The Action Replay Column from the March 2012 issue of the Socialist Standard
Many supporters, especially in football and rugby, like wearing the same shirts as their clubs wear, perhaps with their own name on the back. And kids in particular want the very latest design, not last year’s, which is why clubs often change their shirts every season or so. Teams may well have two or even three designs and colours to cope with potential clashes when playing away.
A recent absurd example of a sports goods company cashing in on shirt-mania was to do with the kit of the British team (Team GB, as they’re called) for the 2012 Olympic football. Late last year, Adidas released a ‘commemorative shirt’ for supporters. Mind you, it’s not the one the actual team will be wearing when they play. It has a nice design, with union jack, lions and Britannia. It costs a nice £52, so the company will no doubt make a very nice profit out of it.
And just as you can buy cast-offs from some singer or film star, you can even buy the actual shirt worn in a game from some years ago – at a price, of course. For instance, the shirt ‘believed to have been worn’ by Alan Hudson for Stoke City in 1975–6 was recently available from an online company for £499.99! As their website says, ‘why not make yourself stand out from the crowd with a vintage football shirt and relive the old times, and have a great investment for the future too.’
Paul Bennett
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