Buying a football shirt for a child

Kids shirts are sized by numbers - 14, 16, 18 and up - and the numbers mean height, not age. That one fact solves most of the guesswork.

Go by height, not age

The size number matches the height the shirt is cut for: a 22 is made for a child of 125 to 135 cm. Ages on a chart are an average and children are not averages, so measure the child against a wall and use that. It takes a minute and it is the difference between a shirt that fits and a shirt in a drawer.

How much room to leave

One size up is sensible if the child is between two sizes or mid-growth-spurt. Two sizes up is not: a shirt that reaches the knees is not a shirt a child wants to wear, and by the time it fits, the season it belongs to is over.

It comes as a set

A kids kit is the shirt and matching shorts together, in the same size, for one price. That is how kids kits are made, and it is what a child expects to open.

Put their name on it, not a star's

A child with their own name and number on the back wears that shirt until it falls apart. A shirt with a famous player's name is a shirt they grow out of the moment the player transfers. The printing is free on our kids kits, so there is no reason not to.

What it costs

A kids kit is ₪100 - shirt and shorts, with the name and number included. Made to order, arriving within about three weeks.