Ya, it is a pity. Mind you I was in Andorra once and when I asked the lad at the local sports store for an Andorra shirt I could buy, he laughed at me. They sold France, Spain, Italy, Barcelona even Manc Scum Shirt. But not their own... Wonder do they have a thread???![]()
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The answer would be yes, if they are anything like San Marino.
I was there for the Euro qualifier last year and found the local Sammarinese to be fiercely proud of their independence and nationality. No San Marino shirts on sale in the shops though. But our supporters club secretary did manage to get one in a shirt swap at the match.
And no, the San Marino shirt had no sponsor on it.
Same could be said when they grey 3rd jersey was released sponsoeless in Lifestyle. They sold out everywhere, and that was for a shirt we wore once and will probably never wear again.
Whatever extra money FAI get off eircom for the sponsor on jersey, I reckon they would make the same amound or more in sales of jerseys withouth sponsorship on them
i got a fake san marino shirt for a fiver when i was at the match last year, still nice even though a fake...
'How can I hate women, my Mums one!!!' Chris Finch
You can't spell failure without FAI
You can buy their jersey online on their official website
http://www.fsgc.sm/sources/template.asp?id=1492
TAking into account the amount Eircom pump into all levels of football including the Eircom league i reckon you would need to be selling a million or more shirts a year for the fai to make more money, and given most people probably buy a shirt every couple of years the annual sales are probably a fraction of that figure.
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
So Eircom really would withdraw all levels of support in Irish football if they didn't have their logo on the Ireland shirt?
There's a fine line between sponsorship and selling out. Naming the league after Eircom is sponsorship. Sticking their logo on perimeter advertising, match programmes, interview and press conference backgrounds, even the training gear is sponsorship. Putting their logo on the national team shirt is selling out. As evidenced by the fact that absolutely no other country in the world does it.
You don't think the likes of England would maximise every revenue opportunity like this if they could? They don't because even the "39th game overseas" association recognise it's a step too far.
But not the FAI. You can almost argue they are now hostage to sponsors. Anyone visiting Croke Park or Landsdowne Road in recent years would be forgiven for thinking the full name of the country was "The Republic Of Ireland Sponsored By Eircom."
Where did I say the above?
Please DO NOT misquote me.
What I did say was that the fact they have their name on all replica jersies is one of the most important parts of their sponsorhip to Eircom.
Doing business involves give and take, if the FAI wanted to maximise revenue for the national team only there would be no Eircom sponsorhip of the LOI, there would be less live coverage of EL on TV and no MNS. The FAI takes reduced sponsorship monies to ensure greater coverage for the EL.
Personally I hate the eircom logo on the jersey. I also don't like the idea of Sky being allowed buy rights to any of our international games as I believe they should all be on free to air TV, not that it should bother me as I go to all games home and away and even if I didn't i can go to the pub to watch them.
It would be interesting to see what the FAI would earn from sponsorship swithout the logo and with to make a reasonable call on which would be better for the general football community. Remember the surplus FAI funds eventually end up as grants for junior clubs, the first to lose out when money drys up are the junior clubs.
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
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