May 2026, it’s a month that will live long in the memory of Hull City supporters. It started with a numbing hangover feeling from a loss at Charlton, picked up considerably with fine wins over Norwich on the last day and at Millwall in the Play-Offs, and ended with the Tigers being promoted to the Premier League for the 2026/27 season via a glorious day at Wembley, as a group of players unlocked legendary status and celebrated hard with the fans.
During that month of high drama, focusing on what Tigers polyester was available in May proved to be difficult. Whenever Hull City have a big game, as we had at Wembley, supporters are out in force to buy something new to them to wear for the game. It felt like there were hundreds of extra listings to scroll through to find the best, but hopefully, we have been successful in that. (Writes Mike Carter)
We’ll start with player issue/matchworn shirts first… In the past we’ve discussed how poppy shirts don’t retain their value, as a sizeable chunk of their original sale price was a charity donation. Factor that in, and the resale ‘worth’ lessens. This 2020/21 primary shirt by Umbro, featuring a poppy appliqué was worn by Alfie Jones in the FA Cup against Fleetwood Town, and it sold for an offer after being listed at £156.70.
We have some bad news if you were drawn into bidding on this 2016/17 primary shirt by Umbro that was NOT match-worn by Sam Clucas. 7 ‘lucky’ bidders didn’t win this auction, but the one who did paid £92.48 for a shirt that Sam Clucas clearly never wore. There are a few signs here, which, if you know your stuff, point to this being a printed replica. Firstly, the numbers on the back are small compared to the full-size pro specification versions used on match shirts in the Premier League. These are the fanshop replica size digits, which also differ in thickness, you can’t ‘see-through’ the pro ones, but you can see the meeting point of the amber and black lines through these. The letters aren’t pro-sized either, plus they should be applied a little bit higher if this was a player shirt, over the semi-circle of stitching. The competition patches do appear to be full-sized, although one of them has been applied with a spin on it. Lastly, Clucas usually wore a size small at City; he wouldn’t have been running around in a large. It would have been like a wind kite!
This 2019/20 primary shirt by Umbro, worn by Reece Burke, was priced as a buy-it-now for £31.90. Clearly, the steal of the month when we factor in that the average price of a match-worn should be around three or more times that. The seller here clearly didn’t know that this shirt was likely to be a player issue – the key factor here is the back of shirt sponsor, On Line Group, which was a feature of player specification shirts.
Next up is an almost full goalkeeper kit in size large likely used by a netman from the 2024/25 development squad. The kit is just missing the socks to be complete. We know this shirt is one used by the kids due to the ‘Safiport’ sponsor which was a back of shirt sponsor on first team shirts. Like lots of bits of kit, this one ended up in the Ukraine, which is a more common occurence than you might think. It was listed at £48.62 plus postage, which isn’t a bad price for a fairly niche item.
This 2000/01 primary shirt by Avec in size medium sold for £73.49 – after being listed as an auction, but with a buy it now price in play. The winner didn’t want to run the gauntlet and potentially lose out on the shirt, so they decisively secured it.
Ahead of 2026/27, long sleeve shirts are making a bit of a comeback, so we’ve picked out a few to include – first up is this 2011/12 away shirt by adidas, which then became the 2012/13 third in size medium. It sold for £37.10, which is a good resale price for both parties. The images are limited, but it looks good, and the description describes it as being in “amazing condition”. The appearance of the Cash Converters branding changes on these shirts, which made it look miles better, but the newer application was unfortunately prone to peeling.
We’ve seen a few of these self-modified, 2007/08 primary shirts by Umbro in the past, but it felt really relevant to include this one, this month. The shirt is sized ‘XL boys’, so it’s quite small, but it does have long sleeves. It has had Windass and #9 applied to the back, and the 2008 Championship play-off match details added to the front. It also comes complete with Coca-Cola football league competition patches. It was listed at £64.99 with the best offer feature available, too.
Staying with adidas, and this 2013/14 primary shirt in size XXL, features personalisation for George Boyd. The shirt also has Premier League competition patches. The £79.99 someone paid for this feels a little steep, but in the build-up to Wembley, supporters are often willing to pay more to get something that they really like – I assume this is what may have happened here.
Moving over to the newly regular Tiger Leisure section of Auction Action now for a trio of Play-Offs edition, printed and signed replica shirts. One thing you cannot criticise the club for is not taking advantage of the Play-off series to move out some small-sized replica shirts. They’ve turned three shirts in size small that likely wouldn’t have sold in the club shop for more than £20 each, into over £2500, by heat applying three premium players’ names, a sleeve sponsor and a play-off competition patch. The listings are clear – they are listed as ‘not matchworn’, nor are they even player issues. Surprisingly, the ‘least’ amount paid was that with McBurnie applied to it. That sold for £800. The second highest was Hughes, but only by a quid more. The highest price paid was £931, for that of Regan Slater – meaning you could either buy one actual Regan Slater, or 54 of his shirts.
Lastly, this 2016/17 home shirt by Umbro has been printed with David and #7 on the back. So, if you ever wondered what a City shirt would look like if David Meyler was Brazilian instead of Irish, this is what it could have been…
That is all for May, we’ll be back in July when we look over what’s been what in June!
Caveat emptor!