So, despite being quite the knowledge on football shirts, I managed to buy a counterfeit England shirt on eBay this week. Can you spot which shirt below is the Rodney (the moody one) and which is the Rooney (the official one)?
In fact, it appears this is the first of a batch of fakes produced in the Far East about to hit our shores, and unfortunately (for them) it was sold to a journalist who knows the chaps at Umbro very well. Anyway, careful what you buy on eBay, for the differences are quite subtle. Here’s what to look out for, because they’re coming to a market stall near you.
1. The famous Umbro logo. On The Rooney it’s made of a mat-finished cotton, the Rodney is all shiny and fakey.
2. The button. If it’s ‘a Rodney’, the button is white, without the red colouring seen on the real thing.
3. The three lions. Rooney’s shirt is pale blue, while Rodney’s is darker and looks like it was sewn on by prisoners.
Remember, Delboy, if it’s too good to be true, it normally is. Buy your official Umbro gear from Umbro.com. Mange Tout?
Tags: copies, counterfeit, fake, football shirt, hong kong, Umbro
I managed to get some pics off a guy on ebay. I was wondering if you could help me Jeff. I can’t really tell if the shirt is real or not. Considering the light in the pictures isn’t very good it’s hard to tell
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/DannyPacifik/England%20shirt/
Thanks for your help
Dan
I can’t see that link, it’s password protected because you send the link while logged in.
Jeff,
I bought an England shirt from fitbakits.com which was priced at £18.99, I actually paid £24.99 including name and number. I thought it looked a little bit dodgy when it arrived due in part to the packaging, lack of convincing labels and the fact that it is a slightly weird shape compared to previous England shirts purchased from reputable outlets.
Fitbakits allowed me to pay using PayPal, which re-assured me I was getting a genuine product, but according to your advice, this isn’t the case. There is no red around the button for instance..
What should I do now, first to get my cash back, and second, to contribute to the eventual closure of this dodgy site. Fitbakits.com offer all manner of football shirts at cheap prices!!
Thanks,
Kev
Why do I get a feeling that Kev works for that website and is just advertising.
I’ve made a bit of an error. Real shirts shouldn’t have red around the button, because, embarrassingly, mine is a special edition given to me by Umbro. The red button is a limited edition.
*dies*
I’ve recently (yesterday) orderd of this site, it made me feel as if I was paying for the real thing as it was through pay pal, I would love to know how to cancel an order please, before its too late, however I not too bothered as they look identical and quite good.
On the inside left hem there is an Official Product code, mine is000298926 as is another shirt I have.
Should they all be unique?
The manufacturers shouldn’t be charging fifty quid for an ‘original’ shirt then. They’ve only themselves to blame, especially seeing as how they are made in exactly the same places as the fakes, and cost pennies to make, yet they want us to somehow believe they have moral high ground. They hire their factories in places like the Burmese border with Thailand where people are working for $1.50 a day but Nike, Adidas, Umbro and Puma don’t want you to know that, and why they don’t actually own any factories but farm their contracts out to Asian factories so they can deflect any criticism. Their bosses earn millions on the backs of these poor workers.
how long did it take 2 arrive tom because i ordered mine 5 days ago and it still hasn’t arrived!!!