How to Frame a Retro Football Shirt

There’s nothing that shows your love for the beautiful game like a framed shirt. Everyone that comes over can see your passion for the sport, your team or your favourite player and framed shirts can have all kinds of emotional connections to the season you won the league or that legendary last-minute finisher.

What you’ll need to Frame your Football Shirt

If you’re doing a DIY shirt framing, you’ll need a set of tools to make sure that you can easily frame your shirt. Don’t worry, it’s actually quite simple to frame your shirt. 

You’ll need:

• Cardboard 
• Scissors 
• A frame 
• Masking tape/Needle and thread/magnets
• Any added extras

Where to start

First, you should consider professional framing for your shirt. It is the best way to avoid damage to the shirt itself. After all, if you’re spending money on your  retro football shirt, what’s a little more to make sure you can preserve your shirt for as long as possible.

Then, when you’re looking into exactly how to frame your retro football shirt, take your shirt, draw around the shirt, using it as a template, and then put the shirt somewhere safe! Cut out your template and put the shirt over your cardboard template. Secure your shirt to the board using your chosen method and place it into the frame.

Important considerations

 It’s important to think about the fabric and cut of your shirt. The fabric might mean that your shirt has more stretch to it, so can make it harder to frame. You should also think about the cut of your shirt, whether it has a particular way of falling. Either of these could be factors in why you want to get your shirt professionally framed.

Don’t damage the football shirt

There’s a couple of steps you can take to make sure you don’t cause damage to your shirt. Avoiding staples and glue when you’re securing it to your board, these can damage your shirt because glue will cause sticky patches or super glue will rip the board you use. Staples seem like a good idea but oxidisation causes the staples to rust over time and create marks and stains on your shirt.

Including extras

Adding in some extra memorabilia to your frame isn’t just for decoration, it can highlight the time you got it or bring back the memories of the year you wanted to celebrate with the shirt itself. Including photos or a ticket stub of your or your family at a match, or even a picture capturing the moment you won a playoff are a great way to bring back the memories and make your frame a centrepiece of your love for football.

Last minute advice 

Before you frame your vintage football shirt, here’s some last minute advice to consider:

Try finding a frame with UV protection if your shirt is going to be in direct sunlight, it helps to prevent your shirt and extras from fading. 

Make sure that your frame is big enough so that your shirt doesn’t look squashed in it, leave space around the shirt to make it look good.

If you’re looking for a shirt to frame or a you’re looking for a gift for someone who is passionate about football, getting a retro football shirt is a great idea. Whether you support  Arsenal  or  Chelsea, there are plenty of retro football shirts to choose from - top tip: if you’re buying a shirt for someone else, it’s a good idea to pick a season when they won something (or just a shirt that looks good).