Referee attire
- Thread starter LtzMila
- Start date
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Ok cool thanks, I only just started anyways so I probably will just be refereeing local Sunday league games for now anyways.
You'd be surprised that a significant number of grassroots officials end up with lines in the early rounds of those competitions to make up the numbers. My 3rd open age match was as AR1 in the Women's FA Cup second qualifying round. I had a county badge printed on my shirt anyway so didn't make much of a difference but if I hadn't I would have had to buy one before the game as it was a requirement for me to wear it.
Archer
🟨 C1 (BE)
Isn’t an “official kit” but most gravitate towards Nike as the standard for appointments at steps 5/6 and above. The Joma kit is great for a season or a spare, and half the price… I wear it a lot if I’m on my own.
AFA do a Nike bundle for £69.99 including postage (and keep an eye on it cos they do a sale too - got one for £50, may have been black Monday).
RefStop (forum sponsors) well-priced too, and a great bunch, and you can take advantage of the discount code on the banner adverts above… and they’ll badge it for you too… and they use clearpay for instalments if that’s your thing.
If you pop your county badge on a black kit, you can’t really go wrong.
AFA do a Nike bundle for £69.99 including postage (and keep an eye on it cos they do a sale too - got one for £50, may have been black Monday).
RefStop (forum sponsors) well-priced too, and a great bunch, and you can take advantage of the discount code on the banner adverts above… and they’ll badge it for you too… and they use clearpay for instalments if that’s your thing.
If you pop your county badge on a black kit, you can’t really go wrong.
ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
Be careful not to waste your money - at your level, an "official kit" is not necessary and you can spend a lot on the best known brands.
Ask other refs in your area/league what they wear.
Ask other refs in your area/league what they wear.
Don’t waste your money if you’re only Lvl 7 and doing Local matches. A badge would go a long way to looking the part but is not necessary.
Your grassroots kit is more than adequate, but the Nike one is Nice and the Joma one is cheap and popular if you wanted something branded. As others have said, there is no ‘official kit’. Nike has been the PGMOL kit for some time, but they will be Puma from next year. However, for anything below PGMOL and all grassroots, Nike is still the advertised kit by the Official FA Referee Store. That said, I see ALOT of Refs in Joma at the minute.
There is a company mentioned above who sponsor this forum, they are disgustingly overpriced (as are the other big player in the market) so shop around. There are plenty of smaller companies providing the identical kits with identical badges at much better prices. You can also buy the kits unbadged from plenty of sportswear retailers.
Your grassroots kit is more than adequate, but the Nike one is Nice and the Joma one is cheap and popular if you wanted something branded. As others have said, there is no ‘official kit’. Nike has been the PGMOL kit for some time, but they will be Puma from next year. However, for anything below PGMOL and all grassroots, Nike is still the advertised kit by the Official FA Referee Store. That said, I see ALOT of Refs in Joma at the minute.
There is a company mentioned above who sponsor this forum, they are disgustingly overpriced (as are the other big player in the market) so shop around. There are plenty of smaller companies providing the identical kits with identical badges at much better prices. You can also buy the kits unbadged from plenty of sportswear retailers.
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I would echo this. Nike kit feels fab but RS and A&H are both awfully overpriced. If you are looking to get Nike kit then have a look on Kitlocker and Newitts who do the shirts for a much more reasonable price. Kitlocker
However, they don't apply CFA patches so I would buy iron-on ones separately and apply yourself
I thought your advertising posts were a short lived joke, but clearly not
I second going through the AFA for cheaper Nike kit. From memory you can get most other county badges sewn on too
ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
Only AFA these days, and it’s a Vinyl badge, not sewn on, haven’t done those for years
There is actually a Nike lookalike kit on eBay for 24.99; it doesn’t have the Nike tick but it’s identical otherwise.Whereas over on Ebay a package comprising shirt/shorts/socks is available for £24.99
I bought one as a spare but unfortunately didn’t last very long
On the plus side, there are frequently good offers for actual Nike Kit on eBay! A few companies already mentioned above are on there with better prices than direct, and A&H have also launched there (although they are more expensive)
Ok, do centre refs and linesmen have to wear the exact same kit as well or is that not a requirement?
Runner Ref
RefChat Addict
Nope.
Basic rule of principle would be; if you have to buy the kit yourself, no requirement to match
Nope
For a County appointment it may be considered good practice to do so, but it’s not a requirement
No. I had one game back in August where not only did the ref have a different brand to me and the other AR, his top was even a different colour! Not necessarily ideal but 100% not a requirement to match.