Teamwear
How Many Sports Kits Should You Order?
A simple way to work out kit quantities for a squad — players, goalkeepers, spares and the sizes that always run out — so you are not paying for a second small order mid-season.
Order too few kits and you will be placing a small, expensive top-up order before the season is half over. Order too many and you have a box of unused shirts with last year's sponsor on them. Here is a straightforward way to land in the middle.
Start with the squad, not the starting line-up
Count every player who will wear the kit in a match during the season, not just the regular starters. For most amateur teams that means the full registered squad.
Add goalkeepers separately
Goalkeeper kits use a different design, so they are a separate item — usually two or three per team, in a long-sleeve shirt, depending on how many keepers you register.
Add spares
Spares cover new players, lost shirts, damaged shirts and the occasional player who discovers they ordered the wrong size. A reasonable buffer is around 10% of the squad, rounded up, concentrated in the most common sizes.
If names are printed on the shirts, order spares without names, or with numbers only, so they can be personalised later with a heat transfer.
Think about the minimum order
Sublimated teamwear usually has a minimum per design — often around ten pieces, with sizes mixed. If your squad is close to the minimum, adding two or three spares may cost very little per piece. Our article on sportswear MOQ explains how minimums work.
Shorts and socks wear out differently
Shorts and socks wear out and go missing faster than shirts. Consider ordering a slightly higher quantity of both, especially for youth teams.
A worked example
A club with a 20-player senior squad and two goalkeepers:
| Item | Calculation | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Outfield shirts | 20 players + 2 spares | 22 |
| Goalkeeper shirts | 2 keepers + 1 spare | 3 |
| Shorts | 22 outfield + 3 keepers + 2 extra | 27 |
| Socks (pairs) | 25 players + 5 extra | 30 |
When to order more
Order a larger buffer if:
- your club has a high player turnover (youth teams, university sides);
- delivery to your country is slow or expensive, making top-ups costly;
- the design will stay the same for more than one season.
When to order less
Keep spares low if:
- your sponsor changes every season;
- you can reorder easily — for example, from a customer account that keeps your specification on file.
