Why do football shirts keep changing and why do replica soccer kits cost so much?
In the 'Private Eye' segment of young people's television programme 'Echo Island', reporters Brian Kehoe and Mark Ryan along with cameraman Stephen Walsh investigate replica soccer kits. Why do they keep changing and why do they cost so much?
Brian Kehoe gets the views of some of his peers about soccer merchandising. An Arsenal fan says his replica jersey cost £32. A Liverpool FC fan thinks the club shirts do not represent value for money,
Because every two years they change and you sepend £30 on each one every two years.
Another boy goes further with his criticism,
They're just a total rip-off and they keep on making new things and it's all a waste of money.
Just one boy thinks soccer kits are worth the expense,
They're nice and comfortable to wear and mostly I get them as a present so I don't spend the money.
With the help of four friends, Mark Ryan outlines the main differences between the old and new Manchester United kits and similarly with the Republic of Ireland kits.
Football Association of Ireland (FAI) commercial manager Donie Butler explains why the design of the kits changes so often.
It's a fact of commerical life the companies pay the football federations and clubs a lot of money therefore they have to try and recoup their money in some way and this money goes all back into the development of the game of soccer.
Changing styles and fashion make it difficult for fans to retain jerseys for as long as possible.
In conclusion, the young reporting team award the football bosses a red card for exploiting demand.
Clubs know that we support them and we're going to buy their kits but that doesn't mean that they should rip us off.
This episode of 'Echo Island' was broadcast on 11 December 1994.
'Echo Island’ was broadcast on RTÉ Network 2 as part of ‘The Den’. It first aired in September 1994 and concluded in June 1999. The presenters included Dara Ó Briain, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Alan Hughes, Derek Mooney, Mary Kingston and Carrie Crowley.
