Spotting Red Flags in Fake Football Shirts: A Fan's Guide to Authenticity

In this article, we'll break down the key red flags to watch for when buying football shirts. Drawing from expert insights and common pitfalls shared by collectors, we'll help you become a savvy shopper. Remember, if something feels off, it probably is—trust your instincts and verify before you buy.

Key Red Flags to Identify Fake Football Shirts

1. Price That's Too Good to Be True
One of the biggest giveaways is an unrealistically low price. Authentic shirts from brands like Nike, Adidas, or Puma typically retail for £70-£120 or more, depending on customizations like player names or patches. If you spot a "deal" that's 50-70% off without an official sale from a trusted retailer, it's likely a counterfeit. Scammers prey on bargain hunters, especially for popular kits like Premier League jerseys.

2. Prices are the same
You will see on fake and counter-fit websites that all football shirts are the same price. Football shirts all have different prices depending on league, brand, country they are made, nameset and patches. If you see a website where every shirt on the site is £30 that it is clear fake. 

3. Inferior Fabric and Stitching Quality
Feel the material: Genuine shirts are made from lightweight, breathable fabrics like polyester blends designed for performance. Fakes often feel heavy, stiff, or overly shiny, with colors that bleed or fade quickly. Inspect the stitching—authentic jerseys have even, tight seams without loose threads or puckering. Uneven hems, sloppy needlework, or mismatched panels are classic signs of a knockoff.

4. Inaccurate Logos, Crests, and Branding
Examine the details closely. Club crests, sponsor logos, and manufacturer emblems (like the Nike swoosh) should be crisp, embroidered or heat-pressed accurately, and positioned correctly—usually on the right chest for the brand logo. Fakes might have blurry prints, incorrect fonts, off-center alignments, or even wrong colors. For instance, a fake Nike shirt could have a distorted swoosh or uneven embroidery.

5. Suspicious Tags, Labels, and Packaging
Authentic shirts come with high-quality neck tags featuring correct spelling, sizing charts, and care instructions. Red flags include typos (e.g., "Adiddas" instead of "Adidas"), mismatched production years, or tags that don't match the shirt's era. Vintage shirts should have era-specific labels, and modern ones often include holograms or QR codes for verification. Also, check if the tag is sewn in properly—fakes might have it glued or hanging loosely.

6. Invalid or Common Product Codes
Every official shirt has a unique product code or SKU, usually on the tag or packaging. Google the code: If it doesn't match the shirt's description or appears on multiple fake listings, it's counterfeit. Some codes are notoriously overused by counterfeiters, so cross-reference with official sites.

7. Missing Authenticity Features
Modern jerseys often include security elements like holographic badges, embedded chips, or serial numbers. If these are absent or easily replicable (e.g., a sticker instead of a woven hologram), question the shirt's legitimacy. For EPL jerseys, look for league-specific patches that are heat-sealed correctly.

8. Questionable Seller or Source
Buy from reputable sources like official club stores, licensed retailers , or verified vintage specialists. If the seller dodges questions about authenticity or provides vague details, walk away.

9. Pen marks 
Not always but be weary of pen marks usually mean fake. Pen marks are how some fake factories check through their football shirts. If your shirt has ticks or simple line pens marks but this is not the case everytime. 

10. Wash labels 
Modern shirts will have labels and wash labels on the inside of the shirt so that will be a red flag but some fans do cut them labels out as they find them uncomfortable but do be weary. 70s,80s,90s shirts did not have the same amount of labels and the shirts not having labels is different and other things should be checked. 

11. Where the shirt is made 
This is not definitive and not always the case 100% of the time but where the shirt is made is important. I would see red flags with Brazil shirts made in Taiwan or Poland shirts made in Mexico. The big brands use factories in certain locations and always try to be efficient making a European shirt is Mexico does not make much sense. Some of the factories for the big brands you can google and find out where they are. 

12. Website endings 
Buying football shirts that do not end in the usual endings for example .co.uk or .com or if you are buying from abroad .nl for the nertherlands a lot of fake websites will end in .se or .cc . shop that is a red flag.