseys again. It’s a comfort of sorts for those of us who grew up in the 1990s, but we would of course be resistance to a return to Ireland propping up the table, as seemed to happen every year.

However, one thing we think we can say without fear of contradiction is that the Ireland shirts from back then, whether produced by adidas, Umbro or Nike, were far more aesthetically pleasing than the more modern offerings.

The wing collar does give a slight nod to a classic feel but in the recent past it has come to be the norm that the body of the shirt must carry a graphic pattern of some sort.

We accept that it can be difficult, given the longevity of the partnership between the IRFU and kit suppliers Canterbury, to come up with something fresh and new each year – though, of course, one suggestion is to revert to two-year cycles. Equally, though, they can’t have missed the universally popular reaction to the special 150th anniversary jersey, which was completely devoid of any needless accoutrements.

Such releases are open goals for teams and their manufacturers. In the past week, both the Wales national football team and Birmingham City announced special commemorative shirts to huge acclaim – given the unanimity of the responses from the public, one wonders what market research is leading to the jazzier designs that proliferate the rest of the time.

Closer to home, Mayo used last Sunday’s league game with Dublin as an opportunity to show off their special jersey which honours the back-to-back All-Ireland wins of 1950 and 1951. Green body, red hoop and white collar with a minimalist crest and the logo of sponsors Elverys rendered in a slightly lighter green on the sleeve – they have even gone with a black number on a white background on the back to simulate the old-style number patches.

We would be shocked if the top and its white counterpart (provincial colours were worn when Mayo beat Meath in the 1951 decider) did not prove to be bestsellers.

It’s perhaps surprising, given the popularity of these special edition kits, that Cork have not explored such avenues further beyond the 1916-2016 blue and saffron jerseys with the big ‘C’ on them or the 2020 black kit commemorating Lords Mayor Terencey MacSwiney and Tomás MacCurtain as well as the burning of Cork and the Kilmichael ambush.

Despite – or perhaps because of – not being red, they walked out of the shops and it’s hardly a flight of fancy to suggest that reinterpreting classic All-Ireland-winning jerseys would be a winner on the commercial front.

There might be accusations of profiteering, as is so often the case when it comes to kit launches – look at the recent kerfuffle around the new Republic of Ireland soccer jerseys – but partnering with a charity would lessen such dissent, and maybe even result in more goodwill and sales.

It’s something of an irony that the only red retro shirt Cork have worn to date, a 1993 throwback as part of Allianz celebrating 30 years as sponsors back in 2022, did not go on sale and is almost forgotten.

One senses that would not be the case with a 1984, 1990 or 1999 version.