How much value do fans get from owning a Brighton away shirt?
In the expensive world of replica football kits, new research has shown that the 2022-23 crimson Brighton away shirt was one of the cheapest and best value for money in terms of use in the Premier League last season.
SEO specialists SALT.agency looked at how much value each top flight team’s replica kit both home and away had in terms of total wears.
The data does not cast a particularly good light on Premier League clubs, as highlighted by the title of the final report being Premier League Football Kits: The Away Kit Rip-Off
Brighton though fared better than most. At £55 for a standard replica shirt, the Albion were the joint-second cheapest alongside Plucky Little Bournemouth and that lot up the A23, Crystal Palace.
The average shirt price across the Premier League was £63. Six clubs charged their supporters over £70. We offer no prizes for guessing who they were – the self-proclaimed European Super League Elite of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs.
In their 19 Premier League away matches, Brighton wore crimson on eight occasions and blue and white on another eight. The hyper-turq third choice shirt was used three times.
Only Arsenal and Crystal Palace wore their away shirt more than the Brighton in 2022-23. The Gunners changed on 10 occasions and Palace nine.
Eight uses gave the crimson away kit a price-per-wear to Brighton fans of £7 based on an outlay of £55. It ranked the third best value for money away shirt in the Premier League.
Wolves wore their away kit on only two occasions thanks to the lack of any other Premier League team having gold or yellow as their home colours in 2022-23.
This reflects a recent change in approach from clubs in only using away kits when necessary. Gone are the days when Brighton would wear green at Molineux or yellow at Arsenal despite there being no clash.
Any Wolves supporter who purchased that away kit had a price-per-wear of £28. Closely behind the Old Gold were Fulham at £20 and Spurs at £18.75, who wore their away kits three and four times respectively.
When it came to third kits, Brentford, Manchester City, Bournemouth, Fulham, West Ham and Spurs actually wore their alternatives more than their stated away colours.
Other clubs rotated between all three kits evenly. Newcastle United wore their home shirt six times, their away shirt seven times and the third shirt six times. Aston Villa likewise had a six-seven-six split.
Only Nottingham Forest used their third shirt less than Brighton. This lack of appearances for hyper-turq is offset by the Albion’s policy of using the previous season’s away kit as third choice in the following campaign.
Brighton fans therefore do not have three new shirts to buy every year. It means that owners of the 2022-23 crimson away kit will get further value for money when a clash means neither this season’s home or green and black away kit can be used, such as against Newcastle United.
The Albion redeploying their old away shirt as a third choice kit to get two years use is one of several good business and shirt practices appearing in the Premier League, despite criticism of the industry.
Brentford are leading the away by keeping their home shirts for a two-season cycle, as Brighton used to up until winning promotion to the Premier League.
The Bees made the decision to support fans financially and promote sustainability. One of the many ways in which the FA, the Premier League, Sky Sports and clubs telling supporters to be more green has always appeared nonsense is by football’s love of making money from fast fashion.
Brentford are at least backing up their green words to supporters by acting on it in practice by not introducing two or more new kits every summer.
Bournemouth and West Ham meanwhile offered an unsponsored shirt option for fans in 2022-23, allowing supporters to opt out of being human billboards for foreign-based gambling companies most people in England have never heard of.
The Albion have increased the price of a replica shirt for 2023-24 to £60 for an adult. Not that it seems to have put many people off, with the online shop already having shortage of certain sizes as Brighton supporters (and Kaoru Mitoma fans) rush to snap the new kits up.
Data provided by SALT.agency. You can read the full report here: Premier League Football Kits: The Away Kit Rip-Off
