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The Irish Sun

‘People are surprised by that' – GAA legend debunks myth around iconic fashion look that got county FINED three times

TREVOR GILES revealed Meath very nearly had a Leinster SFC game CALLED OFF in response to how he wore their jersey. However, the All-Ireland winner insisted that, contrary to popular belief, he only donned the unconventional strip three times. Advertisement 2 Trevor Giles wore a sleeveless jersey three times in his Meath career Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile 2 The two-time All-Ireland winner revealed the story behind the controversial shirt Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile The Royals last won the All-Ireland title in 1999 when they beat Three-time All-Star Trevor Giles drew attention by wearing the Meath jersey with the sleeves cut off. The two-time Sam Maguire winner revealed the back story behind the odd fashion choice on The three-time Leinster champion said: "I went to Advertisement Read More on GAA "I bought a few Aussie Rules jerseys and when I came back I was wearing them at training. "Ollie Murphy did said, 'jeez, wouldn't it be great to wear sleeveless jerseys tomorrow against "It was the Leinster final in 1999. I went home and cut the couple of sleeves off and said, 'this looks pretty cool'. "It was very unlike me because I normally would like to keep the head down and not stand out. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football "We beat Dublin that day and I wore it the next day for the [All-Ireland] semi-final against Armagh and I wore it against Cork in the final. "I wore it three times in my career and somebody was surprised - they thought I wore it for years." Tipperary GAA legend reveals surprising difference between 'pressure' of playing for club vs county While it has been a quirky chapter in Meath history , the county was on the receiving end of fall-out from Giles added: "The county board got fined for the first time, the fine got doubled the second time, it got doubled the third time. Advertisement "It got to the stage before the first round of the championship in 2000 that we got a letter from the CCC to say if every player is not dressed uniformly, the game will not start. "That was the end of it. "We all turned out the same the following year against Offaly in the first round of the championship." The Skryne clubman admitted that then-Meath manager Sean Boylan tried to stop him from wearing the shirt in the wake of the fines. Advertisement And while he followed his boss' orders initially, he revealed that he defied those orders when the big day came. Giles explained: "By the time we got to the All-Ireland final, the fine was going to be something like €1,000 and the county board chairman was in his ear and saying I can't keep paying these fines. "He did ask me not to wear it for the All-Ireland final in 1999 and I told him, 'no problem, Sean, I won't wear it.' "I slipped it on as we were going out the tunnel and I defied him which I wasn't very proud of. Advertisement "He wouldn't have been overly happy with me. "The fact that we won the game, all was forgiven, but it could have been interesting had we lost."