The GAA has had its fair share of fads in years gone by.
Cian O’Neill and his Kildare sides’ occlusion goggles are the latest in a long list of innovative developments in the GAA’s history.
Some of these innovations have fallen by the wayside, while some of them have held their course and staved off the dreaded fad label to become crucial components of the GAA culture.
We need to look no further than helmets on a GAA field, for example. The famed ‘Cooper’ helmets came to prominence around the 1960s and they were initially worn (with no guard) by the odd player.
Helmets were undoubtedly looked on by the hard men of the 1960s as a mere fad that was destined to die out.
“Sure the boys wearing them are only soft.”
As it turned out, the helmet wearer was a pioneer of a revolution. Nowadays, every hurler wears a helmet, they may have undergone developments along the way but the idea has lived on.
There’s been some amount of innovations in the GAA that haven’t stayed the distance because of developments in the modern world or because they were just plain shite.
Some of these fads, despite their prominence weaning, have earned themselves a special place in the heart of GAA lovers around the country and proceeded to become a major part of GAA culture in Ireland.
1. Mikasa gloves
How could we possibly start anywhere else? The vintage Mikasa football gloves were one of the first types of Gaelic gloves to come into the game.
Before their emergence in the 1980s the only gloves players had worn were gardening gloves.
Along came these bad boys and between then and the early 2000s they became one of the most iconic pieces of Irish sports gear to ever grace the game.
Unfortunately, our beloved Mikasas have come and gone but their legacy will forever remain.
Hail hail.
Tommy make sure and get Shane a pair of Mikasa gloves.. no gaelic player should be without 😀 pic.twitter.com/FOI5a7Bj9J
— Barry Smith (@barry79b) January 9, 2017
2. Mycro space helmets
Unlike the Mikasas, thanks be to God these hideous creations have become extinct.
This fad emerged when Mycro initially saw an opportunity in challenging the ‘Cooper’ monopoly on Irish hurlers’ helmets.
To this day many Irish men still question the thoughts behind Mycro’s ill-advised decision to create a helmet that would’ve been more suited to an astronaut.
The Greatest eyesores ever in the GAA.
Oh mother of God!
3. O’Neills trackies
If you didn’t own a pair of these beauties in the early noughties, well then you simply just were not cool.
Skinny tracksuit bottoms have since emerged to steal the glory from these glorious die-hards of the GAA but O’Neills and their brilliant bootleg trackies of the noughties will always outshine any new kids on the block.
Rest in peace.
Oh me, oh my.
4. Short shorts
The great men of GAA years past obviously felt the need to advertise their gigantic quads and their bursting glute muscles because these shorts were glued on like a pair of Speedos.
Imagine Lee Chin trying to put on a pair of those, I don’t think so.
5. Ash guards
You’d be hard pushed to find a hurler wearing an ash guard in 2017. Back in the good old days, ash guards were relatively common, with Lar Corbett a famous ambassador.
Around 2015, the Mycro ash guards took off like a high-speed plane amongst juvenile hurlers around the country.
These lads were more concerned with looking good on the field than protecting their hands and took so much care of their ash guard that they’d be afraid of putting their hand up to catch a sliotar for fear of getting a belt that might damage their beloved ash guard.
Limerick’s Kevin Downes took the ash guard to new extremes.
Two ash guards, you better believe it.
Nowadays, you’d be lucky to find one.
6. Collared jerseys
Apart from Dublin’s, there’s barely a collared jersey in Ireland.
Old lads around the country still can’t get over this round necked nonsense.
“The jerseys back in my day had collars and we went at it Helter Skelter.”
They only died out in the last few years, but their descent has been rapid.
So many collared jerseys!
7. The pulled back jersey to look big
Teams right around the country have embraced the tight-fit, figure-hugging, bicep and chest squeezing jerseys in recent times, a far cry from the Under-12 days when the club jersey was about four sizes too big. Those were indeed simpler times.
Some of the cute hoors on the team found a way to combat these bigger jerseys, however.
This Wexford man had it down to a tee.
It’s all about the aesthetics, man.
The emergence of the tight-fit jersey has brought this fad to an unfortunate end.
8. Shaping socks
Simple but oh so effective. All you had to do was throw a pair of normal white socks on over your GAA ones and you were the coolest cucumber on the pitch.
Certain players made serious sacrifices to accommodate the look, squeezing their sock-heavy feet into tight boots and being set out as a target by opposition hard men.
The shaping technique gave some players that added confidence and as the old saying goes ‘look good, feel good, play good.’
Shaping socks are no longer, due to sock makers making socks that already have white soles peeking out over the boots.
Sound lads.
9. Nasal strips – The blame for this short-lived fad lies firmly at the door of Liverpool footballer Robbie Fowler.
Originally invented for snoring, Fowler for some reason decided that it would be a good reason to wear them while playing soccer.
Cue a host of footballers donning the claiming they were good for the breathing.
If you thought occlusion goggles were bad…
Mayo footballer John Casey was an offender and it looks like Brazilian soccer star Neymar has taken inspiration from the Charlestown man recently.
A mention must be given to the one constant that has avoided becoming a fad for the guts of 25 years, Copa Mundials, we salute you.
Fads will come and go, but these bad boys will never leave the GAA world, never.
