Fashion / Vintage clothing
Story behind Bristol’s only vintage football shirt shop
Football shirts have long suffered the ignominy of being associated with hooliganism and antisocial behaviour.
But not anymore. From the fringes, they’ve already become a form of cultural expression, whether one likes it or not.
The father-and-daughter duo, Fraser and Eva Van Nuil, tapped into the niche of vintage clothing to found Bristol’s only dedicated vintage football shirt shop – TopBinz Football Shirts.
is needed now More than ever
They admitted that there is no shortage of vintage clothing stores and expressed their pride in running the only shop dedicated to vintage football shirts. No rugby, no cricket, no basketball – just football.
A section of the 4000-strong stock of vintage football shirts
Their love for the game scaled into a business idea, despite the pitfalls that come with it.
Opened earlier this year, they are now a close-knit team working around the clock, answering phone calls and emails from far-flung places in search of specific shirts.
Co-founder Fraser said that more often than not they have what the fans are after. If not, they have the means to source it from collectors abroad, he said.
Fraser and Harry with some of the “top sellers”
The team now includes Eva’s boyfriend Harry MacCarthy, who brings his social media wizardry with reels on Instagram and catchy clips on TikTok.
The business is based at the Vanguard Self Storage unit on Church Road in Redfield, where a cornucopia of some 4,000 footy shirts are in stock.
The shop is open for traditional browsing as well but with a prior appointment.
As a lifelong Liverpool fan, Fraser said vintage footy tops are all about rekindling memories
The team was further strengthened by Betty Faulkner, who runs the website and Kasia Wyrzykowska, a former work associate of Fraser, who takes care of the work flow and scheduling.
For the team behind TopBinz, football shirts aren’t just clothing – they’re memory joggers.
A shirt can transport someone back to a certain period of their life.
Bristol City through the years, including the Centenary Special
Arsenal’s JVC kit is forever tied to Ian Wright, as is Liverpool’s Carlsberg kit worn by Steven Gerrard. The 1982 yellow Iveco top worn by John Barnes is a thing of beauty, they admit, as is Manchester United’s black Sharp-emblazoned shirt, linked to Eric Cantona’s infamous karate kick.
As a lifelong Liverpool fan, Fraser admits that beyond the fun of sharing joy and nostalgia with others, there is the painstaking process of sourcing vintage shirts, authenticating them, grading their condition and displaying them for buyers to pick from.
Prices range from £20 to over £1,000, depending on rarity.
The gas tops through the years
Among the “treasures” include Jorge Campos’ self-designed goalkeeper top and Mexico’s “Aztec heritage kit”.
Bristol City and Bristol Rovers shirts through the years are also in stock, including the centenary Bristol City top featuring the names of past players.
“Football shirts capture the history of the game,” Fraser said. “It’s fashion. People have favourite players and bygone eras when their team was successful. They love to hold on to those memories through shirts. And that’s very special.”
TopBinz is run by a small but close-knit group
Beyond the shop, Fraser is also a founding member of the global consultancy Modus, which works across engineering, construction, energy and insurance.
But he admits that spending time at the footy shop is a welcome “switch off” from the high-pressure world of finance and litigation.
The vintage footy shirt shop is based at Vanguard self storage on Church Road
All photos: Milan Perera
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