The Soaring Cost of Supporting England: When Did Football Shirts Become a Luxury?

There was a time when wearing an England shirt meant pride, passion, and belonging. It was about standing behind the Three Lions, singing your heart out, and feeling connected to something bigger than yourself. Now it increasingly feels like you need a small loan just to show your support.

Let’s talk numbers.

The latest England national football team shirt currently costs:

• £124.99 for the adult authentic version

• £84.99 for the adult stadium version

• £119.99 for the children’s authentic version

• £64.99 for the children’s stadium version

• £44.99–£55.99 for infant and baby kits

If you want a full children’s kit — shirt with a name on the back, shorts, and socks — you’re looking at £140 or more.

£140 for a child’s football kit.

I would genuinely like to meet anybody who thinks that is okay?

And if the strong rumours are true, it gets worse. There’s talk of the stadium shirts rising to £90, children’s stadium versions jumping from £64.99 to £70, while the authentic adult shirt remains at £124.99. A £5 increase might not sound like much to some, but it adds up quickly for families.

We are rightly proud of our phenomenal Lionesses. The England women's national football team have inspired a generation and brought incredible success to English football.

But here’s the reality: if you want to support both the men’s and women’s teams properly — and why wouldn’t you? — you’re effectively doubling your outlay.

Two adults. Two kids. Men’s and women’s shirts.

The total quickly becomes eye-watering. What starts as pride turns into financial planning.

At what point does supporting your national teams become financially exclusive?

The The Football Association reportedly secured a kit deal worth around £400 million running until 2030. In their 2022/23 financial year, they posted an operating profit of £64 million.

On paper, they are thriving.

So why are fans paying record prices?

If the governing body of English football is financially strong, why does the cost of participation — even something as simple as wearing the shirt — keep climbing? How exactly does this benefit the fans?

Football has always been described as a working person’s game. A fan’s game. A community game. Yet the pricing strategy suggests something very different.

For many families, it’s becoming a simple choice: buy a fake shirt or don’t buy one at all.

Counterfeit football shirts in the UK are already estimated at around £180 million annually. At this rate, could that figure reach £500 million in five years? It wouldn’t be surprising.

When official shirts creep toward luxury pricing, the black market thrives. That’s not shocking — it’s predictable. If official merchandise becomes inaccessible, people will find alternatives.

Some argue that this is simply “the market.” But if you look across the Atlantic, the warning signs are already there.

Major League Soccer merchandise prices can be staggering. A customised shirt for a player at Real Salt Lake can cost around $194 with name and number. That’s not a typo.

If that model continues to influence football culture here, things could get far worse before they get better.

And that’s the fear: will official football shirts eventually be something only the wealthy can afford?

There is a bubble forming around football kit prices. And bubbles burst.

It’s not a question of if prices stop rising — it’s when. There has to be a ceiling. There has to be a point where fans simply refuse.

But until that moment comes, governing bodies and manufacturers appear comfortable pushing the boundary further each season.

The worrying part is that nobody seems to be challenging it. We’re watching it happen under our noses.

What about the vast majority of families who simply want their children to wear the shirt of the team, the country, the sport they love?

What about the idea that football is supposed to belong to everyone?

Right now, it feels like fans are being taken for granted. That loyalty is being monetised to the maximum. That governing bodies are becoming tone-deaf to the everyday realities of supporters.

The game may still be played on grass, but the business of football feels increasingly corporate, detached, and profit-driven.

If football is truly for the fans, then pricing should reflect that.

Because pride in your country shouldn’t cost £140 for a child.

And supporting England shouldn’t feel like a luxury purchase.