A ‘Liverpool home authentic jersey’ is priced at £120 on adidas.co.uk. A Liverpool jersey from other sites and stores without the ‘authentic’ word in the tag line costs around £80
A new study has revealed that over 40% of Belfast football fans own a fake football shirt. The Online Betting Guide put questions to over 2,000 British football fans while also sending Freedom of Information requests to Trading Standards to reveal the UK areas where the most fake football shirts have been seized.
UK police forces seized over 67,000 fake football shirts in the build-up to the 2025/26 Premier League season. A ‘Liverpool home authentic jersey’ is priced at £120 on adidas.co.uk. A Liverpool jersey from other sites and stores without the ‘authentic’ word in the tag line costs around £80. A home shirt from the Liverpool official store for kids is priced at £60.
Those sort of prices have led to thousands of fans and parents reaching for the ‘rip-off merchandise’ market where a full kit costs less than £20. While the quality of the product is questionable, many fans don’t care as they look to don their team’s latest shirt. And with second and third kits now part of the demand, and all kits refreshed every season, the black market is hugely popular at home and abroad.
Premier League teams update their kits annually, releasing a new home, away, and often a third kit each season. This practice became standard in the early 2000s due to high-profile kit manufacturing deals and the massive profits generated from selling replica shirts
According to the study from OLBG, over two-fifths (43%) of fans in the Belfast said they are somewhat likely to buy a fake football shirt in the future. Two-thirds (60%) of Belfast respondents said they feel priced out of buying football shirts, while two-fifths (40%) said they think a fair price for football shirts is between £30 and £50.
Almost half (47%) of Bristol residents own a fake shirt, which is more than in any other UK city. Almost three in five (57%) of 25-34-year-olds own a fake football shirt, while it’s those aged 35-44 who are hit the hardest by the cost of football shirts, with almost two-thirds (60%) feeling priced out of buying football shirts.
Freedom of Information requests submitted to Trading Standards revealed that Camden Council seized over 4,500 fake football shirts, which is more than any other council where data was provided.
“Some of the Premier League’s most followed teams, including Arsenal and Manchester United, are now charging over £85 for their latest kit,” said Steve Madgwick, editor in chief at OLBG. “These extortionate prices are placing a financial burden on millions of Brits, which often leads them to contemplate whether the option of a fake alternative is a better choice.”
“Despite having a lower cost, fake football shirts can present a risk to a person’s health due to the chemicals and the poor safety standards used to create them. With this in mind, it’s important to know the signs of a fake shirt and always opt for the real version.
“If you’re in a shop and have the product to hand, check the product code before making the purchase. Every genuine football shirt carries a unique product code, which is often located near the hem or collar. Once you have found the code, search for it online. If the code doesn’t match official images, there’s a good chance that it’s fake.”
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