When buying anything online, it's important to make sure you're getting the right product - but football shirts in particular differentiate depending on which version you're looking to buy.
You may have come across the "match shirt" and the "stadium shirt". These generally tend to be the terms used; some manufacturers might use "player issue", however.
And the two versions can vary in price by as much as £60. So what's the difference?
The match shirt that you can buy online is typically priced anywhere between £50 to £65, excluding a name and number on the back. This is the replica shirt aimed at the fan to wear.
Fear not though: the match shirt is no less official than the stadium shirt. It's still made by the same manufacturer and has no defect and nothing wrong with it at all.
The stadium shirt, which can be priced anywhere between £90 and £110, is the version that the players wear on the field. This fit is a little less forgiving; it's designed for athletes so tends to be a little tighter but generally, there are very few differences - if any - between the two official versions of the shirt.
Differences tend to be miniscule, in fact. Sometimes a badge or logo might be made of a slightly different material between the two shirts or perhaps the cut of the material may vary slightly between the two products. With the Adidas shirts brought out last year that featured the German brand's iconic three stripes down the sides of the shirts themselves, the match shirt had the stripes all the way down the shirt, while the stripes on the stadium shirt stopped a little before the cut.
Generally, the average fan cannot tell the difference between the two - and definitely not at a distance. If you feel like you would like to know more about the differences between the two editions of the same shirt, the customer service teams at the official manufacturers - not to mention your club's shop - are always more than happy to answer your queries.
