A Welsh teenager has turned a side hustle selling football shirts into £30,000, enough to fund her university studies without student debt. Eleri Williams, 18, has now opened a new store in Cardiff and has established contacts with Premier League clubs.
The idea originated in 2023 when Eleri, then 15, decided she wanted to study law at Cardiff University but was reluctant to take on student loans. It started with a box of football shirts, then two, then more, until her parents' spare bedroom was filled with over 2,000 shirts.
“I wanted to give myself a head start,” she said. “The goal was to set myself up to leave university without any debt, so my dad suggested looking into the football shirt market.” Her father Will is an avid collector, boasting an impressive Manchester United collection spanning decades.
Eleri, who lives with her parents in Aberdare, set up Ballers CP and began selling her father's unwanted items on eBay. Demand was huge, and her small side hustle quickly grew into a full-fledged business. She started buying from private sellers, at football shirt events, and from individuals online.
“Nothing from my GCSE Business Studies could have prepared me for this,” she said. “We went from eBay auctions to big in-person events all around the country and now we’re opening a shop.”
The shirts at Ballers CP typically sell for between £20 and £200. Her rarest find so far is a PSG x Louis Vuitton 2006/07 away shirt, which sold for well above the usual price range. “We have been in trade for three years and currently hold six figures of stock,” she said.
In addition to private sellers and bulk buying, Eleri has built relationships with several Premier League clubs to purchase match-worn and player training shirts. “These relationships came via word of mouth,” she said. “It started off when we were put in contact with a kit man at a Premier League club who would send me photos of training shirts and player-issue kits asking if I was interested in buying them.”
Eleri confirmed that in the last three years she has made over £30,000, enough to fund her tuition when she starts her law degree at Cardiff University in September. She plans to continue running Ballers CP throughout her studies.
The vintage football shirt market has grown exponentially, with giants like Classic Football Shirts reporting around 300,000 shirts sold annually. When asked why vintage shirts are so popular, Eleri said: “I think people love to hunt for nostalgia because people want to reflect on positive and happy memories. We sell a lot of Man United and Cardiff City stuff at the minute because people want to relive their glory days. Social media plays a massive part, too. You see influencers wearing classic shirts instead of new ones, and others reflect on iconic matches and players, so fans become more aware and want to own it.”
Classic shirts can cost several hundred pounds, pushing some fans to buy counterfeits. Around 16.2 million fake shirts are sold in the UK each year, according to brand protection company Corsearch. Eleri explained the authentication process: “We normally authenticate the shirt before we buy them through individual jersey codes, because you can always tell by the tag if you’re not sure. I have an eye for it now. I know by just looking at the photo if it’s real or not, and in person it’s all down to the stitching in and around the tag, the pattern of the shirt, and the product code on the manufacturer tags.”
Eleri’s parents, Will and Nicola, both retired, have helped set up the business and handle day-to-day admin, allowing Eleri to balance the business with her revision and exams. “I’ve been lucky to have them every step of the way,” she said. “My dad thinks it’s great because he loves football. He wants to be involved in designing and online stuff, but he is in his fifties, so he doesn’t really get the social media side. I’ve had to ask him to share things with me before posting anything.”
Ballers CP opened its doors in Royal Arcade on June 11. Marika Jones, Centre Manager for the Morgan Quarter, said: “It’s wonderful to welcome Eleri, an amazing young entrepreneur, to the Morgan Quarter, and we can’t wait to see lots of football shirts around the arcades this summer.”
