Dundalk pub Mo Chara release limited edition football kit for charity

The lads behind Mo Chara said they are hugely excited to be teaming up with legendary US sportswear brand New Balance, to release limited edition commemorative Mo Chara Football Kit ahead of their first annual charity match - World Skup '23.

The Mo Chara team and New Balance have unveiled two football strips, a Home and Away Jersey and Shorts with a very limited run.

Opened in 2021, Mo Chara offers top notch pizzas and one of the widest ranges of craft beers in Ireland including some of their own brews.

The name ‘Mo Chara,’ meaning ‘my friend’ in Irish, is inspired by the concept of friendship, and was set up by lifelong friend’s Cillian Mulligan, Paul Kelly, and Vincent Mulligan to create a real community led pub for the town.

The lads are huge football fans, and with the pub going from strength to strength, celebrating two years in operation this summer, they wanted to release the limited-edition football kit with all proceeds going to a local charity.

Cillian said: “We are buzzing to be collaborating with the legends from New Balance to design these one-off Mo Chara commemorative kits.

"New Balance were the obvious choice to collaborate with, as well as being a hugely iconic brand, they are very community minded, and have been coming out with some banging jerseys after already taking over the shoe game.”

It is a big part of Mo Chara’s ethos to give back to the local community, donating 10c of every pint of house beer to a local charity.

Mo Chara will be donating all proceeds of the sales of the jerseys to local charity partner, Head in the Game.

Head in the Game were set up by a group of Dundalk & League of Ireland fans to raise awareness of the importance of mental health across the football community.

The Mo Chara lads have just released a cheeky little video to go along with the launch of the football jerseys.

And what better embodies Irish football more than Italia 90? The jerseys, like the video, represent a nod to the past, with their bespoke vintage look.

Italia 90 was a truly seminal cultural high point in Irish football and Irish culture, and the video captures the best of times in our Irish sporting history! Keep your ears pricked for Al Foran’s best George Hamilton impression from the iconic penalty shootout with Romania featured on that infamous Reeling in the Years episode. 

Josh Chapman from The Sports Hub Group, owners of the UK New Balance teamwear license said:  “We are thrilled to be working with Mo Chara on these truly unique vintage football jerseys.

"New Balance and Mo Chara have a shared ethos of creating positive change and giving back to the community, so this was a perfect fit for us.”

To celebrate the launch of the jerseys Mo Chara will be hosting their first annual charity football match, ‘World Skup 23’, tomorrow, Sunday 8th October at 3.30pm in the Friary Field, Dundalk.

Kick off from 3.30pm. Free beer and Dundalk’s finest Sing Li Curry Cheese Chips on the day, with the after party kicking on in Mo Chara, all welcome! All proceeds from the jerseys and the football match will be donated to charity partner Head in the Game.

The jersey is designed by Killian Walsh from Grandson Design Studio, and features references from the cult Netherlands shirt of 1988, with a nod to Dundalk FCs 1991 league winning jersey.

It features the Mo Chara mascot 'MO' illustration by Stephanie Connolly. Special shout out to Dundalk musician Francis Watters for his work on the video soundtrack, and to Sapient Media for video production. 

"The jerseys promise to be as rare as a Quarter Final World-Cup penalty shootout with Romania. So, grab yours today!", the Mo Chara lads said.

www.mo-chara.ie/pages/new- balance-x-mo-chara