Counterfeit football shirts

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/003572/K

Version Date: 20/08/2025

The Performance Analysis Department have provided the following information.
Performance Analysis have searched within the Niche Crime Universe for occurrences containing the keywords ‘football shirt’ or ‘football kit’ and one of the following ‘counterfeit’ or ‘fake’. They have also searched for linked property containing the word ‘football’ in the Property Common Name field. One occurrence was in relation to a counterfeit football shirt; however this was referred to Action Fraud and no football shirt was seized by Dorset Police.
1. The total number of counterfeit football shirts seized by your force each year from 2019 to the most recent year available.
2. (If readily available) The estimated total value (£) of these seized shirts for each year.
3. The number of arrests each year relating to the sale or distribution of counterfeit football shirts, or counterfeit football merchandise, if shirts are not recorded separately.
For consistency:
- Please provide figures for full calendar years (Jan–Dec) where possible. If only financial year data is available, please specify this.
- If your systems do not separately record “football shirts,” please confirm this and provide data for the broader category of counterfeit sportswear instead.
- Please confirm whether seizure counts represent individual shirts or seizure incidents/operations, and whether value estimates are based on retail or street value.

This has resulted in a nil return. Action Fraud (Action Fraud) may be better placed to answer this request.