Meet the Dubliner who has collected match-worn jerseys from top international stars - ranging from Luis Enrique to legendary Soviet Union midfielder Vasyl Rats to Andorra’s world record caps holder Ildefons Lima.
Some of Barry Rojack’s collection will form a part of the Irish Sports Museum's phenomenal display at Kit Con Éire, which takes place at the Convention Centre in Dublin tomorrow week.
And it will even feature Marco Van Basten’s iconic shirt from Ireland’s heart-breaking Euro ‘88 defeat to the Netherlands.
“People almost always quote the Dutch Euro ‘88 jersey as the epitome of collectible jerseys, just because of the look and feel of it,” Rojack told this publication.
The jersey may have been a fan favourite, but as Rojack explains, the Dutch players weren’t so enamoured with it.
“They wore it for that tournament, but the players hated it,” said the Cabinteely native.
“They didn’t wear it for the friendlies before the tournament or for the games after it, they only wore it for those five games in Germany.
“But it’s so iconic because that Dutch team was the best of all time, they played great football and Marco van Basten was the player of the tournament.”
Rojack runs the Irish Sports Museum with pals Graham Keogh and Barrie McCormack. It’s a collection of memorabilia from across the sporting spectrum.
When it comes to football shirts, they tend to look for items that have an Irish angle, such as the van Basten one.
“We also have Ronnie Whelan's jersey that he wore when he scored the famous scissors kick against the USSR,” he said.
They got their hands on that one thanks to legendary Soviet midfielder Rats, who swapped shirts with Whelan after the 1-1 draw in Hannover.
How did they get in touch with Rats?
“When you are collecting for 30-plus years, you build up a network of ex-players and fellow collectors and we sourced it through there” he explained.
“We recently did a Damien Duff display - a jersey from each club he played for and a couple of Irish ones as well - and one of those was the one he wore against Spain at the 2002 World Cup.
“We got that off Luis Enrique, who was selling old jerseys for a local children’s charity in Barcelona.”
As for former Andorra defender Lima, who boasts a world record 26-year long international career, he handed over a jersey from the Covid season Europa League game between Inter Escaldes and Dundalk.
The Lilywhites won that game 1-0 on their way to their second group stage qualification.
“I met him years ago,” Rojack added. “He has an amazing collection of jerseys.
“If people want to come down and talk to us at Kit Con, we will tell them how you can get involved in this community.
“And they can also try on and buy some old retro shirts across various sports to wear themselves on the terraces or at five a side.”
Already, ticket sales for this year’s Kit Con have more than doubled last year’s attendance.
The fact that it is being held in conjunction with The Dublin Card Show is drawing large numbers of football memorabilia fans from here and overseas.
Paul Behan is the brains behind the convention and he said: “It’s going to be bigger and better than ever and the location is worth its weight in gold.
“This year we are going to have programme sellers, bucket hats, scarves, badges, different paraphernalia. We are also branching out into different sports.
“We are going to have GAA, and rugby features as well. The Irish Sports Museum guys are putting on a spectacular display. It would probably deserve a museum of its own right.”
There will be items of interest for fans of Formula One, cycling, basketball, rugby and boxing, with Brian O’Driscoll’s match-worn shirt against the All Blacks and Katie Taylor’s world title fight shorts on display.
“We will have a World Cup connection with a guy who has a 1994 World Cup kit collection - he has nearly every kit from the 1994 World Cup,” Behan adds.
“We have a huge Shels display, a huge Bohs display, we have an unbelievable Dundalk and Liverpool display; it’s going to be wow, really, really wow.”
League of Ireland fans will also get to view collections from Finn Harps, Galway United, Cork City and Sligo Rovers.
La Liga clubs, Borussia Dortmund, Fluminense, Newell's Old Boys and many more will also be on display.
There will be lots of opportunities to purchase rare and vintage jerseys - with lots of vendors setting up stalls on the day.
And there will be a live recording of the brand new podcast ‘Each Game on its Merits’ featuring Aodhan O Riordan and Gary Cooke from The Football Walking tour, and Gerard Farrell, the official Bohemians FC historian.
This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring kit industry experts.
Tickets for the day are available at kitconeire.com or on the door, and are priced at €10 for Adults, €12 for an Adult and Child and €22 for a family.
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