WALKING into a warehouse that stinks of sweat, it’s pretty rare that your first thought would be ‘This is brilliant’.
But that’s exactly what happened when I stepped inside MatchWornShirt’s Amsterdam Warehouse, the home of some of the world’s sweatiest, smelliest and most expensive football memorabilia.
It smelled a bit like my teen years working at Homebase, but felt entirely different.
The company has built a name for itself by collecting, verifying, and auctioning match-worn and signed shirts from some of the biggest players on the planet – partnering with multiple Premier League and Champions League clubs, allowing fans to get their hands on a piece of history… for the right price.
From Premier League stars to international heroes, each shirt tells a story of a moment or memory that was special to whoever the lucky winning bidder was.
What is truly fascinating about these shirts is not only the value they hold, and some of them hold SERIOUS value, but the fact that in one way, the more muddy, sweaty and disgusting they are, the better.
As a Chelsea fan, I was instantly drawn to any shirt draped in royal blue while sniffing out a few of the many players from days gone by, including Conor Gallagher and Marcos Alonso.
Aside from the current players, Cole Palmer most notably, it was one of Chelsea’s upcoming talents that caught my eye the most, a Sporting shirt worn by Portuguese winger Geovany Quenda.
Nearby, I spotted shirts from England stars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, both worn and signed, of which I was able to stand in awe of, just imagining the kind of value set out in front of me.
Nothing, though, grabbed me quite like one particular shirt: a worn and signed Lamine Yamal top.
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His shirt, like many others, is expected to fetch a small fortune any time it goes on sale, and it’s no surprise either.
Football memorabilia, and sports memorabilia as a whole, is more collectable than ever, with fans paying wild prices for shirts, boots, trading cards, and more – some items fetching into the tens of thousands of pounds.
Some of the prices these shirts sell for are simply ridiculous.
Chelsea youngsters Cole Palmer and Estevao have become fan favourites and are fetching enormous values on the MatchWornShirt platform.
Palmer’s shirt from his four-goal haul against Brighton last year sold for a final total of £34,411, while the shirt Estevao scored his first Champions League goal in against Ajax has recently made £29,100.
Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn 2 – all the info
TIME for round two of this generation’s family feud!
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn go punch-for-punch once again as both rivals look to make their fathers proud.
The blockbuster rematch takes place at the 62,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, November 15.
Eubank Jr narrowly outpointed his bitter foe after 12 brutal rounds in April to secure the bragging rights in what was certainly a Fight of the Year contender.
And the two British superstars will dance once more as Eubank Jr aims to do the double while Benn seeks revenge after suffering a first career loss.
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It’s true, the warehouse does smell, probably worse than you could imagine.
But that’s what makes it oddly brilliant. You’re surrounded by the physical evidence of goals, tackles, and 90 minutes of effort at the highest level. It’s football in its rawest, sweatiest, stinkiest form.
And I’ll admit it, curiosity got the better of me when I came across Cole Palmer’s worn Club World Cup shirt.
I couldn’t resist giving it a sniff, and checking out what size he wears (he’s a medium, by the way…) Instantly, I was hit with the unmistakable scent of effort, adrenaline, and goals galore – somehow, it didn’t feel gross. It felt… authentic.
It was interesting to learn that the company uses advanced technology to strip every shirt of it’s DNA before selling, so no, you can’t buy one and make your own Cole Palmer clone, as much as you’d like to.
Each shirt is collected, authenticated, and put up for auction. The company even work with major clubs, federations and charities, meaning fans’ obsession with memorabilia often turns into donations for good causes too.
Yes, it’s smelly. Yes, it’s slightly weird. Yes, I felt like a bit of a creep.
MEGA MATCHWORNSHIRT SALES
MatchWornShirt’s top ten sales at the time of publication
- Cristiano Ronaldo – €62,606 (£54,369)
- Marquinhos – €55,203 (£48,119)
- Lionel Messi – €55,019 (£49,446)
- Lionel Messi – €50,517 (£44,598)
- Heung-Min Son – €48,907 (£41,221)
- Cristiano Ronaldo – €45,012 (£39,148)
- Lionel Messi – €43,623 (£38,689)
- Cristiano Ronaldo – €43,206 (£36,942)
- Lionel Messi – €42,786 (£36,786)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – €42,198 (£36,783)
But standing there, surrounded by shirts worn by everyone from Kane to Palmer to Yamal, you realise you’re looking at something more than just fabric – and if you’re a collector of anything football, you’d have been as fascinated as me.
It’s moments of football history, being gifted and loved and cherished by fans all over the world, and I got to breathe it all in.
