Are you looking for a Christmas present for the football fanatic in your life? You could do a lot worse than picking from this selection of football Christmas gifts.
For young football fans, the usual suspects of replica kits, boots and the FIFA video game are once again available, so in this article we will aim to dig a little deeper and find some more interesting football Christmas gifts for you to give for Christmas 2018. We’ve also tried to cover football Christmas gifts for all ages, from kids through to longer standing footie fanatics.
All the product titles are clickable if you want more information about any of them. So without further ado…
Our recommended football Christmas gifts
Minimal Boots Predator T-Shirt by By Mark Johnson (Art of Football)
If Santa’s splashing out to buy someone you know a new pair of football boots, artist Mark Johnson has got he perfect accompanying stocking filler: a t-shirt charting the evolution of the adidas Predator boot in stylish, minimal illustrations. If boots aren’t your recipient’s bag, check out Mark’s other work, which often includes clever mash-ups of the various football kits that defined a particular player’s career.
Netherlands 1988 Retro Kit Mug (Patterns of Play)
Let someone sup their Christmas cuppas in style with this mug based on Netherlands’ iconic kit from Euro 1988. The geometric pattern of the orange Adidas number if wrapped around a ceramic mug. Patterns of Play has produced several retro football kit mugs, including designs based on Manchester United and Arsenal shirts, but this is the pick of the bunch for our money.
World At Your Feet football picture book (Rob Parker & Lawerta)
Books for boys can be a difficult Christmas purchase, particularly if you want to make sure they actually read it. World At Your Feet ticks the boxes if you’re buying for a football mad child. It features 16 memorable goal, which are each brought to life by entertaining rhyming commentary and vivid illustrations befitting the colour and drama and the beautiful game. Diego Maradona, James Rodriguez, Dennis Bergkamp and Robin van Persie are among the players featured.
Casual Socks Collection (COPA)
Socks for Christmas is some pretty tedious gift-giving, so if you’re going down that route you need to tread very carefully. This box of socks from COPA should do the trick. They feature stylish minimal illustrations of memorable moments of footballing naughtiness, including Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt, Diego Maradona’s hand of God and Nigel De Jong’s kung fu tackle.
Italia 90 Pin Badges (Hallyink)
You can’t beat a good pin badge, and they don’t come much better than this set by Hallyink. Some of the most iconic kits of Italia 90 – perhaps the ultimate iconic tournament – are reimagined in order to be worn on your lapel, chest pocket or hat. You can choose one badge or get a great deal if you’re buying more than one. Cameroon, Argentina, England (home and away) and West Germany are among those featured.
King Cashmere Football Scarf (Savile Rogue)
It’s time for nylon to get relegated. Your recipient will be able to say goodbye to that nasty neckwear they picked up from a trader outside the ground if you give the gift of warm, itch-free afternoons at the football with a cashmere scarf from Savile Rogue. Practical on the terraces and nice enough to be worn elsewhere.
Mundial Magazine Annual Subscription
Get a year’s worth of Mundial magazines delivered to your favourite football fan. That’s four issues of the popular football lifestyle magazine. They’ll even send the first issue of the subscription to you if you want to wrap it and send it to Santa.
Football Manager 2019
Want to help someone curb their social life dramatically? The latest edition of the legendarily addictive Football Manager series should do the trick. There are several new features for FM19, including the introduction of mid-season training camps if you want to take your squad away to sunnier climes; greater focus on youth development; and better in-game commentary. Just don’t expect to see much of recipient in 2019.
Jumpers For Goal Posts (Dave Will Design)
Illustrator Dave Will riffs on the rules, quirks and memories of playground football in this delightful slice of childhood football nostalgia. The book includes a run down of the preferable options for a school yard ball, from official Premier League ball, through old casey, plastic fly away, sponge ball and tennis ball, to the humble plastic bottle.
Liberté Egalité Mbappé T-Shirt (PhilosophyFootball.com)
Sign-off 2018 with a celebration of this year’s World Cup winners and arguably the breakout player of the tournament. Kylian Mbappe was not exactly an unknown going into Russia 2018, but his performances confirmed his status as heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. This t-shirt is an Mbappe-inspired nod to the France’s national motto: “Liberté, égalité, fraternité.”
Personalised Shin Pads (Shin Designs)
Give a football player something cherish and hold close to their sweaty shins with a pair of personalised shin pads. Shin Designs let you choose the shape of shin pad and the design that gets printed on it. Upload a photo of yourself and let the recipient tuck you into their socks for the big match. You can create your own design or get their designers to come up with one on your behalf.
Today’s Strikers Retro Top Trumps
Take a little football fan back to the good old days with this set of retro Top Trumps, which will introduce them to English football’s finest strikers of 1992. Who needs Harry Kane when you could have Steve Bull instead? Great post-Christmas dinner entertainment and a footballing education, too.
That concludes our list of football Christmas gifts. We hope you found some inspiration for your Christmas shopping for the football fans in your life. Good luck!
