The Vintage Football Fair came to Sheffield on Sunday, with the Steamworks hosting several vendors selling hundreds of shirts over the course of the day.

The event, hosted a stone’s throw away from Bramall Lane, comes off the back of the large rise in popularity that retro football shirts have seen in the past few years. The rise of “Blokecore” has seen vintage football shirts become fashionable.

Classic Football Shirts, one of the biggest retro shirts sellers, has seen sales increase by over 30% year on year, and with Ebay reporting a 40% surge in “vintage football shirts” searches, and big brands such as Nike and Adidas re-releasing retro kits, football shirts have entered a new realm of popularity.

Vintage jerseys can go for hundreds or even thousands of pounds online, and replicas from sites such as DHgate and Pandabuy are becoming ever more popular.

Matt Booth has been selling football shirts for ten years, and has been collecting them for over 15 years. He co-founded The Shirt Collectors with friends and regularly attends retro kit fairs across the North, where he’s seen the surge in popularity first hand.

“It’s definitely more fashionable. There’s a lot of influence online as well. A lot of celebrities wear them these days.

“It’s great to see the culture that has come on so much recently.”

Mr Booth is a strong advocate for going to fairs like the Steamworks’ as opposed to going to mainstream outlets due to the community.

“I think you can come to somewhere like this and there’s real value to be had.

“You have experiences here, there’s a community of people here as well. You can have conversations and meet all the like-minded people as well. You don’t necessarily get that if you go to bigger places.”

Booth credits the increase in price of football shirts to inflation.

“I think that’s just a sign of the times. Not only is there high inflation, clubs and brands will cash in.”

Luke Bulmer, another vendor at the Vintage Football Fair, has been selling retro shirts since his first year of University, seven years ago. He attended fairs in the past and says that it has grown compared to prior years.

“I think it’s definitely getting bigger. It’s getting more popular as well.

“There’s a lot of big businesses nowadays that are taking it on.”

Despite selling authentic jerseys, Mr Bulmer says he understands why some fans opt for replicas

“It’s better for people who are struggling with money. It’s obviously a good alternative.

“I know a couple of my mates who support [Sheffield] Wednesday. Obviously with the problems in ownership, they buy the fake ones because they don’t want to buy the real ones.”

Regardless of the increase in replica shirts, more events like this will be commonplace in the birthplace of football.