To worry about DS wearing £££ football kit?

[LegoCatLikesTuna]

The only thing DS1 (9) wanted for his birthday was a football top and shorts with a player name and number. I cannot get over the cost of this (£70 for top and £30 for shorts) compared to the physical quality and quantity of what you get for your money. The material is so thin, it feels like something that will not withstand the rigours of a child's play.

He immediately wanted to go out and play football in them, and I know that is the point, but I just cannot stop ruining his fun by constantly shouting things like "be careful", "don't roll around on the floor", "don't wipe your mouth with your collar", "don't climb on that - you might rip something". I'm a nervous wreck. I don't have any clothing other than big winter coats even approaching £100 in value, and if I did I would treat them very carefully indeed.

I know football tops are a complete waste of overpriced tat, but it was DSs dream to own one. At this rate it will be in a very sorry condition in only a few months. I know he'll grow out of it eventually, but I would hope we'd get 2-3 years before that happened.

Do others just let their kids wear football shirts wherever and not worry about it? It feels like burning money. He's a very messy eater and I've already made him take it off at meal times! I know this is my problem, but we just cannot afford to buy a new one if it gets ruined.

Also OP I am so confused about you expecting a top to last a 9 year old 2-3 years.

I just let mine wear their own clothes for the purpose they were designed.

My son had his first proper kit this season too. OP, I'm kind of with you with the cost vs wear stress. So far he's only worn it for actual football practice at school and his out of school club he just joined. I do let him wear it for kicking about in the garden too...or rather, he just puts it on without me realizing.
He has had a couple of knock off European team kits from ebay/Amazon and no kids have commented on them so presume they're close enough to the real thing to the untrained eye. His proper kit is a Premiership team and he knows its too expensive to change his loyalty now! We've agreed 1 new kit a year but due to the large size range (he's in 9-11) I'm hoping he'll then have 2 he can wear, and the new kit is "for best"!
I hate the wearing of football kit as clothes so he'll only be wearing it for sports stuff though as others say it is fab to have stuff that washes and dries quickly ready for wear again.

How can it possibly last 2 - 3 years? You are totally spoilling his pleasure at this very nice present. Just let him wear it as often as he wants. And do what young boys do when wearing football kit; play. Possibly I do agree about him not wearing it if he is eating a messy meal like spaghetti bolognese as the sauce might stain it and those orange stains do look a bit unpleasant. But other than that just let him crack on. You really will make him wish he had not had it if you carry on like this.

And honestly £100 for a few months of constant wear and joy isn't that bad a deal. Think about all the toys that are bought, played with for a couple of weeks and then very sporadically after that.

I loved it when my DS was young and wore his football shirt all the time - minimal fuss to wash, always washed well and dried really quickly, no ironing! Relax and enjoy it whilst you can he'll soon be wearing clothes that take a lot more to look after 😁

The socks. The socks are more fragile than a shit pair of tights. But the shirts and shorts last forever.

My four very boisterous boys live in football kits. They wash beautifully and dry in a few minutes on the line, even in winter. Don’t tumble dry as the stickers peel off. My advice also is to buy two pairs of socks as mine always go through the heels and toes way before the kit has worn out and clubs never have them in stock after Christmas.

He can even wear it in winter with skins underneath.

I have a football mad ds. Yes the kit is expensive - we tend to encourage his child free uncle to buy it as a birthday / Christmas gift! But it does last and wash well. And he gets so much enjoyment from it. I will admit watching him wipe tomato sauce covered hands down the front of his brand new England shirt was painful 😖 but I left it on the line for a couple of days after washing and it was good as new.

If it’s really muddy I tend to soak until I wash it but everything has come out so far (& he supports a team with a lot of white in their kit). He mainly wears this season’s kit but last year’s is still in regular rotation and at a push he’ll still squeeze into the one from the year before too. So they do last.

No I haven't....off to google I go! Thanks!

Id be feeling exactly the same as you op.

Ditto re a £100 winter coat - which if you are like me you'd wear for 5 years or so every winter.
As for the hole on the shorts - needle and thread will sort it. 5 minute job (definately dont pay someone else to do it!)

I hope your ds continues to enjoy his present, gets lots of wear out of it and it washes better than you initially anticipated. x

I've just had a thought, could the hole have been caused by the security tag in the shop? This looks like the worst possible material to pierce with a sharp metal spike! Surely if this is the case they will all have a pinhole in them? That's rubbish!

Football kits are more hard wearing than you might think. In any case, you'd be far better off buying them from DHGate. They're copies but they're exact copies, so much so that they're indistinguishable from the real thing. And the best part is, they only cost around £15 including postage from China. I point blank refuse to pay over £70 for a cheap polyester t-shirt.