Inside the £1-an-hour official football shirt factories

ByTom Grundy

BBC Sport elder journalist

Workers are being paid a basal wage of little than £1 an hr to marque authoritative shot shirts for immoderate of the world's biggest clubs, BBC Sport tin reveal.

Our probe traced authentic replica shirts to 2 factories successful Cambodia, wherever conditions were described arsenic "grim".

We followed the proviso concatenation down authoritative shirts aft fans told america they were frustrated by rising prices, with galore turning to cheaper counterfeits instead.

Images obtained from wrong Bowker Garment Factory and Trax Apparel amusement kits being made for clubs including Arsenal, Celtic, Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Employees determination told america they struggled to marque ends conscionable and worked connected up to 700 items a time arsenic portion of a accumulation line.

In uncommon interviews, supported by documentary grounds and published anonymously, workers besides described:

The Clean Clothes Campaign, external - a planetary workers' rights web - said our findings painted a "very grim picture".

"These are issues that galore garment workers astir the satellite look each day," added spokesperson Emma Vogt.

Similar issues, specified arsenic debased wage and precocious temperatures, person been reported crossed Cambodia's garment industry.

Research published past year suggested that, of a emblematic £85 shirt, £8.50 covers fabric, sewing and shipping, £37.45 goes to the retailer, £16.25 to the manufacturer, £9.50 connected selling and £13.60 successful VAT.

Shirt prices person accrued importantly implicit the past decade, though manufacture experts reason advances successful exertion and costly kit deals with elite clubs person contributed to the rise.

Adidas does not ain either factory, but some are superior suppliers taxable to its workplace standards., external

The sportswear elephantine supplies 8 of the 20 Premier League teams.

Adidas said: "We person taken a assortment of measures to guarantee just and harmless moving conditions for workers crossed our proviso concatenation for much than 25 years.

"Through astir 1,200 mill audits per year, we reappraisal and measure supplier conduct, enactment with suppliers to code issues and marque improvements wherever necessary."

Six 1000 miles from the nine shops wherever these shirts volition beryllium sold, a gathering is taking spot wrong Bowker Garment Factory.

In a photograph obtained by BBC Sport, mannequins show Benfica, Aston Villa and Celtic kits beneath an Adidas logo connected the wall.

About 3,400 radical - astir of them women - enactment present connected the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Another 3,200 enactment 10 miles eastbound astatine Trax Apparel.

Fabric is imported from Thailand and Vietnam earlier a specializer tailor makes a illustration for different employees to follow.

Much of the shirt-making process past takes spot astatine these factories, including sewing, ironing and packaging.

Staff typically enactment six eight-hour shifts a week and, according to 5 payslips seen by the BBC, person basal monthly salaries of $210-$220 (£158-£166).

The salaries comply with section minimum-wage laws, and 3 of the payslips bespeak full monthly net of astir $300 (£226) erstwhile overtime and allowances are included, albeit with important other hours worked.

"It's hard to unrecorded with this amount," said a Bowker worker, who explained she had small near aft rent, nutrient and utilities.

"I privation planetary customers to perceive that 1 garment they bargain costs much than 2 weeks' wage for a worker," said different idiosyncratic astatine Trax.

"Every 1 of these shirts contains the sweat of Cambodian workers."

Trax told america its mean monthly worker net scope from $305-$342 (£230-£258) this year.

Adidas said mean nett wages crossed a illustration of its Cambodian suppliers were 34% supra the Anker Research Institute's living-wage benchmark,, external adding unit were "usually paid considerably higher than the section minimum wage".

Bowker did not respond to our petition for comment.

In different photograph taken wrong Bowker, a thermometer shows 35.2C and humidity of 57.6%.

"The vigor accent is truly taking a toll connected our health," said an worker connected the ironing line.

Workers astatine some factories described unit to conscionable radical accumulation targets of betwixt 300 and 700 items a day.

"Just deliberation astir that," they added. "If 1 garment sells for $120 (£90) successful the store, however overmuch are they pulling successful from 600 of them? They marque a ton of wealth but springiness astir thing to the workers."

Others described verbal maltreatment erstwhile targets were missed.

"When we can't implicit the quota they scold and outcry astatine america and archer america to resign," said a 3rd idiosyncratic astatine Bowker.

The aforesaid worker said they received 2 electrical shocks from an exposed wire.

"I tried to study it aggregate times, but they lone took enactment aft the 2nd clip I got shocked," they said.

Adidas told america some factories had "heat-management measures", that its standards "do not licence immoderate signifier of harassment", and that "no electrical-related accidents" had been recovered successful Bowker's records.

Trax acknowledged "periods of elevated temperature" but said cooling systems were successful spot and insisted its attack "is not based connected enforcing output targets".

Such concerns are wide crossed Cambodia's garment industry, with a 2024 International Labour Organization report, external uncovering 69% of factories had issues with vigor and 84% with idiosyncratic protection.

It's August Bank Holiday successful England and 2 of the Premier League's apical sides - Aston Villa and Arsenal - are astir to meet.

Tens of thousands of radical are astatine Villa Park - galore wearing shirts made successful Cambodia.

Arsenal's latest location plan was released successful May, but we were sent photographs showing it wrong Trax months earlier.

Fans of some clubs told america authoritative shirts person go overpriced.

One Villa protagonist has conscionable paid £95 for his, implicit with a Champions League badge.

"You bargain your play ticket. Three shirts, that's astir £300 connected top. It's ridiculous," helium said.

An Arsenal instrumentality is struggling with the outlay for his full family.

"I've got young kids present and I've started getting them kits, truthful it's started getting expensive," helium said. "They're not inexpensive if you get the authoritative ones."

Various studies estimation the planetary marketplace for authoritative shot teamwear is worthy respective cardinal pounds.

"The mark-up connected shot jerseys... it's hard to ideate a much lucrative marque market," said Dave Welsh from The Solidarity Center, external - a US-based workers' rights organisation.

But erstwhile Puma and Umbro kit decorator Rob Warner told BBC Sport past year that the economics down garment prices are much complex.

"A batch of the nett borderline is made by the retailer due to the fact that they're truthful babelike connected the occurrence of the team... it's a risk," helium said.

"Then you origin successful the outgo of the kit deals going up, and the brands having to effort to retrieve immoderate of the wealth they're paying to the elite clubs."

Adidas supplies 8 of the 20 Premier League clubs, positive Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Fellow sportswear elephantine Nike supplies three, arsenic good arsenic England. Its shot shirts person been produced successful Thailand and Vietnam, and much precocious Georgia.

Nike does not people wage information by country, but told america 71% of its cardinal suppliers wage astatine oregon supra living-wage benchmarks applicable to their location.

Hummel, which besides provides kit to 3 Premier League sides, did not respond to our enquiry.

The mean terms of an big replica Premier League garment has risen by 50.7% implicit the past decade, helping substance request for counterfeits sold for arsenic small arsenic £12.

Many of those counterfeit shirts originate from China.

Fans person been warned against buying fakes, with police saying, external they tin beryllium "manufactured without respect for information standards oregon workers' rights" and Trading Standards warning that "counterfeiters person nary morals and nary standards".

The Premier League expects clubs to transportation retired due owed diligence connected their kit manufacturers and proviso chains.

None of the clubs named successful this nonfiction responded to our petition for comment.

"Respect has got to beryllium a baseline successful sport," said Anna Bryher, from UK run radical Labour Behind the Label., external

"Clubs request to nonstop a truly beardown connection that they won't enactment their sanction connected a garment if workers are not treated with respect."