Alternative strip for football finalists

ALL-IRELAND SFC FINAL:THE GAA'S Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) has come to an agreement with the competing counties in respect of the jersey clash in the All-Ireland football final. Both will wear their alternative strips.

The problem arises because both Cork and Down wear red jerseys, the former with white trim and the latter with black. Instead they will line out respectively in white with red trim and yellow jerseys with black shorts, as they did when meeting in the 1994 All-Ireland semi-final, won by Down on a scoreline of 1-13 to 0-11.

In last year’s under-21 football final, also between the counties, Down wore the alternative strip but Cork wore their standard jerseys.

Next month’s final will be the first in 14 years in which the contestants have to change their colours. Mayo and Meath in 1996 created the unusual precedent of different colours being used in a replay.

During the drawn match Meath wore green with yellow trim and Mayo their standard green and red but in the replay Meath changed to yellow with green trim and ran out one-point winners.

Traditionally when such a colour clash takes place the counties wear their provincial colours. During the 1972 final between Offaly and Kerry, which also went to a replay, the Leinster champions wore the green provincial jerseys whereas Kerry wore the blue of Munster.

A decade later when the counties met on a number of occasions including the famous five-in-a-row final of 1982, Offaly and Kerry wore strips featuring their county colours modified to avoid a clash, Kerry in green and Offaly in white with green and gold trim.

Down have never had to change strips in any of their previous All-Ireland finals, all of which they have won but Cork wore the white with red trim in the 1973 final against Galway when winning the county’s first Sam Maguire in 28 years.