Well, we made a promise last month and we kept it. The Showboat marketplace is now live! Something we’ve been working on for a long time is out in the world. The response from you all so far has meant a great deal to us. But this is only the beginning.

We are now working alongside some of the most trusted and authentic shirt sellers in the U.K. They are together in one place, with more joining each week, and it already feels like what we hoped it would become: a genuine hub for enthusiasts. Our focus now is simple. Make it sharper. Make it smoother. Make it better for the sellers and better for you.

Throughout March we will be refining the small details that turn something good into something seamless. At the same time, we are continuing to build out the collectors app, which is now available on Android. We are all in on this. Every penny that comes in goes straight back into improving the app and strengthening the marketplace.

If you choose to buy a shirt through Showboat, or simply continue supporting what we are building, it genuinely helps at this stage. It gives us room to grow and to keep improving the experience for collectors.

Now, onto the newsletter!

📋 Team selections - Our February cultural picks
🍻 Pre-match interview - A Pint with…Calcio 90
💺 On the Bench - Juventus commit a cardinal sin
💥 Showboaters - Those peacocking in our community this month
👕 Post Match Clobber - Shirts we can’t get enough of
🔊 Singing us off - An Irish masterpiece

↣ Puppet by Grian Chatten - Our mate from Bradley’s Spanish Bar seems to have found his Warren Ellis equivalent on this menacing number that has just a trickle of ‘Romance’ (the track) running through it. LK. 

↣ The Secret Agent - This moves at a pace that would make James Tarkowski look quick but not every thriller needs to be made with a Netflix audience in mind, does it? A brilliant, elusive film. It’s on at your local or on Mubi if you like watching films in bed. RL.

↣ The Man Who Seeks Pleasure by Madra Salach - The most beautiful track of 2026. We’ll be saying that in December too. LK.

For some time now, we've heard about the man behind Calcio 90 in almost hushed tones. "His is the collection," people would tell us. You learn to take all these things with a pinch of salt, especially at Showboat where we've seen collections worth well into six figures. But the rumours were true about the guy who runs Calcio 90. It's the real deal and that hasn’t got a thing to do with value. It’s a personal collection, something that has been built and nurtured. It’s involved sacrifice. It’s now joyfully discussed by the owner, who’ll remain nameless by request. He’s one of the nicest, most interesting people we’ve met since starting Showboat. We think you’ll enjoy our chat.

Calcio 90 is a private collection first. Was there a single shirt that made you realise this was no longer just a hobby?
My grandmother was an art dealer in Palermo for over 50 years, and I once asked her how she came to terms with selling paintings she really loved. Her reply was simple “c’era, non c’è più,” which roughly translates as “you had it, now you don’t”. I love the principle but, goddamit, I hate selling my stuff. 

In an ideal world I don’t think there should be any separation between life and work so if Calcio 90 can afford me the joy of maintaining the collection while also generating enough for me to live off then I’ve really hit the jackpot.

Growing up in England with Italian parents, what did Football Italia mean to you at the time?
It was a lifeline for me, a window into my roots. I mean, what a huge source of pride it was for a small Italian kid to know that what everyone in England couldn't wait for was James Richardson to start leafing through the pink pages of the Gazzetta dello Sport every weekend. There would be no Calcio 90 without it.

Do you remember the first 90s Serie A shirt you owned? And do you still have it?
It’s a bittersweet kit. A fake AC Milan Mediolanum shirt from 1989 - the only thing my father ever gave me. It’s single-handedly responsible for the size of the collection I have today. I’d probably have had a nice full bank account if he’d given me a box of Lego instead.

What’s the one piece in your collection that you’d never sell, regardless of the offer?
It’s not one kit, it is 38 - I’ve got a list. But if the collection is going up in flames I’d have to rescue Baggio’s match-worn and signed 1996 AC Milan shirt and shorts. I flew to Italy to pick it up off Gabriele who spent a day showing me one of the most astonishing collections of memorabilia I’ve ever seen.

There’s a difference between a reseller and a custodian. Do you see yourself as preserving something that might otherwise be lost?
If you collect you become a custodian of history, and there is a huge responsibility that comes with that. Without the hours we all put in searching, documenting, interrogating and sharing, there would be no connection left with the past. What I do feels important, even though to most people I’m just collecting other men’s used clothes. 

Serie A in the 90s felt almost cinematic. Was it the players, the kits, the TV coverage, or something harder to define?
It was full of violence, elegance, excess and obsession. Some of the football was utterly dreadful, but the chaos was unbelievably compelling - like someone had snapped off the handbrake. Gods were made and came crashing down to earth; there was suffering, addiction and heartbreak, but also moments of real beauty and artistry. Nobody was looking to cover up the imperfections.

Do you collect with your head or your heart?
The heart leads everything, but you have to use your head if you want to be a serious collector. I have spreadsheets of every purchase, archives of photos, lists of details, projections of value, networks of collectors, piles of search terms, and I can focus like a hawk on what I’m looking for.

Tell us about your lived experience of attending games in Serie A? Did it live up to the romance we all saw on TV?
I’ve been so lucky to see almost every great player who played in the 90s - Baggio being unveiled at Bologna’s training ground, Ronaldo’s first goal in an Inter shirt, Zidane, Del Piero, Maldini. But last year I went to Naples to watch them win the Scudetto. Holy shit. The city literally exploded when McFratm scored. Old men wept, children partied deep into the night, grandmas sang till they lost their voices. The city disappeared in blue smoke. Nothing will ever top that.

Which shirt got away?
Another collector once told me that the bigger your collection the harder it becomes to appreciate it; for years I was always thinking about the shirts that got away, but I just won’t do that anymore.

It has taken a hell of a lot of sacrifice to build this collection, so I prefer to focus on what I have rather than what slipped away. When I look at what I have I can’t believe how lucky I am.

How do you know when it’s time to release a piece from the archive?
When I was 9 I was collecting soft drink cans; I had about 1,000 in my room. One day a friend came over, kicked a ball around and crushed a couple. That evening I threw out every single one. 

I collect to complete a collection, if one piece vanishes, then everything else must go as well.

Thirsty work.

The new Juventus shirt. We get. It’s retro fashion. They even wore it in a game. All of them in long sleeves. Fair play. But let's be honest, it looked like it was designed by Lawrence Dallaglio. Rugby boys on a stag vibes. Brown loafers on as soon they finished the game. Chugging pints and tagging Schooner Scorer on Instagram. Chasing it with a shot of sherry. 180 notes too. Tories in Turin.

↣ Christian Jeffery continues to drop one of one shirts that we wish we could buy. They look like they belong in a museum. So it’s a good thing he’s working with Oof Gallery.

↣ We’re sponsoring The Vintage Football Fair in Sheffield this Sunday so if you fancy a pint then find the two tall blokes making a show of themselves at the Yard Ball stand.

↣ An unusual one this month but we implore you to check out Clapton FC and their Sandinista shirt. It’s a brilliant story and an important shirt.

↣ Greece’s on-off relationship with adidas is back on. We approve.

↣ adidas raided the archives and reissued five classics. This Chile number was the pick of the bunch.

That’s Issue #11 in the books. These are so enjoyable to put together for you all, we’re already planning the next one a little earlier in March. In the meantime, if you’re in the market for a classic football shirt or simply want to support what we’re doing, it would mean the world to us.

It’s an Irish goodbye this week. And as much as we wanted to go with Grian’s number, sometimes you’ve got to go with the lads starting out.

See you next month (or in the app)!

Cheers!
Lee, Rob & Antonio