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The Shirt off your Back

2 min read
by The Fighting Cock
Monday 8th July marked a commercial blitz of excitement around Tottenham Hotspur as the new team kits for the upcoming season were unveiled in a typically dramatic fashion. While social media and online Spurs forums focused obsessively throughout the day on what the new kits looked like and which one was the nicest, the powers […]

015Monday 8th July marked a commercial blitz of excitement around Tottenham Hotspur as the new team kits for the upcoming season were unveiled in a typically dramatic fashion. While social media and online Spurs forums focused obsessively throughout the day on what the new kits looked like and which one was the nicest, the powers that be at Spurs unsurprisingly slipped an important detail about the new kits under the radar; they’re more expensive than last season’s version.

This will come as no surprise to modern football fans who have grown accustomed to their club digging their hands deeper and deeper into their pockets as every year goes by, but aside from the growing prices of tickets and other expenses for the adults who pay to see their team play and deck themselves out in the latest Spurs apparel, it’s also worth considering the affect this rise in price for kits is going to have on parents.

Consider a hypothetical but common example of a Dad with two young Spurs supporting sons. This season this Dad will have to front up £42 each for a replica shirt for both of his boys. It’s no secret that young football fans are also much more likely to have their favourite player’s name printed on their shirts as well, so a Bale number 11 print on the back of both shirts will cost an extra £30. If we stipulate that the young lads also want to make their shirts even more authentic with the official Premier League badges, that’s another £10 each thank you very much.

[linequote]A lot is made about the rising price of going to watch live football, but just as significant in the cost of being a football fan is other aspects.[/linequote]

Now after going through all this to get the shirts the way his lads want them, Dad will want his boys to be among the first to have their new gear, so now he has to pay another £5.99 delivery fee to have his items delivered on the day of official release.

If Dad can manage to use his calculator through the tears he is now shedding for his bank balance, he’ll conclude that he’s about to fork out £139.99 just to so his sons can have the privilege of wearing the new season shirt to watch the team in; and that’s before getting close to actually buying tickets to go and see a game!

A lot is made about the rising price of going to watch live football, but just as significant in the cost of being a football fan is other aspects like the price paid by parents and siblings in England who don’t want their loved ones to be the only kid in the street wearing last year’s kits.

Just like the problem with ticket prices though, the only way to deal with the problem of rising prices for club merchandise is to take a stand and say enough is enough.

Football fans are being milked pretty dry as it is just to be able to watch their team play live a few times a season; none of us can afford club fat cats draining our wallets even more for a new shirt with Bale’s name on the back.

[author name=”Craig Harrison” avatar=”https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/344513261574042961/c98718b92d0da5c48d3aa174b9496000.jpeg” twitter=”” tag=”CraigHarrison[/linequote]

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

10 Comments

  1. TommyHarmer
    13/07/2013 @ 2:46 pm

    Sorry to sound old fashion, but STOP DOING IT. Buy one shirt and wear it till it falls apart …. wear it as a badge of pride that says “I’ve supported Spurs THAT long!”, and do that especially if you are an adult. In fact I have NEVER bought a Spurs shirt, but, if I did I’d buy a cotton 1961 shirt, and wear it till it fell to pieces, then by another of the same kind. Nothing else is anything other than playing the big money boys game for them. In fact – if you look around – lots of supporters are doing that already.

  2. jaesspur
    13/07/2013 @ 3:30 pm

    As a disabled father , with 5 kids (between me and my wife ) (2 each , and1 between us) , all have decided to follow Spurs (through no pushing ! honest ! hehe) . Thats 2 grls and 3 boys , now 1 is only 2yrs ,the others go 8,9,12,15. All have a Spurs top , one way or the other , but unfortunately i can not afford to take me let alone any of the kids to a match , i have never been in my young 42 yrs and my dad was not about much to have any interest in taking me . my only joy was a tour last year that my wife brought as a b-day pressie . Now i totally agree , that its impossible to buy a top for all my kids , so have to resort to ebay or other sale sites . Thankfully my children are not overly greedy , and will be happy with other items I:E clocks , slippers , keyrings , calenders , posters etc etc , which can be picked up quite cheap. They will get a top when the money is available , but not every year . I was lucky enough to have a friend who is a tatoo-ist and have a lovely emblem and Tottenham Hotspur underneath down the inside of my forearm (as long as my forearm) for free . Which i suppose is my one (wear with) pride , which will never fall to pieces haha. Anyhow rant over , and until prices come down to a suitable level , ill be leaving the buying of new shirts for the wealthier than me !!….. in AVB and Mr Levy we must trust ….. BUT IN SPURS WE LOVE ……..COYS

  3. big k
    13/07/2013 @ 3:31 pm

    i so agree but in my case i have every (genuine) spurs shirt from 1960 onwards in my wardrobe covered in plastic. agreed the first ones had the spurs cockeral sewn on by my mum. i havnt missed a home kit or many of the away ones for that matter and i have some 3rd kits too. come to think of it who is the biggist idiot!!! i didnt have any boys only girls so i had no one to hand them to but i do now have 2 grandsons who of course both support the mighty lillywhites (their dads had no say in the matter) only one of the dads is a yid. thankfully the other one isnt scum!! when they have boys of their own i will donate my collection to them in the hope that they continue it on. i dont know if its worth anything but very proud to have it.

  4. Alexandre
    13/07/2013 @ 4:08 pm

    If you, like me, live overseas and support Spurs, then you must add GBP 19,99 due to shipping expenses, which will make this season´s new home kit price reach nearly GBP 68,00. Too much I think, even though I really liked home and away tops. I have some Spurs kits but it is Always better to buy them mid-season or even at the end of the season when prices drop to 50% of what they were in july. Wearing a 3-season-old kit does not prevent me from being proud of Tottenham Hotspur. Maybe this is the trick: stop believing in all the marketing schemes to milk supporter´s money and just love the club wearing a good 2007-08 shirt.

  5. Lee
    13/07/2013 @ 4:37 pm

    Having been a first time father for 4 months, I was eagerly anticipating the release of the new shirts, excited about buying my son his first new shirt….until! The official store displayed the price of £42 for a baby kit! That’s £42 for a shirt to dress a 4 month old boy, absolutley disgusting when you consider that there’s more material in the sleeve of the £48 XXL adult shirt I’ve become accustomed to wearing. Armed with this knowledge, I couldn’t justify that cost for the babes kit and decided i wouldn’t be getting him one and in protest, decided not to buy myself a shirt either.
    However, later that day, whilst looking on the Sports Direct website, I discovered that the adult shirts are available for £39 and the baby kits for £27, which is far more reasonable.
    Whilst no longer surprised by the club pricing normal working class families out of the game, I am surprised at how they make it difficult for parents to get their children involved with the club, as these are the fans of tomorrow.
    When you also consider that we are always the last club to release our shirts, it’s not like Spurs fans, even get good value for the exuberant costs.

  6. Jim smith
    14/07/2013 @ 2:20 pm

    You can see all the Spurs kits over the years on the historical kits web-site – quite a motley bunch they are too.

    Think my preference is white shirts and socks, with blue shorts. Having said that remember being disappointed in 1967 when the blue socks with white turnovers were dropped for the white socks. But now used to them, and think the kit then well balanced. Maybe next season ?!

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  8. darren
    24/07/2013 @ 7:35 am

    I’m taking my 2 girls (3 & 5) to the up coming friendly for their first trip to the lane. I’d love to buy both the new shirt, but not paying circa £100 even if I could afford it. I’ll be going to one of the stalls to buy a shirt for them each from previous season. They won’t know or care we’re not being sucked into marketing BS and I’ll be about £70 better off.

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