EH Retro Kits have been on our radar for many years now. For the last 18 months as we've built our football shirt collectors app and football shirt marketplace, we've dreamt of having them as a supplier. Their founder, Fraser, sources impeccably and sells fairly. His reputation with the shirt space is second to none. So it was genuine highlight for us when he agreed to list his stock on the Showboat marketplace. We sat down with him recently for a chat about classic shirts, opening a physical space and the best shirt he owns.
How did you first get into football shirts? Were you a collector before you became a seller?
Definitely. I started out collecting and wearing Aberdeen shirts.
I was quite lucky because Aberdeen went through almost every major manufacturer. Umbro, Puma, Nike, adidas. You could see how different brands approached shirts over different eras.
I’d wear old shirts to games and people would ask, “Where did you get that?” or “How’s it still in that condition?” You realise pretty quickly there’s a market for it.
Starting with Scottish clubs helped too. There weren’t many sellers in Scotland back then, so it was easier to build a following.
Did the website come first, then the pop-ups?
Yeah. I actually set up the Twitter account about six months before I started selling anything.
I just wanted to get a feel for the community. See what people collected, what they talked about, what different types of collectors were into. Some people only wanted 90s Umbro. Others collected certain leagues or certain eras. It helped me understand what people were actually looking for.
I launched the website at the start of 2020 with about twelve shirts on it. I had a bit of AstroTurf in the spare room that I’d photograph everything on. It wasn’t exactly glamorous.
After that I started doing pop-ups. Obviously COVID delayed things, so my first one wasn’t until 2021. Then I had a temporary shop for about four months last year, but trying to run that alongside a full-time job was tough.
You were launching right as football shirts exploded during COVID.
I was quite lucky because I’d built a bit of a following before COVID happened. I think I had maybe one or two thousand followers already.
Then I got furloughed for a couple of months and, honestly, it couldn’t have happened at a better time. It gave me six or eight weeks just to work on shirts.
You were working seven days a week but it doesn’t really feel like work as there wasn’t anything else to do. You’re talking to people about football shirts all day. People email you, but they’re emailing because they’re excited about a shirt. It’s a pretty good job to have.
Could a permanent shop work in Edinburgh?
I looked into it when I came back from travelling because you have that moment where you think, “Maybe I could do this full time.”
The problem is the costs. A decent city centre unit is maybe £16,000 to £20,000 a year before you’ve sold a single shirt. Then you’ve got business rates on top of that.
Once you go over the VAT threshold, it gets even harder because you’re buying second-hand shirts from people who aren’t VAT registered. You can’t reclaim any VAT, so effectively your prices have to go up.
Then you’re asking local customers to pay more than they could online elsewhere. Long term, I just don’t know if it would be sustainable. Additionally, I really enjoy my day job and people I work with so wouldn’t want to give that up and I’ve also worked pretty hard to get my CA.
EH Retro has always felt more curated than just another shirt shop.
That’s always been the idea.
One thing I found with the physical shop was you end up selling a lot of Scotland shirts to tourists. They sell, but it isn’t really the part I enjoy.
I speak to Granny quite a lot and I think we’ve got similar taste in shirts. He’s just got a lot more stock than I have.
I’ve always kept the same name. EH is just the Edinburgh post code, people always ask if it’s my initials. Recently I’ve started doing my own merchandise as well, with t-shirts and a few other bits coming soon after getting some new inspiration in Seoul.
How do you build a reliable supply network?
Time and trust.
Travelling around Asia actually helped a lot because I got to meet people I’d been buying from for years.
Japan and South Korea are interesting because people generally prefer buying within their own country. Whether that’s trust or just how things work there, I’m not sure. But meeting people in person definitely helps and I loved meeting so many collectors from all over Asia and seeing that we may use google translate to communicate but share the same passion for shirts.
I also think some people negotiate too hard on the first deal. If you’re trying to squeeze every penny out of a deal straight away, you’re probably not building a long-term relationship. If both sides are happy with the first deal, you’ve got a much better chance of working together again.
How does your own taste compare with what actually sells?
You have to adapt.
When we started, someone who was eighteen is now twenty-four, and you’ve got a whole new group of eighteen-year-olds coming through. To them, a 2006 shirt is vintage.
I don’t think it’s worth being precious about that. If it’s vintage to them, then it’s vintage to them.
Originally I only wanted 90s shirts, but they’re getting harder to find in good condition. Most of what I buy now is still stuff I’d happily wear myself, apart from maybe some really tight Kappa shirts.
Do you still collect?
Yeah. My collection is basically Aberdeen shirts from 1983 onwards, home and away.
I had to be quite strict with myself. I didn’t want loads of random shirts. I wanted shirts that actually meant something to me because it’s the club I support.
I’ll have the odd Scotland shirt or from somewhere I’ve been, but usually I’ll wear it for a while and eventually sell it.
What’s your favourite shirt you own?
EH Retro: Probably the Aberdeen navy and gold Umbro shirt with Northsound and AFAB as the sponsor. Mid-90s. I think it was 1993/94.
Is there still one shirt you’re chasing?
If a match-worn Aberdeen shirt from the European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Real Madrid came up, I’d love it.
Whether one would ever actually come onto the market is another question. I’d probably be quite suspicious if one suddenly appeared because I’d imagine most of those shirts are in museums or private collections.
Finally, why did you decide to join Showboat?
I’ve been watching what Showboat has been building. Seeing people like Borja Iglesias on there definitely catches your eye.
I like that it’s more than just buying and selling. Being able to track your collection, see values over time and everything else that sits behind it takes a lot of work.
With Rob being based in Glasgow and me being in Edinburgh, there aren’t loads of people doing this in Scotland. The football shirt world is quite a small community and everyone seems to know everyone, so it just felt like a good fit.
Thanks Fraser!
You can shop thousands of authentic vintage football shirts from EH Retro Kits and all our handpicked suppliers on the Showboat football shirt marketplace here.
