Introduction
Football has now become a household name. Families gather in front of their television every weekend to watch live league matches, students miss classes to catch highlights and people spend a lot of money to enjoy the experience live. This significant prevalence that football is gaining has also led to increased demand for memorabilia. Where, in the past signed football only consisted of personalized autographs given out for free by players, nowadays they have become money making schemes; directed to earn lump sum amounts for every signed football provided. The football industry takes advantage of the people’s passions, motivation and extra cash to earn some as well.
History
Signed football which is collected can be of various forms and go back of a variety of time periods. The collectibles that are signed by old age footballers are considerably more expensive due to their rich history and the stories that they tell. Many clubs and teams now create customized memorabilia for example shirts, shoes, posters and pictures (all signed) endorsed by superstar players. Some have specialized outlets, whereas, others tend to receive sponsorships from companies such as Nike and Adidas. Around 15 years ago, signed memorabilia were not sold in the markets; they were auctioned off at extremely high prices mainly to help causes including breast cancer, child abuse and poverty. Nowadays, due to amplified demand and staggering success of football, all things associated with it tend to have a positive response. Certain eras need to be taken into consideration. If one prefers a Manchester United signed football the 1960-70s eras would be good estimate of the peak period where good memorabilia were available.
Features
As mentioned, signed football can be provided through four different sources namely; footballers themselves on your own materials, at team kiosks in stadiums, online auctions, shops and lastly, retail outlets. The nature of signed football has become money centered, as nowadays players can barley take out sufficient time to sign fans’ shirts, note books and obviously footballs. Using the Internet is still, to date the most common method of purchasing any item of signed football. The convenience of items being available all over the globe is a plus point, which makes up for the unnecessary high prices. Kiosks selling items at stadiums receive considerable responses after fans disappoint on not being able to receive autographs. After all, the players can’t sign a million shirts and footballs! One must retain the fact that memorabilia other than being collectibles are a secure investment as prices will usually hike positively in the future; and reselling would be an advantage.
Tips and Comments
First and foremost, it I is of dire need to ensure that signed football is authentic, as fake signatures on cheap items have become a major movement. Hence, if being purchased online credible websites should be utilized. These include eBay and even customized ones by the name of Signed Football. Those memorabilia being sold in the name of various causes should be given preference as two birds are shot with one arrow! Fans should always try to receive free personalized autographs from footballers, as they hold much more significance and emotional value as compared to those that are homogenous. Lastly, signed football should always be kept in secure places, free from dust and alien harm to protect their authenticity and image for as long as possible.
