A junior football secretary rang us in October about three shirts. The order had been fine in every other respect — right colours, right crest, delivered on time. But three lads could not get into theirs, and because every shirt had a squad number on the back, there was nothing to be done with them. They could not be returned, could not be swapped with another club, could not be sold on. Three shirts, paid for, hanging in a cupboard.
Nobody had done anything stupid. The sizes had been taken off a form, in good faith, by parents estimating from a school polo shirt. That is how it usually happens.
Why kit sizing goes wrong
Custom kit sizing goes wrong for one structural reason: there is no standard. A "youth large" from one manufacturer and a "youth large" from another can differ by a couple of inches across the chest and rather more in the length of the sleeve. Even within one brand, a slim-fit playing shirt and a training top from the same range will fit differently, because they are cut for different jobs.
Add to that four things clubs run into every season:
- Modern playing shirts are cut far closer to the body than the shirts most parents remember. A player who wears a medium in everything else can need a large in a match shirt.
- Parents estimate from school uniform, which is cut generously and sized by age.
- Players estimate from a replica shirt bought two years ago in a size that was already too big.
- Junior sizing is quoted by age on some ranges and by measurement on others, and the two do not agree.
Any one of those produces a handful of wrong sizes. All four together produce a cupboard full.
What a size set actually is
A size set is a physical set of sample garments, one of each size in the range you are ordering, that people try on before anyone commits to anything. That is the whole idea. It is not a size chart, not a photo, not a measurement guide. It is the actual garment, on the actual player.
It matters because of one fact that governs everything about custom kit: once a garment has been printed, embroidered or numbered, it cannot be returned, exchanged or resold. There is no safety net. A size set is the cheapest insurance available against a problem that has no other fix.
Running one at training in twenty minutes
- Get the samples in the right range. Ask for the actual garments you are ordering, not a similar style. If you are ordering shirts, shorts and a training top, you want samples of each, because they will not fit the same.
- Pick a session where the whole squad will be there, and tell parents in advance that this is the sizing night. One session beats three weeks of messages.
- Try over a base layer, not over a coat. Kit gets worn over skin or a thin base layer. Sizing over a hoodie gives you a shirt that swims on the player in July.
- Have players move. Arms above the head, a squat, a jog. A shirt that fits standing still and rides up on the first lineout or throw-in is the wrong size.
- Write it down as they hand it back. Player name, garment, size, on a paper list you control. Not a group chat, not individual texts.
- Confirm anything borderline in writing with the parent. If a player is between sizes, record the decision and who made it.
Twenty minutes at one training session removes almost every sizing dispute you would otherwise have. It is the highest-value half hour in the whole ordering process.
The cases a size set does not solve
It is not a complete answer, and it helps to know where the gaps are.
- Growth. A twelve-year-old measured in May will not be the same shape in January. For junior squads, sizing up one where a player is close to the top of a size is reasonable. Sizing up two because "he will grow into it" is how you get a season of a child playing in a shirt that flaps.
- Players who were not there. Keep the samples for a few days afterwards, or arrange for absentees to try them at the next session. Do not let them guess.
- Fit preferences. Goalkeepers usually want more room. Some players want a closer fit than the sample suggests. Record the preference and the size, so nobody claims later that it was an error.
- Women's and girls' fits. Where a range offers a women's cut, sample it separately. A unisex shirt sized down is not the same garment and does not fit the same way.
- Late joiners. Someone always signs in November. Note which sizes were popular so a top-up order is an informed guess rather than a blind one.
Write it down, because you will not be secretary forever
The size list is the most valuable document the club produces all season and it is usually the first thing lost. Keep it in a shared file with the artwork and the order confirmation, not in one person's inbox. Record the manufacturer and range next to the sizes, because "Jake — medium" is meaningless without knowing whose medium.
Update it once a season rather than rebuilding it every time. A club that keeps a decent size register can turn a top-up order around in a day, while a club that starts from scratch every year spends three weeks on it and still gets a few wrong.
One more thing worth saying plainly to parents: kit that fits well and is washed properly lasts. Inside out, cool wash, no tumble dryer, and never an iron directly on a print or a number.
Ask for a size set before anything is made — a wrong-sized printed shirt helps nobody, and it is a problem with no fix after the event. Tell us the garments, the squad size and when you need the kit, and we will quote against a sized squad rather than a guess: request a custom kit quote. The same applies to school leavers hoodies, where sizing goes wrong for exactly the same reasons. If you only need stock training gear, that is available directly from our clothing range.