We’re paid £1 an hour

FACTORY workers in Thailand are paid just £1 an hour to make £115 England football shirts, a Mirror investigation reveals.

Fans have expressed outrage at the prices for the current strip and costs have risen faster than inflation.

In 2008, an adult-sized shirt cost £40 – or £56 in today’s prices.

Now the equivalent “stadium” shirts start at just under £75, while the “match” shirts similar to the ones the players wear cost £40 more.

Shirts for children cost £59.95. All the tops can include the name and number of the player for an extra £15.

Some parents vented their anger online at the price of the shirts, which include Lionesses versions.

Dad Mike Rutt said: “I was going to get my eldest the new England Lionesses shirt for the Euros – £60 for a kids football shirt. Daylight robbery.”

Another, Ray Ellis, said: “I truly cannot believe people pay this ridiculously extortionate price for the latest England football shirt. Anybody buying one, especially in these difficult financial times, must have more money than sense.”

There is no indication on the FA’s website of where the shirts are made but a label inside the shirts reveal they are made for Nike in Thailand.

Garment industry experts said that they expected the shirts will typically cost £11 or £12 to make at the factory.

Of this, £7.50 will be the estimated cost of materials, no more than £3 is “CMT” costs – or “cut, make and trim” including labour costs – leaving around £1.50 profit for the factory.

England shirts have been made for the last few years at the Hi-Tech Apparel factory in Bangkok.

Workers told us this summer that they earned 331 Thai baht – around £7.80 – a day, then the minimum wage in Thailand. In October, the minimum wage rose to 353 baht – or £8.30. The factory refused to comment on its relationship with the FA and directed all questions to Nike.

But two workers, who asked not to be named, confirmed that they make England shirts for the FA. One said: “We feel proud to be a part of the manufacturing of jerseys for a world-class team like England. “The England jerseys have been produced, patterned, and sewn here for quite some time since before Covid.” The pair said they typically worked 60 hours a week or eight to 11 hours a day, being paid for overtime as well as a bonus if they hit targets. One added: “There is no employee union here. During the working hours there is a no-phone policy. We are not allowed to use our mobile phones and there are no photos allowed.” When the shirt is shipped to the UK at an estimated cost of 70p, 32% duty is charged – bringing the cost of getting the shirt to a UK warehouse to £16, experts estimated. Another £19 of the £115 is VAT, which goes to HM Revenue and Customs.

This leaves £80 which is shared between sportswear giant Nike, the Football Association and retailers. We are told Nike expects to make between 10% and 15% profit after their costs.

The company, based in Oregon, US, earned £10.2billion in revenue last year and made £1.18billion in profit.

The FA does not reveal how much it makes from shirt sales. It said when it signed the Nike deal in 2014: “The FA puts £100million back into the game every year. It is through partners such as Nike that we are able to maintain that level of investment.”

Nike said: “Nike is committed to ethical and responsible manufacturing. While Nike does not own or operate manufacturing facilities, we strive to work with suppliers who share our commitment to making products responsibly and sustainably.”