Angry Fans Up In Arms As England’s New Nike World Cup Shirt Goes On Sale For £90

Chris Wright

31st, March 2014

21 Comments

By Chris Wright

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It’s a given that replica football shirts have always come at a nigh-on exploitative premium given they cost pennies to produce, but Nike have seemingly pushed it too far with the disclosure that the new England World Cup shirt – just the shirt – will retail for a ridiculous £90…NINETY sodding QUID.

Social media circles quite understandably erupted this morning when fans realised that Nike’s “match” version of the new England shirt (i.e, an identical shirt to that which the players themselves will wear) will be priced £90 when it goes on sale in the Nike store.

To put it in some kind of perspective: with replica shorts costing £25 and socks costing £12 a pop, the little stash you see Wayne Rooney and co. up there wearing would cost you about £635 in total – and that’s assuming that the goalkeeper kit is the same price as the outfield stuff.

Apparently there will also be “stadium” version of the shirt on sale too – a non-identical, knock-down (used in the loosest possible terms) edition which will retail for £60, which is still, of course, completely and utterly unreasonable.

Parents who want to buy the new England shirt for their children will have to spluff £40 if they are after one in 3-8 years size, and £42 for one in 8-15 years size.

Aye aye aye.

Yes, £90 is jaw-droppingly galling and the price of replica shirts these days (and for many years hence) absolutely boils our piss too – but frankly, if you’re silly enough to part with £40+ for what is essentially a few quid’s worth of gossamer-thin polyester then more fool you.

Posted in FAIL, International football, Kits & fashion, Newsnow, World Cup

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21 Comments

  1. bob says:

    90+25+12 = 635? i need to revise my maths

  2. Andrromeda says:

    Well, Nike do have to make up for the 600m they gave mid table United.

  3. Si says:

    @Andrromeda – wahay!

  4. Rob says:

    Wow that Jack Wilshere sure looks tough for a guy who lives in the treatment room.
    As for the price, how much does a shirt, shorts, socks combo go for with name and number?
    I would love it if no one bought these shirts this summer.

  5. Eddie says:

    Absolutely scandalous. I have bought every England shirt since I was a boy but out of principle will not be buying this one….Absolute joke!! Stan Collymore thinks so too and has been on Twitter all day ranting and raving about it. I think everyone should boycott buying them and make a stand!

  6. London Bronco Rugby League says:

    @Eddie: Absolutely agree.

  7. bob says:

    @chris: okay, but why would you even point that out, it would make more sense just to say for an individual kit since none of us is likely to buy 5 full kits. obviously anything will be more epxensive if you get more of it.

    • Chris says:

      @bob: I was pointing out that the five kits worn by Rooney and his four international team-mates in the photo would cost you a total of £635.

      I really didn’t think it would be this much of an issue.

  8. Chris says:

    This is the price they assume England fans will pay. Using their research think tanks..
    Its the price of having Nike as our kit provider. And thats why they got Umbro..
    I’ll just keep recycling my Spain 82 England shirt made from nylon and asbestos. And have it sandpaper the skin off of my back out of principle.

  9. fudge says:

    Chris, I’ve just spent £635 thinking I was buying 1 kit and now I’ve got 5, what am I going to do with the other 4? They’re second hand now so I won’t get all my money back.

  10. gkiller14 says:

    WorldSoccerShop.com is a US based online shop. They’re selling replicas for $90US, which shakes out to around £54UK. Add another $30US for shipping it still comes in around £73.

  11. Adam says:

    I wouldn’t worry, they’ll be reduced to £10 on sports direct bargain rails come the knock out phase of the world cup!

  12. Michael says:

    For an exact replica of a kit the players wear in the match, that isn”t bad. In canada, a kit identical to the ones a professional team wears can go for $300 (180 pounds)

  13. sloth says:

    You can get a plain white or red tee shirt and an iron-on England crest online for about £15 total, and you end up with a nicer finished product.

  14. Mr Sensible says:

    At least national kits only get changed every 4 years unlike the 2 years for club kits, on wait no, they decided to screw over the fans with that too and now bring out kits every year for both international and club kits.

    Back in my day (which were the 90s) an international top cost £30 and got replaced ever 4 years. If you wanted to have the current international top for 4 years now it would cost you £360, bit of a difference.

  15. Trayfs says:

    The replicas are US$69 ex the official FA Asian store! Thats 42 quid plus shipping.

  16. Jeremia says:

    Ah, what a shame I don’t live in Britain, just thought up a golden buisiness looking at the design! Should anyone want a bit of cash, here’s what to do:
    1. Get a white shirt. Any. Shouldn’t exceed £5.
    2. Get a Three Lions patch. Saw then sold in packs of three for a pound somewhere.
    3. Get a granny. Might be yours, might be one from the local careing home, women’s association or other organisations of that nature. A standard model granny when in contact with clothes and patches sew them on, deluxe ones can even do the embroidery on the star and the Nike(TM) logo.
    4. Sell at dumping prices. Flood the market. Destroy the evil corporation from the rebelling colonies!

  17. Maria says:

    Erm, it’s the Match shirt which is £90. This ISNT a replica shirt, hence it being called a match shirt not a replica shirt. Replica shirts are cheaper (hence the ‘stadium’ shirt, which is a replica being £60.

    They are still priced too highly, I’m just saying the £90 shirt should at least be made from better materials.

  18. Malangpun Suksuphachai says:

    Strange, they’re only 8 quid a pop here, in Thailand. Real people boycott slave traders like Nike.

  19. Sam says:

    You can get ‘match ready’ shirts at places like Camp Nou and they’ll set you back about £90 also. This isn’t really anything new, Nike just thinks we’re all sheep who’ll spend whatever on a shirt just because of the teams badge. The cheaper ‘stadium’ shirts are usually inaccurate garbage too.

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