How to choose a custom football kit supplier: a UK buyer's guide

Picking a custom football kit supplier is a bigger decision than it looks. You're committing a season's budget — often a volunteer committee's money — to a company you may have found through a single Instagram ad. Here's how to choose well: the categories of supplier, the questions that actually matter, and the red flags worth walking away from.

The three kinds of supplier

Most UK custom kit suppliers fall into one of three camps. Knowing which you're talking to tells you most of what you need.

1. Catalogue resellers

You pick a stock template, change the colours and drop your badge on. Cheap and fast, but your kit looks like several other teams in the league, and "design" means choosing from a dropdown. Fine if you just need something on the pitch this weekend.

2. Big-brand teamwear

Established sportswear names with team ranges. Reliable, recognisable, but customisation is usually limited to templates and the per-unit price is higher. Lead times and minimums can be unforgiving for a small grassroots club.

3. Design-led studios

Smaller outfits that design each kit from scratch in conversation with the club. You get a genuinely bespoke kit and a person who sees it through, usually at a price close to a catalogue kit. Peaq sits here. The trade-off is you're trusting a smaller team — so the questions below matter more.

The questions to ask any supplier

• Is the per-player price for the full kit? Shirt, shorts and socks — or just the shirt?
• Is a goalkeeper kit included? In the squad price, or charged separately?
• What fabric weight? GSM is the single most useful spec for comparing shirts.
• How many design rounds are included? Two is standard; one (or per-round charges) means you'll likely pay more.
• Who owns the artwork? You commissioned it — you should own it, with files handed over on request.
• What's the lead time, measured from when? "3–4 weeks from sign-off" is standard; lead time from order placement is misleading.
• How is sizing checked before print? A fit guide or sample pack beats a guessed tally of S/M/L/XL.
• What happens for reorders and replacements? How long is your design held on file, and is there a setup fee on single pieces?

Our companion piece walks through comparing the answers line by line: How to read a custom football kit quote.

Red flags worth walking away from

• Won't itemise the quote in writing. The single most useful signal you'll get.
• No samples, no fit guide. Sizing is the biggest source of post-delivery regret.
• Retains your artwork or charges a "license" to move supplier later.
• Vague lead times that quietly shift once you've paid.
• No reviews, no real clubs to point to. Ask who they've kitted and look them up.
• Pressure to commit before you've seen a proof on a real template.

Green flags

• Transparent, itemised pricing — ideally a live quote you can run yourself.
• Unlimited or generous design rounds, with a proof before anything prints.
• A clear sizing process and a sample option.
• You own the artwork; reorders are easy and cheap.
• Real clubs in real kit you can actually find, plus genuine reviews.
• One point of contact who runs your job from enquiry to delivery.

Where Peaq fits

We're a design-led studio in Derbyshire. Every kit is designed from scratch — the configurator on our site is a transparent pricing tool, not the design itself. Two-plus design rounds until you sign off, you own the artwork, sizing is checked before print, and we hold your design on file for 24 months so reorders only change the names. £30 per player for a full sublimated kit, free UK delivery, 3–4 week turnaround from sign-off. If that's the kind of supplier you're after, here's the full football guide — or just run a quote.

The shortest version

Decide whether you want a catalogue kit or a designed one, then ask every supplier the same eight questions and compare the all-in totals. The right supplier will answer all of them in writing, happily — and let you see the kit before you commit.