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After Netherlands won the 1988 European Championship, Johnny Rep wrote a poem in which he asserted that the country’s “tiger-striped” shirt was “only worth wiping your bum with.”
Rep was referencing the fact that Ronald Koeman had apparently done exactly that with the West Germany shirt given to him by his vanquished opponent in the final, Olaf Thon, but his assertion also reflects the fact that most people at the time thought the Oranje’s kit was pretty vile.
How times change. The shirt is now considered a masterpiece of design, fetching an absolute fortune in whichever vintage marketplace it goes on sale. An opinion that was backed up by voters in Paddy Power’s World Cup of Football Shirts, a competition we ran via Twitter poll where Netherlands ’88 emerged as a runaway winner.
Here’s how the groups originally lined up, with the winner of each going through to a four-shirt final.
Some stiff competition there for the Dutch, we’re sure you’ll agree.
In Group A, Ireland pipped England for the coveted first spot in the final.
Time for Group A of the #WorldCupOfFootballShirts!
– Ireland home 1990
– England home 1982
– France home 1982
– Soviet Union home 1966Poll is up for one hour!
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
In Group B there was, of course, little doubt about the winner.
Group B of the #WorldCupOfFootballShirts!
– Netherlands home 1988
– West Germany away 1990
– Peru home 1978
– Italy home 1990Poll is up for one hour!
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
Group C saw a surprise winner – if you ask me, which you didn’t – with Cameroon’s sleeveless crime against football coming out on top. Somehow. You’d have to think that maybe the other contenders cannibalised each other’s votes, allowing the Indomitable Lions to pounce.
The poll for Group C in the #WorldCupOfFootballShirts:
– Croatia home 1998
– Argentina home 1986
– Mexico goalkeeper 1994
– Cameroon home 2002 (sleeveless)Poll lasts for one hour!
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
On to the group of death and, oh boy, was this a close one.
Group D in the #WorldCupOfFootball Shirts – the Group of Death!
Who goes into the final?
– Nigeria home 2018
– Brazil home 1970
– West Germany home 1990
– USA away 1994— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
All of which means we had a final comprised of the below three beauties, plus the aforementioned sleeveless monstrosity, which PP News finds it hard to believe even made it past the qualifiers, never mind all the way to the final.
The four finalists for the #WorldCupOfFootballShirts!
– Ireland home 1990
– Netherlands home 1988
– Cameroon home 2002
– Nigeria home 2018Pics attached, poll coming right up at 3.30pm! pic.twitter.com/AgNBmDmZiG
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
Anyway, it’s all irrelevant as, in all honesty, the final wasn’t even close.
The #WorldCupOfFootballShirts – the final!
– Ireland home 1990
– Netherlands home 1988
– Cameroon home 2002
– Nigeria home 2018Poll lasts an hour.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) April 8, 2020
So there you have it. The ugly duckling of 1988 becomes a glorious swan.