My First Football Shirt: Michiel Jongsma

Vintage AC Milan were an absolute vibe! Whether it was Lotto or adidas designing for the San Siro team, Sacchi and Capello's boys always looked good, and Michiel Jongsma remembers that

We caught up with football writer, Michiel, for our My Favourite Football Shirt series, and spoke about meeting Donadoni and Costacurta, a gem of a FC Groningen shirt and a classic Barcelona goal.

What was your first football shirt?

AC Milan, 1991. What a team! pic.twitter.com/qc5EcaZZBr

— 90s Football (@90sfootball) September 29, 2015

My first was an AC Milan shirt in the early ’90s, the summer of ’94 to be exact. And there is an amazing memory attached to it as well. With my parents and sister we went to Saronno to watch an AC Milan game against the local football team. Scouting the location of the stadium, we went a day early only to leave the car keys in the car. The director of the club, a flamboyant figure, then insisted on helping us out and while some others were breaking open the car we were given a tour through the ground.

The next day, when AC Milan played Saronno, winning 6-0, I was waiting for the players to ask for their autographs. But as the director recognized me, he waved me over (as a Dutch kid and in the aftermath of the three Tulips I could not do much wrong) and brought me into the dressing room, where I met legends as Donadoni, Savicevic and Costacurta. I was only eight years old so it was all quite overwhelming, but a great experience nonetheless. Three days later, we went to San Siro to see AC Milan beat Bayern Munich 1 – 0, with Gullit scoring the 1-0.

What is your favourite football shirt?

Kian Slor during the first pre-season match of this season: Pelikaan S - FC Groningen ( 1-4)#FCGroningen #preseason pic.twitter.com/Hs1rBjhrws

— FCGShots (@FCGShots) July 3, 2021

This season’s (2015-16) FC Groningen home shirt is an absolute gem. Of course, I might be biased, but it’s the right tone of white and green, it’s a classy shirt with a throwback to older times (with buttons and all that) but still has a fresh feel to it. Given the history of the kit, there have been some atrocious efforts in earlier days, it is nice to have a kit that both looks good and powerful. Apart from that, I’ve always been in awe with the shirts of Sampdoria and Marseille. And I’ve had a thing for odd colour combinations as well, the orange-green of Werder Bremen and the red-blue of Crystal Palace two particular standouts.

What is your favourite goal? 

Just wait for that third goal to complete this perfect hat-trick 😳

On this day in 2005, Samuel Eto'o scored the perfect hat-trick against Panathinaikos in the #ChampionsLeague.

And what a hat-trick it was... #OptusSport pic.twitter.com/c5qGuvkEDc

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) November 2, 2019

Always a difficult thing, as I’ve seen better goals, but Samuel Eto’o vs Panathinaikos in November 2005, for Barcelona. Because you know he’ll do it again if he’s given the chance and that there’s a good probability of him executing that as well as he did in that game too. The ball was passed to him by Lionel Messi to put Eto’o through, and instead of running at the keeper, Eto’o decided to ‘just’ bend it into the top corner from first touch.

He’s done it before. He’s turned a very special skill into something seemingly ordinary. In general, I’ve always been a fan of players who have that ability more than players who have one moment of brilliance that they can never execute again. Eto’o for me has always been a very special striker in that sense. He’s never scored a goal that he wouldn’t be able to repeat and in that sense, he’s been one of the world’s best over the last decade.

Thanks to Michiel for speaking with us!

If you want to read more about the football memories of players, writers, and more you can buy the full Your First Football Shirt book. Discover Alan Shearer's first ever football shirt, Carl Anka's most cherished shirt and more. All proceeds go to the charities CALM and Willow.

Our collection is full of vintage AC Milan and Barcelona shirts just like some of Michiel's favourites. Browse them all here.