What starts with playing FIFA and Football Manager can apparently end with hundreds of football shirts.
For Ethan Ward, founder of 1892 Football Shirts, the fascination began long before he started selling them.
As a kid, football games opened up a world beyond the familiar home kits — different clubs, different countries, different colours and designs. He became fascinated by the shirts themselves.
Years later, that childhood interest has turned into a growing independent business built around vintage and pre-loved football shirts from across the world.
And on Sunday 25 October, Ethan is bringing the collection to North Shields for the I Love North Shields Vintage Market at Salt Market Social.
FROM CHILDHOOD COLLECTION TO 1892 FOOTBALL SHIRTS
“I have always loved football shirts since I was little,” Ethan tells us.
“Playing FIFA and Football Manager, I loved seeing different shirts from across the world and I would say that’s how I began being interested in them.”
During Covid, Ethan started selling some of his own football shirts that no longer fitted. He quickly realised there was a market for them.
While studying at university, he began picking up more shirts to sell alongside his studies. But it wasn’t until he graduated and returned home to Newcastle that he decided to see how far he could take it.
In February 2025, 1892 Football Shirts officially arrived on Instagram.
His first physical event followed at Ouseburn Market — and it was a success.
Since then, Ethan has taken the business around Newcastle, appearing at pop-ups and shops and organising his own events at venues including NQ64, Four Quarters and BrewDog, where football shirts have been combined with FIFA tournaments and mini markets.
He’s also created his own online shop, with affordability very deliberately part of the idea.
MORE THAN A FOOTBALL SHIRT
There is something particularly interesting about old football shirts.
They’re clothing, obviously.
But they’re also little time machines.
A colour combination, sponsor or badge can immediately transport a supporter back to a particular season, player, match or period in their own life.
That’s exactly what Ethan loves about them.
“Especially with football shirts, a certain season’s shirt may provide a fan with great memories — and all the same, terrible memories!”
And sometimes selling a shirt means reuniting someone with something they haven’t seen since childhood.
“I love being able to have the chance to reunite someone with a shirt that they may have had in childhood.”
For Ethan, the designs of the 1990s and 2000s are particularly special.
Before football shirts became increasingly standardised, those decades produced some wonderfully distinctive designs — the sort that can be instantly associated with a particular club and era.
WHAT WILL BE ON THE STALL?
Quite a lot.
Ethan will be bringing football shirts in sizes ranging from S to XXL, covering clubs and teams from around the world.
But it isn’t only shirts.
Expect sweatshirts, jackets and tracksuits alongside vintage and pre-loved kits covering different seasons and eras.
And there is a little bonus for anyone already following 1892 Football Shirts online.
Ethan offers his social followers a discount when buying from him. 👀
THE NEWCASTLE SHIRTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SELL
There’s one slight problem with being both a collector and a trader.
Sometimes you don’t particularly want to sell the stock.
And for lifelong Newcastle United supporter Ethan, that problem usually arrives in black and white.
“As a Newcastle fan, one of the hardest things I find to part with is Newcastle shirts!”
Particularly when they’re his size.
His ultimate ambition?
To collect every Newcastle shirt, if possible.
But it’s the harder-to-find pieces that really keep the hunt interesting.
Ethan loves discovering unusual European shirts and kits from teams that aren’t commonly seen in the UK — the kind of shirt that makes another football fan stop and ask where on earth you found it.
And that’s exactly the sort of thing we like at our Vintage Market.
No catalogue. No twenty identical versions.
Something individual, with a story behind it.
FOOTBALL SHIRTS ARE MEMORY
That’s perhaps why vintage football shirts sit so comfortably in the world of vintage.
They weren’t originally created as collectables.
They were worn.
To matches. To the pub. Playing football in the street. On holidays. On Sunday mornings.
They got associated with promotions, relegations, cup runs, terrible signings, brilliant players and seasons people would either love to experience again — or happily forget.
Decades later, the right shirt can bring all of that straight back.
And buying pre-loved means those shirts get another life rather than disappearing into the back of a wardrobe.
SHOP THE MARKET
For Ethan, coming to North Shields isn’t simply about putting shirts on a rail and selling them.
It’s the conversations he’s looking forward to.
“One of my favourite things about holding events and pop-ups is the opportunity to speak to people all about football shirts.”
And if somebody walks away having finally found a shirt they’ve been searching for?
“If I can help them find one that they are after or love, then it makes my day!”
That’s exactly why we’re introducing the people behind our stalls through SHOP THE MARKET.
Because sometimes the best part of finding something vintage is meeting the person who knows exactly why it’s worth finding.
Welcome to the market, Ethan.
FIND 1892 FOOTBALL SHIRTS
Instagram: @1892footballshirts
I LOVE NORTH SHIELDS VINTAGE MARKET — AUTUMN EDITION
Sunday 25 October 2026 · 10am–7pm
Salt Market Social · North Shields Fish Quay
More than 50 independent traders across two floors, bringing together vintage fashion, antiques, collectables, records, homeware, curiosities and one-off finds.
Plus live North East music throughout the day, food and drinks.
FREE ENTRY.
Come for the vintage. Stay for the social.
Get your free Vintage Market ticket
