Football Shirts — Fabric, Sizing, Printing & Care Guide

The basics

What to know about a football shirt

Four things decide whether a shirt is right for you: what it is knitted from, how the name and number are applied, which size actually fits your chest, and how you wash it.

Fabric & construction

A modern football shirt is a warp-knitted polyester, typically between 135 and 165 g/m². Polyester is used instead of cotton because it moves moisture along the fibre surface and out to the face of the fabric, where it evaporates, rather than absorbing it into the yarn the way cotton does. A wet cotton shirt gets heavy and stays heavy; a polyester one does not.

Most shirts combine two knits in one garment: a denser body knit that holds its shape and takes print well, and engineered mesh panels placed down the flanks, along the spine and under the arms, where heat builds up. The mesh is not decorative — it is where the ventilation happens.

Look at the seams as a quality signal. Flatlock seams lie flat against the skin and do not chafe under a backpack strap or a shoulder; overlocked seams sit proud and are cheaper to produce. Ribbed collars and cuffs hold shape longer than plain jersey ones.

Printing & personalisation

Names, numbers and badges are applied in one of two ways, and they behave very differently in the wash.

Heat-transfer film. A cut vinyl or flock character is pressed onto the shirt at roughly 150 °C for 12–15 seconds under even pressure. It sits on top of the fabric, so you can feel it with a fingertip. This is the standard method for names and numbers.
Sublimation. The dye is turned into a gas and bonded into the polyester fibre itself. Nothing sits on the surface, so it cannot peel or crack — but it only works on light-coloured polyester. This is how all-over graphic patterns are produced.

Nearly every case of lettering peeling traces back to the same three causes: washing too hot, tumble drying, or ironing directly over the print. Film needs about 24 hours after pressing before its first wash. Treat the printed area as the fragile part of the garment and it will outlast the fabric around it.

Sizing & fit

Football shirt sizing follows chest measurement, not height or weight, and it is not the same as the size on a high-street t-shirt. Take a soft tape around the fullest part of your chest, under the arms, keeping the tape level and not pulled tight. Compare that number to the chart below.

Two cuts are common. An athletic or match cut is close to the body and tapers at the waist — it is designed to be worn playing. A regular or fan cut is straighter through the body and longer in the hem. If you are between two sizes, or you intend to wear something underneath, take the larger one.

Children's sizing runs on height in centimetres rather than chest, in steps of 116, 128, 140, 152 and 164 cm. Measure the child rather than working from their age — the spread at any given age is wide.

Care & washing

Polyester is easy to look after and easy to ruin. The rules are short:

Machine wash at 30 °C on a gentle cycle, inside out.
Use a mild liquid detergent. Powder can abrade print edges.
No fabric softener. It coats the fibre and destroys the moisture-wicking that the fabric exists for.
No bleach, and no stain removers containing chlorine.
Do not tumble dry. Heat is what lifts heat-transfer film. Hang to dry, away from a radiator or direct sun.
Do not iron the print. If the shirt needs pressing, iron it inside out on the coolest setting and avoid the lettering entirely.
Do not dry clean — the solvents attack the film adhesive.

Wash a new shirt separately the first time. Strong colours, particularly reds, release surplus dye on the first cycle.

Size	Chest, body (cm)	Chest, garment half-width (cm)	Body length (cm)
S	88–96	46	70
M	96–104	50	72
L	104–112	54	74
XL	112–120	58	76
XXL	120–128	62	78

Indicative measurements for an adult regular cut, taken flat. Garment half-width is measured across the chest 2 cm below the armhole. An athletic cut typically runs one size smaller. Individual products vary — always check the measurements shown on the product page itself.

FAQ

Common questions

How do I pick the right size?

Measure your chest with a soft tape at the fullest point, keep the tape level, and read it against the chart above. Height and weight are poor predictors. If you fall between two sizes, or the product is described as an athletic cut, go up one.

Can I put it in the washing machine?

Yes — 30 °C, gentle cycle, inside out, mild liquid detergent, no fabric softener. What ruins shirts is not the machine but the dryer: hang it to dry instead, and keep it away from direct heat.

Will the printed name and number peel off?

Heat-transfer film is durable when it is kept away from heat. Wash cool, never tumble dry, and never run an iron across the lettering. Leave roughly 24 hours between the print being applied and the first wash. Sublimated graphics cannot peel at all, because the dye is inside the fibre rather than on top of it.

Why polyester rather than cotton?

Because of what each fibre does with sweat. Polyester is hydrophobic — moisture travels along the outside of the fibre to the face of the fabric and evaporates. Cotton is hydrophilic and absorbs it, so a cotton shirt gets heavy, stays wet and cools you down long after you have stopped moving. The trade-off is that polyester holds odour more readily, which is why washing it after every wear matters more than it does with cotton.

How can I tell a well-made shirt from a poor one?

Turn it inside out and look at the seams. Flatlock seams lie flat and do not chafe; overlocked seams sit proud and are cheaper to produce. Check that the mesh panels are where heat actually builds — flanks, spine, underarms — rather than placed for looks. A ribbed collar and cuffs hold their shape far longer than plain jersey ones. Finally, run a fingertip over the lettering: cleanly cut edges and even adhesion indicate the press was done at the right temperature and pressure.

Please note

This page is an informational resource about football shirts — fabric construction, print methods, sizing and garment care. The measurements, temperatures and timings given here are general guidance for polyester sportswear and are not a substitute for the care label sewn into a specific garment, which always takes precedence.

Jerseys Centrum is an independent publication. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or otherwise connected to any football club, national association, competition organiser or sportswear manufacturer. Any third-party names or marks that appear elsewhere remain the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.

This site sells nothing. It is a reference publication. There is no catalogue here, no basket, no prices and no checkout, and no order can be placed through it. It therefore carries no shipping, returns or refund terms, because there is nothing here for such terms to apply to.