I first started coming to London Irish games in 2000 at the Madejski, which was a good choice. Had always been into watching the sport on telly, remembering the red shirted players of Wales in the 1970s Five Nations. Then me and my mates started watch the 5/6 Nations in the Orange Tree in Richmond as tickets were hard to come by.
Living in Arborfield at the time, it was an easy journey to Reading, no brainer as they say. Here are some memories of my favourite London Irish shirts.
Aer Lingus My first supporter seasons, I knew we played in green shirts, but somehow managed to buy the black training shirt! It has a long travel history, Reading, Valladolid, Twickenham Powergen Cup Final, Hong Kong Sevens 2005, Melbourne Commonwealth Sevens 2005. And it's made from cotton.
Guinness I passed over the MG Rover and Citijet shirts, Guinness is more appropriate I think. This has watched some fierce Heineken Cup matches, Tolouse home and away, do remember getting stuck in a bar with some senior citizens miles from the hotel at 3AM with no taxis around and had to force our way back into the bar to cadge a lift. Bad games in Newport 2002 and Murrayfield 2003.
Lightning Flash This was just an eBay flash in the pan impulsive purchase. I've tried it on, but a Small size even in polyester doesn't quite have enough "give" for me to wear it.
Waikato Chiefs This was not a smart purchase. I was in Auckland visiting family at the time, and heard Tom Coventry was our new coach, so in his honour I bought this Waikatio Chiefs polo shirt. It now spends most of the time at the bottom of my t-shirt drawer.
Powerday My children bought this as a Christmas present, and it's the first non-cotton shirt that I've worn. And it's large enough to wear a cotton t-shirt underneath, so I'm happy. Due to work and family commitments I've not been to many matches recently, a few games in the Championship (Richmond and Ealing). But this has been to one great match last season. Irish vs Wasps at Brentford on 1st May 2022. An exiting first match for me at the GTech. 42 - 42. Not sure of my emotions, happy/sad/bemused. But Harry Arundell didn't half make an impact that day.
Brillaint article, nice to see the variety others have. I started with the City jet one (grew too fast for previous ones to be worth it) and it still fits, if a bit washed out and frayed.
Made the mistake of getting the green and balck stripped Heineken Cup one when we got smashed by Edinburgh - it shrank lopsidedly after the first wash and the sponsor patches for the car companies are solid on the arms so it wasn't comfortable. Stuck it in a drawer when we got relegated and just bought the next good strip, which was our second Championship away one.
Great post Johnny, my favourite shirt was the Guinness, black and cream cotton long sleeve, size stout, mid 1990s. Wore it to a rag and then I thought perhaps I could showcase the white and green hoops shirt 2015 ish, but it was badly taiIored and gave the impression that I was overweight! Had to pass it onto my son …oh who had worn the lightning shirt on Sundays
At Sunbury.
The weird thing about rugby shirts for me is that I find the well made ones really comfortable but I rarely wear them because they are also crimes against fashion.
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