18 Research

A mixed kit bag formanufacturers

f there’s one subject that isguaranteed to provokepassionate debate for fans

across the country it’s football kits.Portrayed as the poster boy forcorporate football gone mad, thefact is thousands of fans still buythem regularly. Many morethousands have an opinion onthem, be it the way they look orthe price tag attached and arecent FFC survey blows the lid offthis emotional topic.

The survey, conducted by the FootballFans Census, covered over a thousandfans across the Football League andPremier League, and it reveals what acontradictory category this is.When it comes to brands, the big beastscertainly seem to dominate. Whenasked to pick their ideal manufacturer oftheir clubs kit, over 50% of those polledcited Adidas or Nike. The Germanmanufacturer eclipsed the American,with 29% of respondents citing them as

top dog, possibly a reflection of theirricher heritage in the game.

That said, Nike will be encouraged bythe comparative performance of someof its more football-centric brands andthe corporation enjoys dominance in theUK. While the Portland icon polled 24%,a further 10% of interviewees opted forNike owned Umbro, next in line camePuma, cited by 5% as their idealmanufacturer.

Tim Gentles, MD of the Football FansCensus, salutes the power of thesebrands “ there’s clearly a big two in thismarket, and that wasn’t the case 15years ago; Adidas and Nike haveinvested consistently in that time in theirbrands, and that seems to have reapedrewards.”

That dominance seems to translate intowider sports apparel. When asked tothink about the appeal of the brandswhen buying sports kit other thanreplica items, the same brandsdominate. Ranking them on sliding

scale between -10 and +10, Adidasscored 5.2, Nike 4.1 and Puma nudgedUmbro into fourth with a score of 2.4.

Bottom of the pile, unfortunately forBlackpool fans, was Cabrini, scoring alowly -2.0, with Hummel, Lotto andKappa following close behind.

Brands aside, though, the survey revealsa double-edged sword for the buyingpublic: fans appear to be happy with theproduct, but not the price.

Asked to describe how happy they werewith the design of their home kit, forexample, over 60% of respondents saidthey were either happy or very happy,while only 5% said they were veryunhappy.

The figures are not as strong for awaykits, but nevertheless are robust: 55% ofrespondents saying they were happy orvery happy with their away kits. Not thatthe days of Man United grey debacle, orCoventry City’s maelstrom of brown arecompletely over however, more than20% of fans polled said they were either

by Jon Busk

IRed card! For the player or the strips?

FCB Page 18-19 5/17/10 9:50 AM Page 1

19Research

unhappy or very unhappy with theiraway kit.

That said, the days of sandpaperpolyester are a distant memory it seems.Asked to rate how comfortable theirreplica kit was only 6% expressed anegative rating, while 66% ofrespondents described their kit as eithergreat or good to wear. On top of that42% of fans polled said their kit wasbetter than average at resisting wearand tear compared to other tops in theirwardrobes: expect Chelsea fans to besporting their lucky 2009/10 kits wellinto the twenties.

Quality then, is not an issue accordingto Gentles “this is an emotive topic, butthe survey seems to back upmanufacturer’s claims that replica kitsare a high quality purchase comparedto other leisure wear options”.

The nub though is whether fans arehappy with what they are paying for thisquality and while it’s a well troddenmedia cliché, the answer still appears to

be no. Asked if they thought their shirtsare good value for money, while 28%said good value, 50% said their kitswere not good value, while 15% saidthey were extortionate.

Frequency patterns seem to reflect thisperception too. Asked how often theybuy their shirts, 27% of respondents saideverytime one comes, out, 25% saidevery second and 12% every third and22% less than every third kit that getslaunched.

That said, those who buy the shirts doseem to get a lot of wear out of them.According to the survey, the average fanwears their shirt 37.4 times a season,and the average cost of the shirt is£35.15, which means fans are paying94pence for every occasion they weartheir shirt over a year. Put like that, theshirts are more catfood than catwalkprices.

As Gentles points out, the debateappears is more complex than is oftenportrayed: “the perception among fans

is clearly one of poor value, butnevertheless the figures suggest that theusage and the quality they enjoy is high.The frequency of kit changes remainsan issue and 56% of fans surveyed wishthat clubs would change them lessfrequently”

The replica kit category then is not quitethe black and white morale crusade thatis usually assumed. Fans undeniablythink their kits are too expensive and arechanged too often. But at the same timethey also think their kit is well made,high quality clothing and they get gooduse out of them. Maybe the distinctionthat the clubs and manufacturers needto draw then is between cost and value.

Football Fans CensusThe Media Centre19 Bolsover StreetLondonW1W 5NAContact: Tim GentlesEmail: tim@footballfanscensus.comPhone +44 (0) 207 665 4127Web www.footballfanscensus.com

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