Which clubs are the worst offenders| All Football

For many football fans, Christmas is not only a time for festive cheer, singing carols and stuffing your face with pigs in blankets and turkey.

It’s also the time to pass on a lifelong curse to the next generation, giving the game-changing gift of a football team that can never be sent back.

Many of us remember the excitement of waking up on Christmas morning and unwrapping our first shirt, before going to the park and imitating our heroes.

An excitement that is slowly disappearing after years of false dawns, questionable refereeing decisions and hopeless summer signs.

But data from Footy Accumulators has revealed that many parents are now being priced out of giving the real deal and are settling for fake versions of their club’s famous kit instead, with 78 per cent more people looking for such shirts compared to 2023.

Mail Sport investigates the new wave of fake football strips and reveals which club had the biggest surge in demand for the shirts over the Christmas period.

Unsurprisingly, Manchester United lead the way for fake shirt searches between September and December – and it’s not even close.

An average of 5,910 people per month have looked up knock-off kits recently despite the Red Devils’ current woes which see them stuck in 14th, despite hiring new manager Ruben Amorim last month.

This represents a staggering 392.5 percent increase on the 1,200 searches in the previous months.

A child’s kit costs £55 in the United club shop. No wonder, then, that parents turn to fakes.

Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League two seasons in a row and that is where they lie in the shirt search stakes.

Around a third as many people (1,980) search for a fake Gunners kit each month compared to similarly priced United versions, despite their 11-point lead in the league.

This is still a dramatic surge from the 680 searches each month between January and August.

The third most searched for fake shirts are of the black and white variety, with an average of 1,610 people typing in Newcastle’s name in an attempt to find some cheap deals.

The real thing costs £55 on the website and fans are turning to knock off versions instead to show their support for Eddie Howe’s men with 419.4 per cent more doing so than the 310 earlier this year.

Completing the top four, 1,250 look for fake versions of Tottenham shirts worth £52 every month, despite the team’s recent struggles which have seen them drop into the bottom half with four defeats in their last five games.

This is an increase of 184.1 on the 440 which looked at the kits up monthly earlier in 2024.

We currently research fake Liverpool shirts 1,240 times a month and, while the real versions cost a bank-breaking £85, this is less than three times the amount (169.6 per cent) in previous months ( 460). A cheaper ‘stadium’ version is available for £60.

Perhaps their red-hot form, which has seen Mohamed Salah’s 13 goals drag them to the top, has kept fans loyal to the club shop.

Similarly, there are only 150 per cent more people searching for fake Man City shirts (1,050 versus 420) than earlier in the year.

Pep Guardiola is in the worst form of his managerial career and the champions have slipped to seventh place after a nightmare run, but it seems people are still buying the £60 children’s shirts available in store the club.

West Ham have not kicked on under new boss Julen Lopetegui and many fans have voted with their feet as there were 252.4 per cent more people searching for fake Hammers shirts than before the Christmas period.

Only 210 dipped into the world of the away kit earlier this year but this has now increased to 740 as fans move away from the £60 official shirts.

Chelsea kits are among the most expensive in the Premier League with parents having to fork out £65 to buy a children’s shirt.

It’s no surprise, then, that almost three times as many fans (670 against 210) are now turning to fake shirts over the festive period, as they try to get their children to support Enzo Maresca’s resurgent side.

Aston Villa have had a lackluster campaign, beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League before dropping to ninth in the Premier League following a string of poor results.

Their fans have been searching for fake claret and blue tops in high numbers with 537.5 per cent more people typing this term into browsers than earlier in 2023.

Only 80 a month were looking for the spin-offs of the £55 shirts between January and August, rising to 510 before Christmas.

Completing the top half of the table, 370 fans each month searched for fake Everton tops compared to just 60 in previous months – a 516.7 per cent increase in inquiries for imitations of the £55 items.

Nottingham Forest have arguably been the story of the season, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s men flying up to third in the league, and fake versions of their £50 kits have experienced a huge jump in demand.

Around 360 people search the kits monthly compared to just 50 before – an increase of 620 per cent.

Similarly, more than six times (533.3 per cent) as many fans are looking for Crystal Palace kits as 190 inquires each month compared to 30 earlier this year. The children’s kits at Selhurst Park managed to save supporters £45.

The biggest jump has been among Ipswich fans with 90 monthly searches – a staggering 800 per cent surge from just 10 people who looked at them earlier in 2024.

Supporting the newly promoted team with an official children’s shirt will cost parents £43.

Fulham (600 per cent to 70 people), Leicester (doubled to 60), Brighton (four to 40) and Wolves (tripled to 30) have all also seen an increase in demand for spin-offs.

These sides’ children’s shirts cost £60, £45, £55 and £45 respectively, justifying parents’ decision to switch to fake ones.

There has been no increase in searches for fake versions of Southampton’s home kit, with demand remaining stagnant among fans of the bottom team in the league.

Saints children’s shirts cost £45 and 10 people were looking for fake versions monthly earlier this year, a number that has remained the same over Christmas.

Despite stunning the rest of the league and rising to sixth place, fake Bournemouth shirts have not disturbed Google search data during the festive season.

Incredibly, the statistics suggest that not one person has looked at one of these highlights throughout 2024.

The same goes for Brentford, who once again kept their home shirt from last season.

These clubs offer tops for children for £55 and £45 respectively.