Many of our readers will be familiar with the work of M.I.A, mainly from her smash hit 'Paper Planes' being completely and utterly unavoidable in 2008.
Well, she's also performing at London's Meltdown festival this year, and in an interview ahead of her appearance she posed for photos in what very much appeared to be the goalkeeper jersey that Packie Bonner wore for Ireland at USA 94, as spotted by the Irish Mirror yesterday.
Ahead of her #MeltdownFest @MIAuniverse talks to @theQuietus about misfits, British identity and the music industry https://t.co/aN7IDXZm0p pic.twitter.com/vDxiW3Muoh
— Meltdown 2017 (@meltdownfest) May 16, 2017
As you can see, that really is the same jersey Bonner wore in the states.
Not that you'd need photo evidence as it's one of the most instantly recognisable jerseys we've ever had.
So... Why?
Firstly, that's not an Ireland jersey she is wearing. That is a generic teamwear goalkeeper top that Adidas produced back in 1993 until about 1995, and it's very common for teams, particularly teams that aren't the main priority for the German sportswear giant, to adopt teamwear jerseys for goalkeepers rather than have one especially designed.
Incredibly, Ray D'Arcy has Packie Bonner on his show earlier today and decided to ask the Donegal man if he thought it might be his. Bonner suggested that he's given so many jerseys away to charity that it could have been one he wore.
I've a couple in the house. But I've also given lots away to charity, it might be doing the rounds, so who knows? It might be my jersey.
Unfortunately, that is almost certainly not the case. The lack of an Ireland logo means that it was a teamwear design, so chances are M.I.A saw one in a vintage clothing shop (where 80s and 90s sportswear is proving to be seriously popular with hipsters everywhere) and liked the look of it.
You can't blame her, it's an absolutely cracking 90s jersey, but we always preferd the purple number Packie also rocked in the good old US of A.
So M.I.A was unfortunately not inspired by Ireland's efforts at the 1994 World Cup, instead she just likes the designs of old football jerseys. And so do we as you can see below:
