Sheffield Wednesday issue statement threatening to remove fans wearing fake football shirts

Sheffield Wednesday issue a statement threatening to remove fans wearing fake football shirts if they are spotted doing so at Hillsborough.

The Championship outfit has emphasised the negative impact of fake merchandise on their revenues and the inferior quality and potential safety issues associated with counterfeit shirts.

The Owls start their new season with a home game against Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle on Sunday afternoon, however, any fans who have dodged paying for an official shirt, by bagging themselves a cheap counterfeit alternative, could face being kicked out.

Wednesday supporters have been sent a warning that they ‘could be asked to leave’ Hillsborough if they are found to be wearing counterfeit shirts this season, with ‘information passed on to the relevant parties’👇https://t.co/RN6ngq6p7X#SWFC🦉

— Alex Miller (@AlexMiller91) August 10, 2024

CLUB STATEMENT:

The rise of counterfeit shirts continues to become increasingly evident in the football industry.

We respectfully remind supporters that as well as being inferior in terms of quality and potentially unsafe due to materials used, counterfeit shirts and their sales impact directly on club revenues.

Official SWFC merchandise can be purchased only from the Owls Megastore or online store.

Brand protection teams work together with the relevant authorities to remove counterfeit selling websites and will continue to do so.

Offline, all parties concerned will remain diligent in making every effort to close down the illegal trade of counterfeit goods.

To that end, requests for lettering and/or numbering on any counterfeit shirts brought into the Megastore will be declined.

Although we cannot prevent supporters from wearing counterfeit shirts away from Hillsborough, we do respectfully request that such products are not displayed inside the stadium. Anyone found to be wearing a fake shirt inside Hillsborough could be asked to leave, with information passed on to the relevant parties.

Thank you for your cooperation.

This is how Twitter users reacted as Sheffield Wednesday issue a statement threatening to remove fans wearing fake football shirts…

@AHawksworth1: Here we go, after a positive uplift in how the club has been running. Slowly being tainted by Gambling sponsors and penalising people who can’t afford expensive shirts (on top of the already extortionate ticket prices)

@katie_kirk30: Perfect solution don’t charge such ridiculous prices then and make them more affordable than £69, £53 and £60

@SheffieldsBlue: So half the stadium will be asked to leave. He doesn’t half know how to kill positivity does the chairman. Hes like the uk government at the moment, not reading the room and being a dictator. Make kits affordable and more people will buy from the club. It’s simple

@Jay_Blogs: I totally get the club protecting their commercial interest and why shouldn’t they. What I do think is that they need to understand medium to low income families can’t afford them. They will have an idea on income loss so why not give heavy discounts to those who need it?

@keenbeard84: You’ve got to laugh , not today mate that shirts fake 🤣🤣 who’s going to stand there and enforce that

@NigelWi51585735: Surely it’s better that supporters are using their hard earned money to pay for entrance fees, buy food and drink and actually attending than having to take this approach… what a way to spread positivity before the opening match 🤔

@MyMateMarmite67: How are they going to check that 🤣

@hopson77: Who’s going to be inspecting all these shirts lol 👮🏻🕵🏻

@Jacobrobz20: Then make the shirt prices a lot cheaper. Fans can’t afford £60+ and tickets too

@harrison_h1: Got some cheek haven’t they. £70 for a shirt and £40 a ticket no wonder people use DHGate

@_JoeDavison: Whilst I understand the idea of it, they’ll never be able to enforce it. They’re also only making a rod for their own back when the price of shirts increases ten fold each year. Almost £70 for a shirt in the second division and wonder why people won’t or haven’t paid it

@Jim1867: Thing is, price isn’t bad if we kept kit for two seasons and alternated between changing the home and away every year. Instead clubs have got greedy. Thats not a bash at Wednesday, that’s football in general. Whilever DH Gate produce good quality fakes, there’ll be a market.

@JurassicBowes: Fans of all clubs should just stop buying club merch, I’m not spending £60 on a kit for my child when it won’t even fit him by the end of the season

@UTDgeezer: This is weird . What if I don’t know it’s a knock off ? Say I ordered from eBay or Amazon which says it’s discontinued?? Reasonably price the shirts , these are made in China , Bangladesh in some sweat shop

@francescalynn23: Won’t agree to the £30 tickets either 👍🏼 tossers

@CFCAzza100: The quality of a shirt from DHGate for about 13 quid is pretty much impossible to tell the difference, and if someone at the ground asks just say you bought it on eBay 🤷🏼‍♂️, £13 or £85 is a no brainer for anyone sensible.

@NuneatonBear86: Literally just boycott buying merch from the club. They’ll soon learn.

@ValleyFloydFred: How do you actually police that? Unless they start checking shirt tags when you enter the ground, which sounds like an expensive operation for such little gain. People who can afford the official merchandise always do buy it, it’s the people struggling who use alternatives

@slater09_mike: Chansiri is surely the most out of touch owner in the EFL!!

@KooshyKooo: The treatment and demonising of match going fans in the UK is getting worse and worse…. Time to make a stand…. They only realised our importance when nobody was there…

@Jed_Die: Would it be a good to reinvestigate the process of football shirts from how they start, the procurement chain all the way through to the outrageous pricing? And the split everyone has within that chain. With a cost of living issue people will always look for a cheaper way

@prickettboy3: Curious on how they will identify a counterfeit shirt inside the stadium being worn? Not sure that’s realistically something that can be accurately identified. Feels like a hollow threat.

@kellard_: Clubs should be addressing the issue, don’t charge a fortune for a shirt. Make them affordable again, job done.

@jackbyrne91: What classes as a counterfeit shirt? Is there really a market for rip off 24/25 Sheff Wed shirts like you get with the big Prem teams? What about the online shops that sell the classic kits from 20-30 years ago? Are they not counted as real?

@PhilipShortland: It’s neither illegal to buy or wear a fake replica shirt. Unless genuine shirts are bar coded I fail to see how they will identify any copies? No offence, but is this really an enormous issue for the owls?

@WednesdayRetro:
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 unbelievable Jeff..
Stewards ragging a 6 year old out of ground for wearing a fake shirt.
Ticket prices ridiculous
Kit prices ridiculous
Laughable this statement

@Jinja_Owl: And if you’ve got a Wednesday tattoo that you haven’t paid the club to use the badge for they can amputate the offending limb and ban you!