Would you pay £90 for England's World Cup jersey?

Football has long been operating in a different realm to much of the modern world. At a time when cuts and layoffs are the words of the days, footballers’ salaries just keep getting bigger and bigger. So, when Wayne Rooney’s new and improved £300,000 per week contract was in the news a couple of months ago, not many were surprised. Even if, his weekly salary was 10 times what an average UK citizen earns in an entire year.

Football seeming exists in a parallel universe, one which is not bound by things as trivial as money. It has almost gotten to a point where it has become almost impossible to follow your team everywhere they go, simply because of the cost involved. In England at least, Gone are the days when dads used to take their sons to the game, now both are left to watch Sky or BT Sport at the comfort of their own couch.

At a time when austerity is the way of the world, football doesn’t seem to believe in all of that. How else can you legislate for the ever-increasing ticket prices, the rising cost of food inside the stadium and more than not anything else, the jerseys, which keep changing every single year?

A decade or so ago, teams hardly ever changed their jerseys. Nowadays it has almost become fashionable for each club to change their kit, every single year. The fans who pay their hard-earned money to pay for it, are never really in the thought process. If you are a Manchester United fan, you better have the money to buy a Chevrolet sponsored jersey, for if you are still with Aon, you are sure to be left behind. Now, it is bad enough that some of them are just outright horrible to look at (no, Liverpool fans I am not looking at your away jersey), but to have to pay exorbitant amount of money to get in possession of an actual jersey year after year, is something else.

Whilst there are still many jerseys that are just a joy to look at and wear, one thing that can be universally agreed is that they are not cheap. There are countless other instances but England’s new World Cup jerseys, without a shadow of doubt, take the cake and shows how inaccessible football has become for the layman.

England recently launched their World Cup jerseys and if you want to “stay dry, stay cool and stay loyal” this summer, then you must pre-order one of them now. And it is no ordinary jersey. In fact, it is not even a piece of clothing, it is a life form. One that yearns to make you feel good about yourself, even if your team is crap. It is a loving companion, faithful friend and a devoted listener that will wrap itself around you and never let go.

The good folks at Nike state that this jersey marks the epoch of a revolution. The science behind the jersey? Well, Nike say: “The new dual-knit fabrication incorporates cotton and recycled polyester for superior sweat-wicking properties, a softer feel and a more flattering shape.” So, overweight footballers won’t look fat anymore? How Thomas Brolin would have wished for this a decade ago. And it is not just that, these shirts are designed to ensure that you “keep cool in major heat zones”, so the “laser-cut side panels and engineered mesh” will make ventilation a whole lot easier.

Are you excited, doesn’t it make you want to go out and buy the jersey and show your support? Oh, how much is it, you ask? Well, the shirts come in two categories, the superior “Match” shirt comes in at a measly £90, the same amount it would cost if you went to watch all three of their Group games in Brazil this summer. And the second category is the “Stadium” shirt which you can get for a tidy £60. And in case you are wondering, no, the latter won’t be worn by any of the players in an actual stadium.

You have heard the science, you have heard the cost, don’t you want to just go out and buy it? Well, if you aren’t still won over, Nike have something else in store for you. If you are English, irrespective of your social status, you need to buy it. Why? Not because you have to keep cool, but because they are “the ultimate show of support for the Three Lions.” And if you aren’t wearing, your casual indifference might just cost the team dear.

As far as English fans are concerned, given the technology behind the shirt, it is a shame that they can’t help England play any better. For if it did, most English fans would rush to the store buy themselves one in a heartbeat.

The sad truth is that, this has now become so common that nobody really bats an eyelid anymore. With the World Cup around the corner, the time is ripe for more extravagant money-making from the world’s biggest religion. But, the question you have to ask yourself is this, where does the buck stop? If you are spending £90 on the new England shirt, what next?