Mad About The Cost Of Nike's England World Cup Kit? Then Go Retro

David Cameron is deeply annoyed. Could it be that he’s furious at the sell-off of The Royal Mail on the cheap? Or at Putin’s territorial ambitions? Food banks even? Nope, it’s because Nike’s New England shirt is selling for £90 (the bespoke ‘match’ version, rather than the  ‘stadium’ one, which actually sells for £60).

The marketing bumf that’s used to justify the price of these shirts, essentially a piece of nylon cut into panels and then reassembled to accommodate Wayne Rooney’s midriff, may actually be worth that on its own.

This year according to Nike: “"Two references really stood out during the design process for the home kit – that stunning all-white kit England wore in Mexico in 1970 and the idea of the armour of English Knights.

Ready for war? The England team take their new kit very seriously

"You can see subtle references to the armour in the pinstripe, which carries a hint of shine, and in the white satin tape on the shoulders. We wanted to add some small detail that echoed the glow of the armour worn by St. George."

That would be St George the Turkish bloke, and the England 1970 team who crashed out in the Quarter-Finals to the Germans.

Except for a brief period when Sports Direct and JJB circumvented retailing rules, replica shirts have always been a rip-off. Since the mid-1990s the price of supporting your team or country sartorially has been north of £40, and given the price inflation in other football related expenditure, such as travel and ticket costs, the doubling, or increase of this price by 50%, over a decade isn’t totally out of kilter.

The reason for the cost is that Nike, the manufacturer have paid for exclusivity – their message is that one can only support the team fully by buying the current official kit. If one buys into this then you’re effectively buying a designer product – and paying accordingly for that. Nike have a premium product, with no direct competition (except in the bidding process) and so can charge what they like if enough people will pay. There are few complaints about the high price of a Versace t-shirt that is the same as a Primark one apart from a logo or printed design.

As it goes, Nike’s current effort isn’t a bad one, but the price rather cuts against the idea of support of the England football team as a unifying democratic force – the idea that impoverished youths from Kensington in Liverpool will share the same emotions as those, rather less impoverished in Kensington and Chelsea and can “get behind the boys” in the same way. 

Hence perhaps why Cameron, and The Sun are annoyed – it perfectly illustrates the divide between the marketing of football as still the same working man’s ballet in which we all share a unifying passion (which they have an interest in promoting for different reasons), and the game as just another consumer product that some will have to forego enjoying in the same way as others for financial reasons.

The alternative of course is not to buy it – the traditional uniform of the traveling England fan is not the bespoke Nike tunic, but sunburn and a faded polo shirt complete with lager stains. If you’re over 15 stone or 30 years old then a £90 tailored nylon sports vest probably isn’t a wise investment decision. That’s before we challenge the idea that spending £90 on a product made around the globe by an American company is indicative of either footballing or patriotic fervour.

However, no doubt some will wish to show off their national pride during the inevitable 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, and the exclusivity of the top does present a problem – if you want an England shirt you have to pay through the nose – a problem especially for parents of kids who may wish to don the kit down the park over the summer.

But happily there is another alternative – the retro shirt. Despite the pictures of Wayne scowling like he’s about to undergo a rectal exam, it’s fairly unlikely that the class of 2014’s polyester paraphernalia will become iconic like the 1966 or 1990 shirt. 

So if you absolutely must have three lions on your shirt this summer, but baulk at either the cost or rampant commercialism of Nike’s new kit, why not snap up a favourite England shirt from the past for half the price? You can relive England’s 1990 heartbreak for just under the £60 cost of the new ‘stadium’ shirt (eBay), or the glorious summer days of Euro 96 for £30 (classicfootballshirts.co.uk).

 A better time? Gazza lights up Euro 96.

If  you don’t fancy shopping around, Toffs.com do a variety of England shirts through the years, all at around £40, including the Mexico 1970 number the current kit is supposedly based on. 

The prices still aren’t exactly cheap, and if you’re really facing poverty still not an option, but if you’ve got a bit of discretionary spending and really want a replica shirt, it seems a better way to get your message across than impotently whinging about commercial entities setting a price for their products.