This week SPORT+MARKT published The European Football Merchandising Report which details the finances produced from club shirts and merchandise.

Sport+Markt looked into the merchandising income of the 116 top flight clubs in six areas, with the results as follows: The Premier League earns the most ahead of the Primera Liga, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Serie A and the Dutch Eredivisie.

The results of the investigation also show that the six biggest European top clubs generate a total of £519 million annually selling replica shirts and other club merchandise with the clubs selling 93.3 per cent of their merchandising products on the domestic market and only 6.7 per cent in the other five areas.

Furthermore the report suggests that English fans spend on average £55 a year on football merchandise, the most out of all the countries surveyed, which bodes well for Millwall FC who released their 3rd kit this week. The orange retro styled kit sponsored by Bukta is proving popular with reportedly good sales in their club shop. Priced at £39.99 the limited edition kit “will help the players pick out each other” according to Millwall kit manager Adrian Wisson. He added “as it’s different from other teams in the Football League.”

Fellow London side Crystal Palace announced a new three year sponsorship deal this week with Dubai Contracting Company (DCC) for an undisclosed fee. The deal will see DCC supporting the successful CPFC Youth academy over the next three seasons and stadium and shirt sponsorship for the 2010/11 season.

Phil Alexander, CEO of Crystal Palace FC, said: “This unique deal not only reflects the interest and levels of exposure Crystal Palace can offer a multi-national organisation such as DCC but also is a reflection of the global interest that clearly now exists in The Football League and, in particular, The Championship. We look forward to working with DCC over the next 3 years and I’m sure the relationship will strengthen even further. ”

Despite the problems the football shirt industry was suffering due to the economic crisis, according to the author of the European Football Merchandising Report the crisis will not worsen for clubs. “For many, football is a passion — even more so in economically tough times. We do not expect people to cut back heavily on their passion. They will tighten their belts in other areas.”

For further information on football shirts, make sure to visit FootballShirtCulture.com.

By James Bailey