LONDON — Soccer jerseys with names on the back like Zidane, Beckham and Bergkamp line a wall, while the scents of hot tea and coffee waft throughout the space.
That’s the ambience of Classic Football Shirts London, a store and cafe where fans can buy soccer kits from an array of eras and leagues. Casually wearing jerseys once carried a stigma, particularly in the United Kingdom. But football fashion has since evolved.
“Ten years ago, the only time you’d wear a football shirt is to either watch a game in person, or if you’re playing five-a-side,” store associate Jacob Cassidy said. “Now it’s a really big fashion statement.”
The store, located on the unofficial border between East and Central London, attracts a diverse range of shoppers.
“It’s amazing to work in a job where you meet people from all four corners of the globe,” Cassidy said. “You have loads of people from America, and it’s really good to see how much more popular the game got over in the states.”
MLS club D.C. United is represented in store despite its home base being over 3,500 miles away.
Several sizes of the club’s 2025 alternate kit hang on a rack marked “Future Classics,” for £64.99 — equivalent to $87.15. Adidas US sells a replica of the shirt on its website for just shy of $84 with shipping costs included.
The Adidas shirt is white with a minimalist red eagle logo on the left breast. Three black stripes run horizontally across the front. Under those, the shirt is emblazoned with ‘D.C. United’ script. Gold piping weaves down both side seams completing the vintage look.
“There’s something almost old school about it, … which I think is the way that football shirts should go now because some of the modern designs are a bit less inspiring,” store supervisor Paul Becha said.
The kit’s simplistic colors lend themselves to functionality — an important aspect when buying any clothes. Becha said he’d likely style the shirt with a black zip-up jacket, black corduroy pants, and white Adidas Gazelle sneakers.
Becha also described D.C. United’s third kit as one of the shop’s most popular MLS jerseys.
All Inter Miami shirts with Lionel Messi’s name on it tend to be top-sellers as well, given his status as arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Becha also said the Columbus Crew’s glow-in-the-dark Goosebumps-inspired kit receives ample attention — mostly due to novelty.
Becha estimated around 200 MLS kits get sold per month, with the D.C. United being the most popular club. American shoppers, whom the store receives regularly, typically seek teams outside the States though.
“They want your Arsenals, Chelseas, Barcelonas, Real Madrids, Manchester Uniteds. Then you’ll get the rogue people who are like, ‘I want a Leighton Orient jersey,’” Becha said. “We get more requests from non-Americans for MLS stuff than we do from Americans.”
On the women’s side, Washington Spirit and other National Women’s Soccer League teams aren’t featured at Classic Football Shirts London, but Becha said the demand for women’s kits is growing. It also seems like a natural progression, as Alex Morgan is an investor in the Classic Football Shirts brand.
The U.S. women’s national team legend also featured on YouTuber Ellis Platten’s shirt-shopping series, in which he interviews famed soccer-related guests while helping them shop for classic kits. Most episodes are filmed at Classic Football Shirts London, and get replayed on the screens hanging on the store’s walls.
The popularity of Platten’s series continues to bring the sport’s best fashion-based stories into the limelight, through social media.
“It’s a way for us to advertise this place being here rather than just doing traditional marketing,” Becha said. “Maybe every third or fourth customer has come here and referenced [Platten’s videos].”
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