Super-rich Man U charge most for kids’ club shirts

MANCHESTER United top the league for the most expensive replica shirts for kids, a Sunday Mirror probe shows.

The world’s richest club now charges £50 for a child’s shortsleeved home shirt – up a fiver.

Nearly half of all Premier League sides have raised prices for kids’ shirts, by up to 17 per cent, ahead of the new season.

The cost of the total Man Utd junior kit, including £25 shorts and £15 socks, is £90.

Adding the name of a favourite player and official Premier League badge to their shirt puts another £17.50 on the bill.

We checked all 20 top clubs and found nine hiked their children’s kit prices for the forthcoming season, though West Brom’s rise is just 1p.

Second costliest are Spurs at £48, up from £42. Champions Chelsea, who have a new £900million sponsorship deal with Nike, are next at £47.95 – a rise of £2.95. Eleven clubs have frozen prices. Burnley came out cheapest at £32. Research shows each shirt costs about £5 including fabric, labour and shipping costs.

Mumsnet said: “Our users say overwhelmingly they think children’s replica shirts are a rip-off.” The Football Supporters Federation said: “Children feel strong peer pressure to have the latest kits – the price is high enough without further rises.”

Clubs say the price of fans’ shirts reflects investments in design and manufacture.

Manchester United say their official merchandising website is run by an outside company that decides pricing, while other retailers are free to set their own.

The only prices set by the club are those in the Old Trafford Megastore shop, where they say charges for kit have been frozen. £5 £50 £6 £48 £2.95...£47.95 £5 £40 £3 £39.99 £2 £37 £5 £37 £5 £35