Saturday, October 24, 2015

Buying Football Clothes: Manchester United Hats and More

Manchester United, Arsenal and other football teams, English, Scottish and Irish, are available in shops for you to buy for yourself or as Christmas presents for friends. In London's Oxford Street you can visit a shop with two floors of souvenirs of football, to buy for yourself or friends and acquaintances, as a gift, a thank you, or a favour if they are willing to pay but want you to buy for them whilst you are in England and they are not.

The prices can be quite high. You may be surprised or not surprised to learn that some clubs earn more from selling their tee-shirt, hats, scarves and other souvenirs, than they do from matches. The selling goes on day after day worldwide.

We went looking in London for Manchester United and Arsenal clothes for somebody else who does not have a large, unlimited budget. First the assistant showed us the most expensive t-shirts. We hummed and hated and started to walk out. Then he found us the less expensive tee-shirts. We selected the cheaper of the two tee-shirts.

The Arsenal tee-shirts had the name of the sponsor Emirates dominating the tee-shirt. We decided that it was safer to stick to our brief exactly and opt for a tee-shirt where the name of the football team was the focus.



I wandered over to the sale rail in hope. I found tee-shirts for Ireland, Scotland (didn't they lose - or was that rugby?) and other teams I did not know. Nothing for Arsenal nor Manchester United.

However, right next to the sale rail was the hats and scarves display. Hey! Hats with Manchester United. The first one I looked at was £5. The second one was three times as much, £15. So the first one seemed a bargain.

The hats were warm, as might be expected needed when watching football which is a cold weather sport. (Unlike cricket which is a summer sport, very slow, lots of players standing around, in hot countries, lighter white clothes).

Would a warm hat be unsuitable for a supporter in a hot country? Such as Singapore. Never mind. It was a good price. You could hang it on a hook in your bedroom. You could wear it indoors in a breezy flat or top floor balcony at night or to a fancy dress party or in an air conditioned sports bar when watching a match.

Job done. We went off very satisfied with our purchases. I hope our friend will be equally pleased to get them. If not, he won't be short of friends who would be glad to receive or buy a tee shirt or hat with Manchester United.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.



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