Football shirts have become a staple at gigs across the UK, replacing traditional cotton T-shirts with heavy polyester kits. At Outbreak, the UK's largest hardcore punk festival, a significant number of attendees wore football shirts featuring band names like Fiddlehead, Alexisonfire, and Love is Noise, rather than club crests. This trend extends beyond punk: Harry Styles fans sported pink kits with his name, while Dua Lipa, Deftones, Gorillaz, and OutKast have all released football shirts. Oasis naturally has one, and bands like Kneecap and Bring Me the Horizon have logos on actual kits, a trend dating back to Wet Wet Wet sponsoring Clydebank in the 90s.
Origins of the Trend
Lauren Cochrane, a Guardian fashion writer and author of Styles of Play, attributes this to the rise of football shirts as fashion items. She notes that the trend began emerging around 2012, when skate brand Palace collaborated with Umbro on vintage England kits. "It was a really slow build and then it went mad in the past three or four years," she says, pointing to labels like Martine Rose and Acne. Post-Covid Glastonbury saw a surge in replica kits, prompting merch companies to capitalise.
Festival and Band Adoption
Outbreak festival had long wanted to produce a football shirt but feared a clash of cultures. "Before we did it, it always felt like a clash of the cultures and not something our crowd would be bothered about," an organiser says. When they released a limited edition shirt in 2024, it sold out instantly. Now selling home and away shirts, they report these items "always go first before anything else." For smaller bands, football shirts offer a vital revenue stream. "They are quite accessible to make," the organiser adds, noting that merch companies now offer templates. Premium items like Oasis's £85 shirt command higher prices than standard merch.
Longevity and Practicality
Lauren compares the trend to baseball shirts, which were once ubiquitous but are now out of fashion, suggesting a limited shelf life. Outbreak's organiser plans to continue as long as demand lasts, especially with the World Cup boosting football's appeal. However, these shirts are made of heavy, non-breathable polyester from the 90s, not modern athletic fabrics. "People in our Discord were like: ‘Bloody hell, these are really heavy,’" the organiser says. "They’re not sweat-proof!" A consideration for moshpits.
This crossover reflects a broader acceptance of football shirts in fashion and music, offering new opportunities for artists and festivals while blending two cultural worlds.
