Along with post-match dressing room selfies, the now long gone fashion of snood wearing, players swapping jerseys at half time has been the bugbear of many a retired footballer turned pundit. The mind is not on the game is the argument.
Half-time jersey swapping is a relatively new phenomenon. Kids, eh? But the exchanging of shirts at the end of a game has long been a tradition. It's something which former Ireland international Gary Breen could never understand, though.
Speaking on Today FM following their live Premier League coverage on Saturday, Breen said teammates working themselves into an optimal position towards the end of a game to obtain the shirt of a star opposition player caused him much irritation.
The culture of jersey swapping, especially when playing for Ireland, is something which did not adopt. Breen thought he had worked so hard for the shirt, he was not going to give it up.
I wasn't one for swapping jerseys because I could never understand that when the whistle's gone, you've won, you've lost, your first thought is to go and chase after someone's jersey.
I remember playing in games where with about a minute to go whoever is playing centre midfield is suddenly on the right wing because he wants to get Maldini's jersey. I used to think 'what are you doing?'
It used to drive me mad. If anyone asked me at the time I'd say 'I wouldn't swap it because I'd worked so hard to get an Ireland jersey I'd prefer not to give one away.'
The most highly-valued jersey in his collection is one of his own. But also one which was worn by a fellow Ireland international. When Breen made his Ireland U21 debut, Paul McGrath visited his hotel room to ask if he could borrow his long sleeve number five shirt. Breen agreed but only if McGrath returned it with his signature on it.
Gary Breen's favourite Ireland jersey
My most prized jersey was when I made my debut for the Ireland U21s.
I was in my room with my teammate David Greene at the time. There was a knock at the door and we were relatively new at 18 years of age so we were a bit shy and retiring. I opened the door and it's Paul McGrath - my hero. I went 'alright, Paul, what's happening?' He was so kind and he said 'do you mind if I take your long sleeve number five' that I was wearing for the U21s.
He liked to wear a long sleeve for the first half and a long sleeve for the second half and he didn't mind if I changed. Normally, you'd get one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I said 'yeah, no problem' but I did take the opportunity to say 'I'll do it as long as you sign it for me'.
So that's my most prized jersey.
You can listen to Gary Breen on Today FM below.
