A footballer with multiple medals of the winners of the Champions League remembers how he often met the same child who was waiting at the doors of the training camp of a Premier League club every time he left.
For the habit and sympathy for the young man who would be there comes the rain or brightness, he would roll through his window and signed a series of articles. It would not take more than 30 seconds.
A few weeks later, the player asked the child why he was not at school.
“My dad pays me not to go to school,” he said. 'He leaves me to sign everything, then pick me up. We do more than your normal work.
Selling signed memories is a lucrative business, with some football shirts for four figures and now more than ever, independent vendors are appearing on the left, right and center using social networks to collect.
Earlier this month, a video of Pep Guardiola emerged that tells autograph hunters near his home. Do you want to live your life doing this, sincerely? Manchester City chief asks. 'Don't come back, I won't tell you again. I know your faces.
The Manchester City Chief Pep Guardiola has been a goal of autograph hunters who are often parked near his home
The footage shared the online programs of Guardiola's autograph hunters and told them not to approach him again
In the podcast of Football Stick To Football, Roy Keane put the boot calling them 'idiots' and an 'absolute discomfort'. “Good for you Pep,” he added.
However, within the industry, the perception is different, especially when so many signed goods do not have an authenticity certificate (COA) or genuine evidence that the article has really signed. “For those boys, that video is brilliant,” says Ben Soley, sales director at Icons.com. “It is a free promotion, free advertising and free authenticity.”
Icons.com began in 1999 and has a long -standing reputation when it comes to signed memories. Their products come from closed signature sessions where the players are already managers receive a rate for their time or for an established number of items, from shirts to photos, bracelets and boots. In terms of signed merchandise, they even have an exclusive agreement with Lionel Messi.
“Assuming that they are selling, the value in the total of those shirts in the video is easily four figures,” says Soley. 'The shirt of the house of Barcelona, we sell that signed, framed and licensed by Barcelona for £ 650.
'The numbers that go to the city's shirt, there are three of those who pepen the signals. We also sell that for £ 650, but we pay royalties and licenses. Buyers can be sold later if they choose and the consumer gets something that you can fully trust. '
Icons.com has labor relations with people such as Eric Cantona, Ronaldo and Guardiola, who last a signature session after City won the acute in 2023.
But without regulations, the Internet is full of signed memories of independent vendors, sold by a fraction of the price of those with COA, and many simply use photos or videos. Peter Johnson, who founded Stella firm, took off her business by taking great risks.
He told Mail Sport how he heard that Barcelona left a public airport, so he flew there from Birmingham. Then he booked a 'false flight' from Barcelona to enter the terminal and received signed goods from players such as Neymar, Luis Suárez and Messi.
Selling signed memories is a lucrative business with some four -digit shirts
Now his company is one of the most recognized memories of the world, who works with stars such as Ben Stokes and Paul Gascoigne.
However, more and more how autographs-cazadores operate is a matter of concern. Some Premier League clubs fine players that stop outside the training fields. If one stops, establish a precedent and the hunters will return. Nor is it uncommon for star players to denounce cars that follow them, and hunters often reserve rooms in hotels where the teams stay.
Mail Sport recently revealed that Manchester United is increasingly frustrated with the so -called “professionals” who are reaping their players with what the sources call 'autographs at an industrial scale' in Old Trafford. They arrive with armed shirts or books full of numbers that can then be printed on shirts, and many arrive five hours before the start to get their place. Some appear in Stockport Station, which United often uses to go to games outside London.
Outside Stamford Bridge, there are two games of lights near the Fulham Broadway station where hunters gather, knowing that players will never pass through both lights on their way home and will have to stop one. There are always genuine fans who appear, but players are increasingly aware of the same faces and voices.
Some throw their children in front, since players are more likely to stop. There are no limits. Sir Alex Ferguson was furious when he was asked to sign a shirt on the outskirts of the Manchester Cathedral after the funeral of the Kath Phipps club icon this month.
A hunter remembers how Cafu was talking on the phone at the lobby of a hotel and put on his shirt in front of his face. The two -time World Cup winner was furious, but signed it to get him out of the way.
Examples like that are endless and explain why players stop even though they know that they can generously pay for signing elements in a “legitimate” way. For the best players, an independent one -hour signature sessions can win a sum of five figures.
“It is a human interaction and you don't need much to sign some things,” says a former Premier League player. 'We have to get them out of the way, such as when we leave the ground. He is frustrating, but players are aware of their image and want them to interact. With all the people around you, it is difficult to choose between fans and vendors and you don't want violent reaction.
The Liverpool star, Mohamed Salah, has adopted the rare approach not to sign autographs completely
More and more, sellers are proud of the fact that consumers do not have to travel and wait outside the stadiums
Some players like Mohamed Salah do not sign autographs, but general boycots are rare and athletes are often content to know that these products end up being sold to genuine fans.
However, customers are still exploited. When someone sells 20 shirts signed at £ 100 per piece, for example, the understanding between those in the game is that they have secured a geniune firm and then have forged it. Experts in handwriting are used.
In 2008, the owner of a store in Chester was declared guilty of falsifying autographs after Liverpool and United players and the legend of Rugby Jonny Wilkinson shared their concerns. Prosecutors discovered that false actions were mixed with genuine stocks, so it was easier to deceive the public.
More recently, the icons provided evidence in a judicial case in which the authorities raided a warehouse and caught a man signing with a pen in his hand. He made £ 1 million in nine years and was convicted of fraud and money laundering. “Ultimately, it hurts everyone in the industry,” says Soley. “There is a huge emptiness of black holes where no one is reviewing and monitoring and buyers cannot trust.”
The market is only growing with people who see signed memories as investments. The market value of an authentic Messi shirt signed went from around 350 to £ 1500 after Argentina won the 2022 World Cup.
Increasingly, sellers are proud of the fact that consumers do not have to travel and wait stadiums outside the stadiums and training fields without guarantee that they get what they want.
“It is good that PEP is saying to school and doing something, but they are all free to do what they want,” says an autograph Hunter, who only sells through Instagram and Facebook. 'It's not illegal, right? There is money to win and we dedicate time and effort.
'You just have to look at the messages I received at Christmas to see what dreams come true. We are spending hours waiting in the cold so that others do not need to do it.