April, the month of fools and showers. Was it raining black and amber polyester at foolishly low prices in the fourth month of the year? Let’s see in Auction Action (by Mike Carter)

Sadly, it was a month of drought where match-worn and player-issue shirts was concerned, so we’ll move straight onto the sprinkling of replica shirt offerings…

If you’d been in the market for a 1990-92 Hull City away shirt by Matchwinner, then this one at £125 could have been for you. I do believe there was an issue with the description for this shirt though, as it was listed as being suitable for a “large child/small adult”, yet the chest measurement given was 58cm, which converts to a 44″ chest or an adults size large. Either way, it is a lovely shirt in a very nice condition.

This 1997/98 home shirt by Super League in size XL sold for £75 in April. There is some slightly fading to the sponsor, but that’s quite common with this style of shirt and it is 27 years old! Repros can sell for around £50, so to get an original for a little bit more feels like a good pick up for this buyer.

This 2000/01 away shirt by Avec in XL is an absolute stunner, and long sleeve versions were initially reserved for players (and all players got XL whether Clint Marcelle wee or Gary Brabin wide) though some went on retail sale at seasons end. This one sold for £77, so the new owner of this shirt must be incredibly happy. To see this one sell for under £80 is a surprise.

There is some slight damage to this 2015/16 third shirt by Umbro in XXL, so that could explain the price of £29.99, but it’s still a lovely pickup. There is some markings to the ‘scuba blue’ heat applied stripes to the front, but that may not concern everyone. The best offer option was executed on this shirt.

Moving into the printed replica market and we have this 2005-07 away shirt by Diadora with Stephen McPhee‘s surname and number 10 on the reverse, though oddly it was listed as from the 2022/23 season. The seller included a signed picture of McPhee with the long-sleever, nice if you like that kind of thing, but we were more interested in the 1 being taller than the 0. Odd eh? The lowly opening price of £24.99 was enough to secure this shirt a new owner.

The availability of fairly cheap heat presses has led to every Tom, Dick and Harry having a crack at adding names and numbers to shirts in an attempt to increase their value, though that is very much a subjective thing. This 2007/08 home shirt by Umbro in XXL has, not just WINDASS 9 added to the back, but also some Play-Off Final game detail added under the Umbro double-diamond.

Such DIY work has been the subject of much ethical debate on social media of late, and the consensus seems to be it’s ok so long as the seller makes no effort to make out the shirt is match-worn or player issue, and if the letterset is official, as printing up your own names and numbers that approximate past league-sanctioned lettersets is pretty easy these days.

Some argue that just because the person who does the print is honest about it being new and unofficial, it doesn’t mean the next person to possess it will be as scrupulous and there exists the chance for some unsuspecting oaf to be scammed, thinking they’ve bought something that originally came from the kitroom or club shop. The seller here is quite explicit, stating “This shirt is NOT match worn or issued” and a close look reveals the typeface used for the game detail doesn’t match what City used on May 24th 2008, and the sleeve patch looks fully printed whereas the real ones were multi-layer felt called ‘Lextra’.

Anyway, this shirt was originally listed at £124.99, before being reduced to £99.75. Shortly after, it was sold using the best offer option.

This 2021/22 third shirt by Umbro with GREAVES 4 and his squad number applied sold for an offer of around £35. The shirt is sized medium and even came BNWT. That’s brand new with tags for anyone not up on their eBay lingo!

Lastly, moving beyond shirts, is an original 1980s Admiral jacket sized 32-34”. The hugely popular retro styled Kappa jackets, some of which went for eyewatering amounts in the resale market, have put the spotlight on classic Tigers track tops/ anthem jackets/ presentation jackets/ whatever you prefer to call them.

They don’t get much more classic than the black jackets with a broad red stripe trimmed by amber piping on the right side (as worn) and it’s not surprising that this listing caused a stir. 11 people made 32 bids before the virtual hammer came down, with the child’s size jacket going for £170.

That’s your lot for April. Like a polyester fixated James Bond we will return, in the meantime remember… Caveat Emptor!