More than £200,000 worth of counterfeit football merchandise has been seized and surrendered for destruction after an investigation by Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils’ Trading Standards Service. The fake goods were being sold both in a Stirling based shop and online, and expert witnesses for the brand holders confirmed the vast majority of the stock was counterfeit.
The investigation was launched after complaints from members of the public about dodgy football jerseys. Anyone who has walked through a market town on a Saturday morning will have seen the type: shirts that look almost right but are just slightly off in the stitching, the badge, or the fabric. The difference is that these were being sold as genuine articles, and people were paying genuine prices for fakes.
The trader voluntarily surrendered the stock and received a written warning to comply with consumer legislation in the future. No criminal prosecution has been announced.
Councillor Alasdair Tollemache, who oversees Trading Standards for Stirling Council, said: “The sale of counterfeit goods including football merchandise is a serious offence and not a victimless crime. It destroys jobs, undermines the hard work of legitimate businesses and has links to serious criminal activities.”
He is right on every count. Counterfeit goods might seem harmless, a cheaper alternative for fans who cannot afford the increasingly expensive prices clubs charge for official merchandise. But the money goes somewhere, and it is not to local businesses or the clubs whose names and logos are being stolen. The scale of this operation, more than £200,000 worth of goods from a single shop and online presence, tells you this was not a hobby. This was organised counterfeiting being run as a business.