For many football fans, Christmas isn't just a time of festive cheer, singing carols and stuffing your face with pigs in blankets and turkey.
It is also the time to dutifully pass on a lifelong curse to the next generation, giving the groundbreaking gift of a football team that can never be returned.
Many of us remember the excitement of waking up on Christmas morning and unpacking our first shirt before heading to the park and emulating our heroes.
An excitement that is slowly waning after years of false dawns, dodgy refereeing decisions and hopeless summer signings.
But data from Footy Accumulators has revealed that many parents now lack the means to provide the real thing and are instead settling for fake versions of their club's famous kit, with 78 per cent more people searching for such shirts compared to 2023 .
Mail Sport delves into the new wave of imitation football strips and reveals which club had the highest demand for the shirts over the Christmas period.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester United took the lead in the search for fake shirts between September and December – and that's not even close.
An average of 5,910 people per month have been shopping for knock-off kits recently, despite the Red Devils' current woes leaving them stranded in 14th place despite the hiring of new manager Ruben Amorim last month.
This represents an increase of no less than 392.5 percent compared to the 1,200 searches in the previous months.
A children's kit costs as much as £55 in the United club shop, so it's no wonder parents are turning to counterfeit products.
Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League for two seasons in a row and that is where they lie in the quest for knock-off shirts.
Around a third as many people (1,980) shop for fake Gunners kits every month compared to identically priced United versions, despite being 11 points ahead in the league.
This is still a dramatic increase from the 680 who searched each month from January to August.
The third most searched for fake shirts are of a black and white variety, with an average of 1,610 people typing in Newcastle's name in a bid to find cheap deals.
The genuine example costs £55 on the website and fans are opting for knock-offs instead to show their support for Eddie Howe's men, who did this 419.4 per cent more than the 310 earlier this year.
Across the top four, 1,250 players shop for fake versions of the £52 Tottenham shirts every month, despite the side's recent struggles which have seen them slip into the bottom half with four defeats in the last five games.
This is an increase of 184.1 compared to the 440 the kits sought monthly earlier in 2024.
Leader Liverpool's fake shirts are currently being requested 1,240 times a month and despite the real versions costing as much as £85, this is down from three times as many (169.6 per cent) in previous months (460). A cheaper 'stadium' version is available for £60.
Perhaps their red-hot form, with Mohamed Salah taking them to the top with 13 goals, has kept fans loyal to the club shop.
Similarly, only 150 percent more people are searching for fake Man City shirts (1,050 versus 420) than earlier this year.
Pep Guardiola is in the worst form of his managerial career and the champions have ended up in seventh place after a nightmarish run of form, but it seems people are still buying the £60 kids' shirts available in the club shop.
West Ham have fallen through under new boss Julen Lopetegui and many supporters have voted with their feet as 252.4 per cent more people are looking for fake Hammers shirts than before the Christmas period.
Just 210 popped up in the world of knock-off kits earlier this year, but this has now skyrocketed to 740 as fans move away from the official £60 shirts.
Chelsea kits are among the most expensive in the Premier League, with parents having to spend £65 to buy a child's shirt.
It's no surprise then that almost three times as many supporters (670 versus 210) are now turning to fake shirts this festive season as they try to get their children to support Enzo Maresca's resurgent side.
Aston Villa have had a turbulent campaign, beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League before sliding to ninth in the Premier League after a string of poor results.
Their fans have been searching for counterfeit burgundy and blue tops in droves, with 537.5 percent more people typing the term into browsers than earlier in 2023.
From January to August there were just 80 per month seeking the knock-offs of the £55 shirts, and this rose to 510 before Christmas.
In the top half of the table, 370 fans searched for fake Everton tops each month, compared to just 60 in the previous months – a 516.7 percent increase in inquiries for imitations of the £55 items.
Nottingham Forest has arguably been the story of the season, with Nuno Espirito Santo's men rising to third in the league, and the knock-off versions of their £50 kits have experienced a huge surge in demand.
About 360 people search for the kits every month, compared to just 50 previously – an increase of 620 percent.
Similarly, more than six times (533.3 percent) as many fans search for Crystal Palace kits as 190 inquire monthly, compared to 30 earlier this year. The children's kits at Selhurst Park set supporters back £45.
The biggest jump has been among Ipswich fans with 90 monthly searches – a whopping 800 percent increase from just 10 people who searched them previously in 2024.
To support the newly promoted team with an official children's shirt will cost parents £43.
Fulham (600 per cent to 70 people), Leicester (doubling to 60), Brighton (quadrupling to 40) and Wolves (tripling to 30) have all also seen an increase in demand for knock-off tops.
The children's shirts from these parties cost £60, £45, £55 and £45 respectively, justifying the parents' decision to switch to fake shirts.
There has been no increase in searches for fake versions of the Southampton home kit, with demand stagnating among fans of the league's lowest-placed team.
The Saints children's shirts cost £45 and earlier this year ten people searched for imitation versions every month, a number that has remained the same over Christmas.
Despite shocking the rest of the league and rising to sixth place, fake Bournemouth shirts haven't disrupted Google search data over the festive period.
Incredibly, the statistics suggest that not a single person has sought out one of these knock-off tops in all of 2024.
The same goes for Brentford, who once again kept their home shirt from last season.
These clubs offer children's tops for £55 and £45 respectively.
Comments