Euro 2020: England fan picks lucky shirt from 367-strip collection

Pete Hammond reckons his mammoth collection is worth about £15,000

A football shirt fanatic with a collection of 367 team strips will be wearing a "lucky" England kit for the game against Ukraine.

Pete Hammond, 39, has been following his sporting garment obsession for almost 30 years.

During that time he has amassed 24 different England tops.

He has chosen the England side's 1992-93 season third strip as his good-luck charm for the Euro 2020 quarter-final in Rome.

The lesser-seen alternative kit - which was worn during international games only twice before it was retired - features a sublimated three lions motif on a light blue background.

Mr Hammond, of Spalding, Lincolnshire, was spoilt for choice, especially after he recently catalogued his collection and found it was bigger than he realised.

"I thought it was 364 but I found an extra three shirts to get to the total," he said.

Hanging on the washing lion: Mr Hammond's collection contains 24 different England kits

He says he has "always loved football shirts" - charting his obsession back to his first introduction to the game.

"I was never going to be a footballer - I was certainly never good enough - but if I can have a decent collection that goes some way to filling the gap," he said.

The shirty fan, who works for a publishing firm, reckons his collection is worth about £10,000 to £15,000 - though he rarely shells out top price.

To keep his spending within a modest budget, he rarely pays more than £30 per top.

The collection fills numerous drawers and cupboards at his home

And his frugal fashion could play to his advantage, as his growing kit room might require some pricey home renovations if it continues to grow.

"My wife has got a firm idea that we should convert the garage and kick me out into that, it's going to become my man cave/shirt room", he said.

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