February 6, 1991 was a very cold night.
The pitch at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham was not short of snow for the Wales-Republic of Ireland (with an orange ball) game, while at Wembley the conditions were bitter too.
Cameroon were the visitors for a repeat of the 1990 World Cup quarter-final against England – though without Roger Milla, who was rumoured to have demanded an appearance free. The African side were also without their distinctive adidas shirts as two Gary Lineker goals gave England a 2-0 win.
As you can see, the shorts and socks were the same as what had been worn at Italia 90, but the kit was a mash-up in the truest form, with the shirts a green version of the sky-blue England third.
The story goes that the weather was so cold that Cameroon needed something warmer than their short-sleeved shirts and the FA and/or Umbro came to the rescue by badging up teamwear. It’s backed up by the fact that goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell was in a normal adidas long-sleeved goalkeeper shirt rather than Umbro.
It certainly seems a plausible theory, but if you know of any alternative story that can be backed up, do let us know.
I was at that Wales v Republic of Ireland game, was a very cold night and we didn’t play particularly well. If you’d have told me within 4 months we’d have beaten Germany, the reigning World Cup holders, I’d have bitten your hand off!
I went to that game on a school trip, age 14. It was so cold and the teacher would not let us do the Mexican wave, so we could not even stand up or move. Sadly I hardly remember the game, only the pain of the -12 in my feet and hands.
I went to that game. Gazza didn’t go off at half time he stayed on the pitch kicking balls into the crowd to get fans moving to stay warm. It was seriously cold that night. Thermostat broke on my dads car to top it off so had not heating all way back to Yorkshire