FOI 0444-2025/26- Counterfeit football shirts

Request:

Q1. The total number of counterfeit football shirts seized by your force each year from 2019 to the most recent year available.

Q2. (If readily available) The estimated total value (£) of these seized shirts for each year.

Q3. 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.

Response:

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

Q1. A free text search was carried on the word ‘counterfeit’ in the timeframe specified to which provided a nil result.

Q2 & Q3. N/A

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.