What the 1977 Sligo Rovers team didn’t know about fashion wasn’t worth knowing

And you thought the Norwegian Winter Olympics curling team’s outfits were cool…

The memorable and not so memorable outfits worn by sporting teams down through the years is a topic of conversation once again this week, thanks in no small part to the amazing uniforms the Norwegian curling team will wear in the upcoming Winter Olympics. Everyone, of course, remembers the suits the Liverpool team wore ahead of the 1995 FA Cup Final with Manchester United, while Lionel Messi has came in for flak for his choice of suit for the Ballon d’Or ceremony in recent years. While those outfits (rightly) came in for more criticism than praise, one can only appreciate the outfits worn by the Sligo Rovers team ahead of a trip to play Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup in 1977, a picture of whom was posted on Twitter by RTE’s Adrian Eames this morning.

Great shot of @sligorovers players ahead of European cup clash v Red Star Belgrade in 1977. #fashionflares pic.twitter.com/Ab3LN4haxO — Adrian Eames (@AdrianEames1) January 22, 2014

  Flares, long hair and meaty sideburns were all the rage back in 1977, but those shiny (Bit O’) red jackets would cut the mustard in any generation and no doubt the Yugoslavian ladies were collectively swooning at the airport as soon as the Sligo lads stepped off the plane looking like a bunch of extras from Grease. Thanks to JOE reader Gerry McDonagh we know that that’s Mick Leonard on the extreme left, Chris Rutherford on the right with Gary Hulmes and Marty Kelly in the middle and aren't they just the stylish bunch indeed? Belgrade here we come alright. Without wanting to make our analysis of the outfits too saucy, there’s an elephant in the room that one can’t ignore when looking at the picture, but thankfully, somebody addressed the issue with a comment below Adrian’s picture (re-tweeted by his RTE Sport colleague Des Cahill) on Twitter and saved our blushes in the process.

@sportsdes @AdrianEames1 @sligorovers Linford Christie had nothing on those lunch boxes #snugfit — Enda Lynch (@austinstacksabu) January 22, 2014