'We sold iconic Liverpool kit - now our business is worth $63m and getting even bigger'

Liverpool has confirmed it will wear its new 2024/25 home shirt for this weekend's final match of the season. Yet it was an iconic retro Reds kit that helped turn a business idea into a $63m (£50m/€58m) company.

Classic Football Shirts sells authentic football shirts worn by the likes of Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo, with its prized possessions including vintage strips, iconic designs and even recent jerseys.

The initial idea started out after students Matt Dale and Doug Bierton decided to buy a Paul Gascoigne strip from the World Cup in 1990 from a charity shop, before selling it on for a decent profit.

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The company has now sold over six million jerseys in the past 18 years, with the very first deal seeing a Norwegian customer purchase the iconic 1989 Liverpool kit, reports The Athletic. Classic Football Shirts is said to now work directly with 'every major club in Europe' and has also teamed up with ex-England captain David Beckham.

“Initially, we were a bit surprised to see that there wasn’t a place where you could buy all the old shirts. Our first business plan was when we realized we could live a sustainable life if we sold 10 shirts a day. That was the target. And now we’re on 2,000-2,500 shirts a day," founder Dale said.

"We maxed out the student loans, maxed out the overdrafts, the credit cards. we got a student house together and filled it with football shirts. It was pretty bleak to begin. We went weeks without having a proper meal at the beginning."

Classic Football Shirts now has two stores in the UK, in London and Manchester, and is considering opening permanent spaces in the US this year. Current Liverpool listings on the site include a match issue 1992/93 home shirt for a cool $1015 (£800/€933) while the iconic yellow Crown Paints third shirt from 1987 will set you back $570 (£450/€525).

Liverpool.com says: Classic Football Shirts is the best around when it comes to iconic retro shirts. There are plenty of offerings for Liverpool supporters too from great kits over the years. The company looks set to go from strength to strength after recent investment.