Football kit sales delayed as supply chain issues hit clubs

Image source, Leeds United

As manufacturers grapple with supply chain issues, fewer than half of English Football and Premier League clubs have both their new home and away kits available to purchase.

Out of 92 clubs, 44 have both their season kits on sale.

Crystal Palace andLeeds United are both in the premier league.

The delays have been blamed on disruptions and factory shutdowns in Asia.

The new kit for the Championship, League One, and League Two will not be on sale before the start of the season.

There are 92 clubs in the top four league.

• 44 teams have both kits available for sale on their website
• 22 teams have only their home kit available
• 7 teams have only their away kit available
• 19 teams have neither kit available

The chief executive of the English Football League told the BBC that his club's new home and away kits were not available to sell because of the Covid disruption.

He said it was difficult to quantify the cost to the club until it could see the impact on sales.

"We can manage our cash flow, but it will impact on some clubs' cash flow, because July is a month when there's not a lot of cash coming into the business."

There have been no disasters caused by that. It's difficult for some clubs.

Fans will be disappointed by the delay.

"If you're a parent or a grandparent who's going to buy a kit for a young child's birthday in July, you've not been able to do that, you have to wait," he said.

Three of Sandy Domingos-Shipley's children are all fans of the same team.

Normally she would buy them the new kit as soon as it was released, but this year she hasn't been able to because the club said it wouldn't be on sale until late August.

Sandy said she would still buy the kit when it was available, but it ruined the moment for the kids because it was their own tradition.

That's when you know you're going to get a lot of people to buy.

Adidas didn't reply to a request for comment.

Adidas apologized for any frustration felt by fans in a statement last month.

Image source, Sandy Domingos-Shipley

The impact of Covid in Asia, where many factories are based, is affecting some clubs, according to a senior lecturer in football finance.

A shortage of container ships is one of the reasons for the problem.

The financial impact on most elite clubs would be limited as they are usually paid a fixed amount by manufacturers for the season with only a small commission per unit sold.

He said that fans who wanted the kit would still purchase it when it was available.

The issue should be solved by Christmas, according to Mr. Maguire.

He said that smaller clubs were more likely to be affected than larger clubs.

Image source, Stockport County FC

Different issues have been faced by others

Stockport County said it had been let down by its kit provider.

"It has recently come to light that their shipping partner has mislaid part of the shipment due to be delivered, and as a result we are unable to fulfill a number of orders placed by fans," the club said.

The club said it would have to wait until the next delivery, which was 30 November for home kits and 30 September for away kits, arrived.

If fans waited for the delivery, it would give them a full refund or 20% discount.

There are no issues with teamwear at the moment. About 15% of the home shirts ordered by the county were lost at the entry port in the UK.

We told the club about the missing shirts and we are working with our partner to find them.