Are Old Football Kits Valuable?

Football Kits are a good investment in the long run. It’s key to remember that shirt size and condition have a significant effect on the long term value of a football shirt. The highest value shirt is in brand new condition (never worn, tags still attached), and in a size Large. If you are planning on collecting vintage football shirts with future sale value in mind you should deal in new condition, large or xlarge size shirts whenever possible.

Youth/Kids football shirts do not have a good future value, never collect child size shirts as an investment. Personalization, such as player names or numbers (even famous names such as “Beckham”) detract from the investment value of the shirt; be sure to collect plain shirts.  If you can safely remove an old personalization from a football shirt without damaging the shirt, by all means do it.

“Match worn” or player signed shirts can be a very risky business as the shirts can fetch high prices, but you might not be able to find a buyer in the future. Not to mention the fact that if you get ripped off with a shirt that is not match worn, or a forged signature, you are going to be in for a big loss. We would suggest avoiding these shirts unless you are really familiar with the signed sports memorabilia market.

Generally professional football kits start out fairly expensive with most Premier League shirts costing about £50 retail.

For the next 5-10 years the price will continue to fall and bottom out at about £15 (assuming the shirt is in new condition).

After about 15-20 years the price will have risen back up to the original retail value.  After that the prices will continue to rise, by 25 years you would expect to be in the £250-£500 range.  At 30 years you could easily fetch over £1000, and after that the sky’s the limit.

To optimize your profit you should buy shirts in the 5-8 year old range, as there will still be “new” condition shirts readily available, and at rock bottom clearance prices.

Just remember the concept of supply and demand; a rare shirt with a lot of potential buyers is the best scenario for you (the investor).  For this reason it’s a good idea to collect shirts from popular teams; Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc… because they have lots of fans which translates into lots of future buyers.

The rarest shirts in the future are the football shirts that not many people bought when they were newly released; this tends to be the ugly and weird looking shirts that nobody wanted to wear at the time.

Hopefully this guide will help you put together a shirt collection that can earn you a pretty penny one day in the future.