Wales football shirts from past seasons

Wales played its first international in 1876, against Scotland in Glasgow, which makes it one of the oldest national teams anywhere. For most of the twentieth century the story was one of near misses. The great exception came in Sweden in 1958, when a side built around John Charles made it to the last eight of the World Cup. There they lost 1-0 to Brazil, and the goal was scored by a seventeen-year-old called Pelé, his first at a World Cup. After that came decades of heartbreak, including qualifiers lost on the final night and a famous defeat to Romania in Cardiff in 1993 that ended hopes of a trip to the United States. Everything changed with the golden generation. Under Chris Coleman, Wales reached Euro 2016 in France, beat Belgium 3-1 in the quarter-final in Lille and only went out to Portugal in the semi-final. Hal Robson-Kanu's turn and finish against Belgium became one of the most replayed goals in the nation's history. Wales reached the last sixteen at the next Euros as well, and in 2022 played at a World Cup for the first time in sixty-four years. The home of Welsh football today is the Cardiff City Stadium, and the 'Don't Take Me Home' anthem followed the team across France.

The roll of honour starts with John Charles, the gentle giant who starred for Leeds and Juventus and could play centre-half or centre-forward with equal ease. Ian Rush scored goals for fun at Liverpool and held the Wales scoring record for decades. Mark Hughes was the scorer of spectacular volleys, and Neville Southall kept goal with a stubbornness few could match. Ryan Giggs gave the team a touch of Old Trafford glamour, while Gary Speed's leadership is still spoken of with great warmth. The modern era belongs to Gareth Bale, who overtook Rush as the record scorer and won the Champions League several times with Real Madrid. Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ben Davies formed the spine of the Euro 2016 side. Among the shirts here you will find prints for Bale, both as the number 11 and in his early number 3 days, plus Ramsey's number 10 and names such as Roberts, Collins and Vokes. Shirts with the names of fringe squad players are often rarer than the star names, and many collectors find them more interesting.

The colours are simple: red shirts, with white or red shorts at home, and a changing palette away. Collectors love the crest details, from the older dragon badge to the modern Football Association of Wales crest. The shirts on this page come mainly from adidas, Umbro and Kappa, so you can trace how each maker interpreted the same red over the years. Umbro designs tend to feature bold collars and tonal patterns in the fabric, while the Kappa years brought tighter cuts and the brand's repeating logo on the sleeves. adidas shirts from the Bale era are the ones most fans recognise, with clean lines and the three stripes on the shoulders. Long sleeve versions, player issue shirts and goalkeeper tops add variety for collectors who already own the main home shirt. Away shirts are worth a look too, as they were often made in smaller numbers and turn up less often.