With a playing style more Sta-Press than high press, this Geordie firm kicks other socks into touch
In stark contrast to the pricy merchandise at club shops, The Sock Council has been manufacturing high-quality hosiery for football obsessives since 2013, along with bobble hats and gear with tangential themes such as British Rail and Tony Soprano.
Owner Reuven Fletcher gives Brian Mulligan TSC’s origin story, an insight into their sourcing, and suggests how their values and beliefs inform their products.
“It all started out as a daft laugh on social media back in 2011,” begins Reuven. “I met Wrexham fan Wrighty with his Man City mates before a game and had a brief chat about socks as we were both big buyers.”
“The following week, he messaged me on social media and said, ‘Are you that Geordie bloke who likes socks?’ Indeed, I was! We joked about forming a club and so The Sock Council was born.”
“We weren’t at all taking it seriously, it was purely for fun, a distraction from the day to day. Then things just snowballed. people started asking to join and, after telling them at first it wasn’t a real thing, I just gave in and went with the flow. I made some membership cards and stickers, sent them out for free and ended up making some socks.”
As is the way with these things, one sock led to another, and soon Reuven was turning pro: “After a couple of years, I decided that it might be worth making it into a business proper and here we are a dozen or so years later. It’s amazing what beer, football and a daft laugh can lead to!”
For Reuven, it has led from St James’ Park to Subaru Park, home of MLS side Philadelphia Union: “It’s been an absolute pleasure, with some stresses along the way, of course, but it’s taken me to places I would never have gone, and I have met some incredible people and made lifelong friends because of socks and hats. I turned up in Philadelphia for a Newcastle game and saw literally hundreds of Americans wearing hats I had made and sent from Newcastle. It was a huge buzz!”
In the meantime, Reuven and his team spread their net wide: “We were the first to do the Bruised Banana socks based on the classic Arsenal change kit and they went down a storm. Newcastle and Sunderland socks sell really well, us being from the North East ourselves and having good links with people here.”
“It also very much depends on how football teams are performing. A good run and improved form will see spikes in sales. Celtic, for example, fans aren’t too happy at the moment but things will change and they will be buying King of Kings socks again.”
“We’ll soon have some new Aberdeen socks to commemorate their cup win and new Leeds socks as well. Spurs and Forest are in the pipeline after a historic season for both. Changing things and bringing in new ideas is a big part of what we do rather than focusing on volume.”
Stretching the brand, The Sock Council has long moved into areas such as bobble hats, bucket hats and T-shirts – see Football Bobbles for the current selection.
The sock range extends beyond the stadium too: “The Train Socks series have been well received by railway fanatics but it’s a nod to our football travels of the 1990s and awayday culture, that took us on a bit of a journey of discovery”.
“I’m also proud of using the business for causes we support. We’ve raised money for a Ukrainian children’s cancer charity with anti-Putin Socks. Similarly, there were the Manchester Bee Socks after the dreadful attack at the Ariana Grande concert that claimed so many lives.”
“Profits of £5,000-plus went to a man and his daughter from the Manchester area who both suffered life-changing injuries. There have been Show Racism The Red Card, Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, and Free Palestine Socks.”
“It’s possible to run a business, make a living and be on the right side of history.”
And repeat customers keep coming back… “We try to make the best-quality items we can. We go to extremes, sampling and visiting our suppliers to make sure they are the right match for us and can do what we need. We’ve worked with some suppliers since our inception as a business proper in 2013.”
“We’d love to do everything here in the UK but due to a hugely competitive market and the death of UK manufacturing in many areas, it’s just impossible. Most of our bobble hats are made in the UK but we work with superb suppliers in Portugal, Italy and Turkey to get the best items we can.”
“We take pride in what we do and we like our stuff to last. There’s so much fast fashion and cheap stuff out there, we don’t want to do that, it’s not sustainable for anyone.”
Order your football gear from The Sock Council and Football Bobbles.
