Real vs Fake
Its that time of year when folk start looking at that special present for the Brentford fan in their life.
While Brentford’s admirable decision to give a two-season self-life to their home shirt means that many fans already have the latest version of the red and white, thoughts may be wandering towards the many signed shirts available on some of the higher profile auctions sites.
But are they the real deal?
They may be advertised with the words ‘authentic’ and ‘genuine’, but if the shirts that are being used are fakes can you trust the authenticity of the autograph?
The guide below will help you judge if the shirt you are bidding on is a genuine Umbro article or one of the many fakes currently being advertised.
As most signed shirts are advertised with photos of the rear, the first place to start an authenticity check will be the sleeves. The under arms section is black and most counterfeits shirts have a red stitch running across the cuff. The Umbro version has black on black stitching. If a front photo of the shirt is available, check the inside labelling; the logos and sizing printing inside the shirt are a light grey on the Umbro shirt, but black on the counterfeit.
Returning to the rear, the now ever-present Bee emblem is printed crisply on the genuine shirt but is much less detailed on the counterfeits with many of the lines between component parts blurred. The unique way that the red stripe fades to black at the bottom of the shirt differs between the versions.
Umbro’s shirt has a solid black bottom which morphs into black diagonal lines which get thinner and eventually break into smaller sections. The counterfeits do not have this solid black bottom and the lines break up much earlier into the shirt.
<<003 Bees and Bottom>>
The shirt fabric is of a noticeably different and better quality on the Umbro version.
The counterfeit has a wider stitch giving an Airtex appearance. The Umbro versions have also been designed with the rear section hanging lower than the front. This is accompanied by a small split at the side. The counterfeit has both sections the same length with no split.
There have been a range of club badges attached to the counterfeit shirts with noticeable differences in the size of the elements, the size and placement of the text, and the width of the surrounding black border circle.
One big identifier on the 2021-23 counterfeit was the Hollywood Bets print which is still apparent on the 2023-25 attempts. The white border surrounding the lettering does not have a gap in the ‘H’ of Hollywood on the genuine shirt, but the counterfeiters have not fixed this and their versions still have a noticeable gap.
Some versions have got the spacing between the stripes hideously wrong. Umbro’s shirts have red and white stripes of equal size, whilst the gaps between red and white are of differing dimensions on some counterfeit offerings.
There are more than a few counterfeit versions of the 2023-25 home shirt available at present but hopefully using some of the pointers mentioned in this article they can be identified. Although they may look reasonable from a photo, in hand the quality of the materials, the stitching, the badges and any name and number printing is generally poor.
Brendan’s advice
If in any doubt on the authenticity of a shirt my advice would always be to request further images of it from the seller, especially if only rear view photos have been offered on the original sale listing.
Before parting with your money be sure that what you are buying is the genuine article.
If the seller can’t be trusted to be providing a genuine shirt, can they be trusted to be providing genuine autographs?
Brendan’s website has all you need to know about the history of Bees shirts
https://www.brentfordshirts.com/
ED. FOOTNOTE
CURRENT EBAY SALES UPDATE
Just before we went to press, Brendan checked another part of this unpleasant ‘market’ which is the signatures on the ‘genuine’ shirts that complete the presentation of authenticity.
Please chose for yourself – do they all look similar enough to be genuine or do some leave scope for doubt?
Autographs are usually gained for free from the goodness of the players hearts.
The fake shirts are costing £10-£15, wholesale, a frame is £30.
How much are you prepared to line the pockets of these ‘certified sellers’?
If the seller can’t be trusted to be providing a genuine shirt, can they be trusted to be providing genuine autographs?
PLEASE PLEASE BE CAREFUL – SADLY, ‘CAVEAT EMPTOR‘ DOES STILL APPLY