For some time now, Retro Football Shirts have been one of the biggest names in the shirt game. Their founder, Tom, has grown his the brand to now encompass the Retro Football Fair and most recently Retro Football Box. He's built his company on a tireless worth ethic and doing things the right way. We're thrilled that Retro Football Shirts will now list their stock on the Showboat Marketplace and sat down to discuss all things shirt related with Tom recently.
Can you explain how you got into this world? The business is doing really well now, but it didn’t appear overnight.
I started on Depop in 2017 or 2018. I never wanted it to be a business at first. At that point I was struggling with anxiety and my mental health was taking a battering, and I needed something as an outlet.
Football was always the passion. I loved shirts, the design, the nostalgia. I was already going to games and picking up a shirt or a scarf. Work was what was causing the anxiety, and I’d always had this childhood dream of having a football shirt shop. So I thought, why not start selling on Depop and see what happens?
It snowballed. It genuinely helped my mental health, and as the stock grew the whole thing became a proper business.
What was the original name?
Circa88football. Terrible name. It’s now RetroFootballShirts.com. There’s been a rebrand.
Where did Circa88 come from?
Originally I wanted to start a clothing brand. The idea was T-shirts with cuffs you could turn up, and inside would be a club detail, like the Catalan flag for Barcelona. It sounds ridiculous now, but it felt great at the time. That’s where the name came from.
You’ve got a few things going on now. What sits under the umbrella?
RetroFootballShirts.com is the core. I also run RetroFootballFair.com. And over the next few weeks I’m launching RetroFootballBox.com because I’ve bought a mystery box business.
The plan is basically to build a retro football ecosystem. Community first, then products that make sense around it. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but I am trying to do it properly.
Have you ever been tempted by bricks and mortar?
I love the idea of a shop, but realistically it isn’t right for me.
The costs are huge, business rates, overheads, and you’re tied to one location. I’ve got two kids, five and three, and I need to protect time at home. If I had a shop, I’d be there, but not really there.
I’d rather run it online from an office space, then do pop-ups and events. That way you’re not restricted to one area, you can actually meet your community, build the brand, and keep the flexibility.
Tell me about Retro Football Fair. When did it start?
It started in 2019. There were five of us originally, all sellers from Depop. We realised there wasn’t anything in the UK dedicated purely to football shirts. You had vintage fairs and kilo sales, but nothing that was just shirts.
The first event was in Manchester at Sasha’s Hotel. Not the nicest venue, but it was a good place to start. We had to give away spaces and take hits at the beginning.
Five became three, and then a couple of years ago it became just me. Since then I’ve focused on building London properly while keeping Sheffield as the home base. Sheffield was our first really successful one.
Sheffield is now free entry and it’s basically our charity fundraiser event. The charity is Bright Young Dreams, Sheffield-based, supported by Jessica Ennis-Hill. They help improve access to mental health services for teenagers and children.
It matters to me because the business started as a response to my own mental health struggles. I’m not pretending we’re some massive donor, but if we can play a small part, we should. The Sheffield event covers the venue and everything else goes to the charity.
Good stuff. How big has the London event become?
The last London event had 1,271 people through the door, and we’ve had people travelling in from abroad.
I’ve actually got something that sums it up. A Dutch family who support NEC Nijmegen flew over to one of the London fairs and brought a stadium seat from their ground. They gifted it to me as a thank you for what the fair is doing in the space. I still can’t quite believe that happened.
For me that’s the thing. It’s not just a sales floor. It’s a community event. Sellers get an offline platform, collectors get a place to meet, chat, and spend a day in it. And I’m proud that Retro Football Fair has helped inspire other events too. The more events there are, the more eyeballs the whole scene gets.
Totally agree. More places, more footfall, everyone wins.
Exactly. And realistically, I can’t take it round the country every weekend. I’ve always said if people want to run events in places we can’t reach, I’m open to collaborating, sharing resources, promoting it. Collaboration is everything.
Everyone says supply is the hardest part. How did you build a reliable network?
Trial and error. Lots of it.
You get stung sometimes. There was one instance where me and Granny’s Football got scammed by the same guy on the same shipment. We both paid £2,500, he sent us the same tracking ID, and the parcel that arrived was a box of socks. Then he vanished. We heard later he’d moved to France. So that’s £5k gone between two people.
The truth is there’s no magic warehouse full of football shirts. We’re just normal lads trying to source stock wherever we can. Over time you build trusted suppliers, but it’s still hard work.
It feels like suppliers know the value now too. Years ago people would say, “I’ve got a box of old shirts, fifty quid.” Not anymore.
Exactly. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If I don’t look after suppliers, I won’t get good stock.
I want them paid fairly, but I also need margin to run a business, and I still want to undercut bigger players where I can because my overheads are lower. Squeezing suppliers for every last drop isn’t sustainable. There’s an ethical way to do it while still growing.
How does your personal taste align with what sells?
I’m not a “grails only” guy. I love the weird and wonderful, the obscure stuff, the shirts that are well made but off the beaten track.
Everyone knows the obvious classics. Barca, the Netherlands 96 template, 2002 Ronaldo, all that. But there are so many different corners of the football shirt world. Obscure shirts might not have the same resale value, but they’ve got conversation value, and that’s what I enjoy.
Do you think the market is still grail-led, or is it shifting? Josh from Squadra told me “vintage is anything pre-Covid” now.
It depends where you sell. On streaming platforms, some people want a grail, but a lot of people just want something mad that they like and can afford. At Retro Football Fair you see grails change hands constantly because it’s collector heaven.
But generally, especially with the influence of bigger sellers, I think more people now just want a football shirt if they like it. They’re not always chasing the same handful of iconic pieces.
Do you still collect personally, or is it all business now?
It’s all business now. I sold my personal collection to help fund the business at the start.
The only ones I’ve kept are six or seven Scottish lower league shirts. Dumbarton, Stirling Albion, Queen’s Park, Edinburgh City, Berwick Rangers, a few like that. They aren’t worth much to most people, but they’re sentimental.
My father-in-law gets me one every Christmas. I tell him: spend whatever you want, just find me a random shirt I’d never think of. He’s delivered every year.
That’s class. Those are the ones that mean something.
Exactly. Those are my favourites because of that story.
So there aren’t any grails you’re still chasing?
I’ve come across most of the big ones through the business. The one I still haven’t properly come across is Netherlands 1988. If I found that, I honestly don’t know what I’d do.
But I’ll tell you a story that sums up why I love this game. I did an unboxing on Whatnot and spent four or five grand on a box from a trusted supplier. I pulled out a Nigeria 2018 player issue shirt. As I was checking it over, there was marker pen inside.
The viewers on the stream tracked it down. It had been worn by Alex Iwobi in 2019 against Senegal at Craven Cottage. I wasn’t expecting that at all.
Why have you partnered with Showboat?
Rob harassed me. I’m joking. Honestly, a couple of reasons. First, meeting you and Rob. I like you both, and I trust what you’re doing.
Second, there’s space for a dedicated football shirt marketplace. eBay and Vinted are a mess for sellers. The AI bots and the customer service are brutal. Real listings get taken down while fakes stay up. It’s frustrating.
What I like about Showboat is the community-first approach. You’re building a proper roster of sellers, turning up at events, growing it the right way. You’re not launching something half-baked and promising the world.
And you can tell you actually love shirts. It isn’t just a cash grab. Obviously we all want to build something successful, but the intent feels right.
Cheers Tom!
More from The Supply
→ Read our interview with Granny's Football Store
→ Read our interview with Squadra
→ Read our interview with Football Finery
→ Read our interview with NI Clasico
→ Explore shirts from the best suppliers in the UK on the Showboat Marketplace.
