In this fourth instalment of our series on counterfeit football shirts, we brought in an expert to inspect each of the fake and real kits with a seasoned eye. For over twenty years, Ben Hammans from our partners at the Stadia Agency has been collecting kits and spotting fakes, so we asked him to go through the counterfeit shirts we’d purchased to see how they compared to the real deal.
After a thorough examination, he identified a staggering 70 mistakes in the Liverpool counterfeit kit alone, from misaligned stitching to colour discrepancies and more.
While the public in our previous test often struggled to identify the fakes, our expert had no trouble. According to him, the main reasons behind these errors are simple: counterfeit manufacturers cut corners on materials, rely on lower-skilled labour, and don’t have the quality control standards that official manufacturers follow. Counterfeiters often recreate the designs purely from promotional images before they even see a real shirt version, which explains the frequent colour and design inconsistencies.
A Summary of the Key Errors on Fake Football Shirts
A full list of all 70 mistakes discovered on the Liverpool home shirt can be found at the bottom of this post, but here’s an overview of the main issues.
Collar Design Flaws
Many fake football kits struggle to match the collar’s size, colour, and stitching details. Hammans identified ten separate collar-related errors, including mismatched stripe colours and alignment, poor finishing, and extra visible snitching.
Badge and Sponsor Misalignment
Inconsistent badge sizes and misaligned sponsor logos were common issues across all fake football kits. For instance, the Liverpool counterfeit shirt had a poorly replicated club crest, with visible differences in the Liver Bird design and lettering. Our expert noted single-thread “jump stitches” between elements, clear signs of low-quality maching.
Heat Pressed Items
The fake football shirts suffered most noticeably in their heat-pressed elements. Sponsor logos often showed through the fabric, looked thinner, or began to distort after only light handling. Our expert noted that these logos lacked the density and durability of those on official kits, with issues like bubbling and cracking that could start after a few wears.
Fabric Quality and Colour Issues
The colours on counterfeit kits were often duller or slightly off, lacking the vibrancy of the real thing. Additionally, some counterfeits use lower-quality finished fabrics, which can develop issues like pilling over time. Embodied items had a lower stitch count, and quality differences were stark when presented next to each other.
Incorrect Sizing and Labels
The sizing of the shirts’ various panels (front, back, sides and sleeves) is often wrong and in different proportions to the official shirt. Poor quality manufacturing often makes each sleeve slightly different in size, leading to a poor fit when worn. Many fakes use generic Asian sizes rather than the standard European sizing you’d expect from the official manufacturer selling in the UK.
Packaging and Labels
Our connoisseur noted that counterfeit kits came with generic packaging and lacked the quality stickers or brand identifiers typical of official shirts. The washing instruction labels were less detailed, and fire warnings and brand mentions were missing.
Construction Flaws
Counterfeit shirts displayed poorer construction quality, especially around the collar and sleeves. Hammans pointed out inconsistent stitch patterns, unfinished edges, sloppy overlaps, and even sleeves of different sizes.
7 Expert Tips for Spotting Fake Football Kits
Our expert shared his top tips for avoiding counterfeit football shirts if you’re shopping and are unsure about a kit’s authenticity:
- Check Packaging and Labels: Authentic kits typically come with official club or brand packaging and labels that identify them as genuine.
- Verify Made-In Details: Counterfeits often misrepresent the manufacturing country or use vague labels. Nike and Adidas rely heavily on partners in Georgia and Vietnam rather than Thailand, where our counterfeits were allegedly ‘made in’.
- Look for Asian vs. European Sizes: Many fakes come in Asian sizing, so this could be a quick way to spot a counterfeit.
- Inspect Stitching Quality: Poor stitching, loose threads, and inconsistent overlaps are red flags. Check the inside of the collar, sleeves, and the finishing on the bottom of the shirt.
- Review Badge and Sponsor Alignment: Badges or sponsors that aren’t centred or have irregular sizes likely indicate a fake.
- Examine Heat-Pressed Items: Low-quality heat prints are thin and may even show the fabric’s texture underneath.
- Consider Price: Our expert pointed out, “If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.”
Even Official Kits Aren’t Flawless
Interestingly, even the official shirts showed some minor issues. The Real Madrid kit, for instance, had a few flaws, such as misaligned piping and poorly finished stitching lines. Our expert found it surprising that these issues had slipped through Adidas’s quality control process. As kits are now positioned as premium items, consumers expect a higher quality standard.
As fake football kits become increasingly convincing, parents and fans must be aware of these subtle but telltale signs when thinking of turning to imitations.
All 70 mistakes on the Fake Liverpool Shirt
| Issue Number | Area | Issues |
| 1 | Collar | The collar size at the front is too small. |
| 2 | Collar | The yellow stripe is a lighter colour. |
| 3 | Collar | The red stripe is a darker colour. |
| 4 | Collar | Stripe is not central. |
| 5 | Collar | Lower quality outer ribbing detail. |
| 6 | Collar | The size of the inner back is too big. |
| 7 | Collar | The size of the outer back is too narrow and long. |
| 8 | Collar | The back stripe is not central to the collar either. |
| 9 | Collar | Random extra stitch line behind collar for inner piping. |
| 10 | Collar | There is poor-quality finishing on that stitching, too. |
| 11 | Pattern, Colour and Material Design | The shirt colour is off and slightly less vibrant. |
| 12 | Pattern, Colour and Material Design | It’s not as rich of a red as the official. |
| 13 | Pattern, Colour and Material Design | Golden line colouring in the pattern is less subtle. |
| 14 | Pattern, Colour and Material Design | The pattern is off; the diagonals are too frequent, and the stroke isn’t broken, making the design less ‘clean.’ |
| 15 | Pattern, Colour and Material Design | The imprint on the fabric is similar but less subtle. |
| 16 | Internal Collar Details | Limited red piping around the back of the collar. |
| 17 | Internal Collar Details | Missing piping all around the collar. |
| 18 | Internal Collar Details | Missing piping line across the top of the front panel. |
| 19 | Front Under Collar | Missing double stitch. |
| 20 | Front Under Collar | Missing the four stitch details. |
| 21 | Top Shoulder Panels | Not two pieces. |
| 22 | Top Shoulder Panels | Missing stitch line from that separation. |
| 23 | Top Shoulder Panels | Diagonal lines in the one piece don’t meet with the lines on the front panel like the second piece of fabric tries to on the official shirt. |
| 24 | Back Panel | The back panel is more prolonged, not equal to the front panel of the shirt like the official one. |
| 25 | Side Strip | Not two pieces of fabric. |
| 26 | Side Strip | Darker yellow. |
| 27 | Side Strip | Lower quality of ribbed material. |
| 28 | Side Strip | Missing red stitching at the top. |
| 29 | Bottom Side Strip | It uses the wrong imprint in the material. |
| 30 | Bottom Side Strip | The outside stitch line is missing. |
| 31 | Dri-fit & Sizing Prints | Fake one’s clearer and shinier. |
| 32 | Dri-fit & Sizing Prints | More condensed alignment. |
| 33 | Dri-fit & Sizing Prints | Made in Thailand rather than Georgia. |
| 34 | Dri-fit & Sizing Prints | Asian size vs. European size. |
| 35 | Nike Badge | Less dense stitch count on the embroidery. |
| 36 | Nike Badge | Reflects less light, less rich. |
| 37 | Liverpool Badge | Clarity of Liver bird, bad angles on chest and wing feathers. |
| 38 | Liverpool Badge | Less spacing in design. |
| 39 | Liverpool Badge | It’s more bumpy and has a lower thread count than the official. |
| 40 | Liverpool Badge | The font on the letters is incorrect, and the ‘LFC’ letters are not fully aligned. |
| 41 | Liverpool Badge | Single thread connection on the thread between elements – jump stitches from low-quality machining. |
| 42 | Front Sponsor | You can see the fabric pattern through the print. |
| 43 | Front Sponsor | Less thick, lower-quality heat print. |
| 44 | Engineered Label | Position too high. |
| 45 | Engineered Label | Brighter than the real one. |
| 46 | Engineered Label | Bolder silver central borders. |
| 47 | Engineered Label | More ‘imperfection’ bubbles. |
| 48 | Engineered Label | Missing black bubbles. |
| 49 | Engineered Label | The Dri-fit icon is not a circle. |
| 50 | Back | 97 emblem is too big. |
| 51 | Back | 97 emblem is too low. |
| 52 | Back | 97 emblem is pressed on wonky. |
| 53 | Sleeves | Understrip panel material is different. |
| 54 | Sleeves | The understrip is too large. |
| 55 | Sleeves | Understrip missing stitch line. |
| 56 | Sleeves | Despite being a smaller shirt everywhere else, the sleeve is much bigger than the official. |
| 57 | Sleeves | The outer ribbing is too small. |
| 58 | Sleeves | Ribbing is not as elastic. |
| 59 | Sleeves | The back of the left and right sleeves are different sizes by 0.6cm. |
| 60 | Right Sleeve | The Expedia logo is more petite than the official one. |
| 61 | Right Sleeve | Heat print is a much lower quality/thickness. |
| 62 | Right Sleeve | The logo is placed on the sleeve crease, unlike the official, which is to the front to avoid breaking. |
| 63 | Left Sleeve | Premier League badge added as standard. |
| 64 | Back Of Sleeve | Missing double stitching. |
| 65 | Construction | No overlapped pieces/stitching. |
| 66 | Construction | Lower-quality stitching and finishing/cutting. |
| 67 | Washing Instructions | Generic, no mention of Nike. |
| 68 | Washing Instructions | It’s not as detailed as the official one. |
| 69 | Washing Instructions | No fire warning. |
| 70 | Washing Instructions | No quality control stickers. |
What’s Next?
Next, we surveyed parents’ opinions and attitudes about football shirts and counterfeits, and we learned that the cat is out of the (kit) bag for football fakes!
Viewing Part 4 of 8 in our 'A Tale Of Two Shirts' Series
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Expert Assessment of Fakes |
Expert’s Eye – 70 Mistakes in One Counterfeit Football Shirt |
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