On the eve of every tournament, there are things to get excited about. And with an extra years wait for Euro 2020 as a result of the Covid enforced postponement, even more so this time around. The new ball, the panini sticker album, the tournament anthem that will be all you hear for four weeks and of course, your countries kit. It was a long wait for Ukraine to release their Euro 2020 kit but still, Ukraine only released their kit on the very eve of the tournament in early June 2021. And it was worth the wait! The new jersey sparked a diplomatic incident and made news headlines around the world. It quickly became one of the biggest talking points of Euro 2020, without a ball even being kicked!
Ukraine’s new kit, manufactured by Joma sent a frenzy of excitement throughout Ukraine when it was released. The Spanish brand have previously brough a fresh twist to Ukraine shirts, providing “Zbirna” with bespoke kits. A UAF logo patterned in the style of traditional Ukrainian embroidery, known as Vyshyvanka, has become a mainstay on the kits. On this shirt however, the pattern was absent. Joma went for something new and original. For the first time, the kit featured the outline of Ukraine’s internationally recognised border and incorporated the “Glory to its Heroes” response to the now traditional “Glory to Ukraine” slogan on the inside of the kit.
The addition of the border was poignant for Ukrainian’s as it includes (as it should do) the occupied Crimean Peninsula and Donbas. Crimea has been under Russian occupation since 2014 while parts of Donbas, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk, are under the control of Russian puppet states. This helped unite all of Ukraine as marked in the UAF President Andriy Pavelko’s comments: “We believe the silhouette of Ukraine will give strength to the players, because they will fight for the whole of Ukraine,” commented Pavelko on Facebook. “All of Ukraine, from Sevastopol and Simferopol to Kyiv, and from Donetsk and Luhansk to Uzhhorod, will support them.”
Ahead of the tournament, this was a reminder of the bigger issues Ukraine is facing as a nation. Since 2014 areas of Ukraine have been occupied by Russia and their proxy-forces. Thousands of people have died. The fighting led to massive internal displacement and a loss of key industrial areas for Ukraine. With difficult times continuing the kit is a great reminder of how football can be a unifier. It excited the nation ahead of the tournament. And the run to the quarter finals in this kit makes it even more memorable.
Of course, not everybody was excited as me to get their hands on the new Ukraine shirt. The reaction in Russia was one of fury. They protested the kit as a political provocation and urged UEFA to ban the kit. While Ukrainian Government officials wore the shirts at cabinet meetings, Russian ministers and MPs spoke out against the shirt. As well as the border dispute, they argued against the slogans “Glory to Ukraine” and “Glory to its Heroes” as they are Nationalist cries used by Partisans who thought both the Nazi’s and Soviets during the Second World War. The slogan however, goes back much further than this and was used by the Great Ukrainian Kobzar (bard), Taras Shevchenko in a 1840 poem “To Osnovyanenko”. It is a famous patriotic call, regularly used by Ukrainian fans on the terraces.
In the end only a modest change was made. The border of Ukraine remains on the shirt, but UEFA ordered the removal of the “Glory to the Heroes” slogan which was on the inside of the kit. The UAF replaced this with by adding a sticker with a new UAF logo, which incorporated the map of the country and the ‘Glory to Ukraine’ slogan. This was described by Pavelko as ‘a winning compromise’. It was a little bizarre that UEFA even looked at the kit following Russia’s protest, having already approved the kit.
The demand for the shirt was unprecedented and certainly caught the UAF and manufacturer Joma off guard. With a marketing campaign running itself, there was not enough supply of the kit to meet demand making it nearly impossible for fans around the world to get their hands on the kit. Luckily, Subside were on hand to supply mine!
The great and good throughout Ukraine were keen to get their hands on the kit. With President Zelensky and his Cabinet endorsing the shirt, former Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko posed in it and even the British Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, got her hands on the jerseys. The kit also caused a stir on UK television as Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway's compared the outline of the border on the shirt to a dirty, stained in front of the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK.
The kit is worn by all UAF affiliated sides. The men’s seniors and youth teams and the women’s equivalents. It is also worn by the Ukrainian national futsal side. The kit once again made the headlines as Ukraine wore it at the recent UEFA Futsal Euro’s in Amsterdam. Ukraine reached the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2005, where they met none other than Russia.
UEFA have separated Ukrainian and Russian sides since the invasion and onset of conflict in 2014. The exception to this is in a club competition finale or the knock-out stages of a major tournament played on neutral soil. The only competitive game since the conflict over Crimea in 2014 was in the inaugural UEFA women’s futsal Euros in 2019. At the men’s UEFA Futsal Euro, it was game on.
Ukraine wore the yellow home strip for the match, emblazoned with the border, including the occupied Crimea region. The run up to the game caused real excitement given the current tensions around the Russian military build up on Ukraine’s borders. There was an electric atmosphere in the arena, which due to Covid restrictions still had a limited capacity. Nonetheless the crowd was boisterous and there was a lot of Ukrainian support. Despite the off-field intrigue, the tie was played out in good spirits and produced a highly competitive match full of drama. Russia eventually won 3:2, with Ukraine left to rue missed chances, including a saved penalty. Despite the result, there was great pride in Ukraine at the sides achievements, and of course a delight in seeing the internationally recognised borders, highlighted on the kit, in the European eye again, in the face of the opposition.
I am a big collector of football shirts, especially Ukraine (and Bradford City!) so I was extra excited to get my hands on the kit. It is only the second time that Ukraine have produced three kits, so getting my hands on the third shirt, in white was especially exciting. I am only missing a few shirts from Ukraine’s 30 year history, mainly from the 1990’s, but I do feel lucky to have these shirts as it is increasingly difficult to find authentic replica’s at sensible pricing.
Having initially seen a blurred concept of the kit I wasn’t a fan. The picture I’d seen wasn’t clear enough to show the Ukrainian border around the logo. Once the full design was released, I was converted. It does reiterate a further pride in Ukraine and a reminder of the daily battles to maintain our independence. As Pavelko claimed, it was an inspiration. And what would I say to those offended by the kit? Get over yourselves!
With a World Cup on the horizon, this likely means a new kit to be produced for Ukraine. Following the success of this offering, it is expected that Joma will once again supply the kit. It will be fascinating to see if there is a continuation of the border outline theme, a return of the vyshyvanka pattern or something completely new. I for one, am looking forward to it, but I will continue to wear my Ukraine Euro 2020 shirt with pride, for a long time to come!
By Peter Chymera
Subside Sports wishes to thank Peter for this heatfealt and informative blog post. Please could you follow him on twitter at @DonetskWay2012 and check out his blog Donetsk Way for all things Ukrainian Football. Check out our Ukraine collection here