How Two Dutch Brothers Found a Profitable Niche in Football with a Simple Idea You Wish You’d Had

It’s a brilliantly straightforward idea that football enthusiasts will wish they had thought of themselves, but it’s too late for that. Dutch siblings Bob (34) and Tijmen Zonderwijk (37) have already taken the initiative and are making significant strides with it.

eScored has found itself in an office complex about a 20-minute taxi ride from Amsterdam airport, seated across from the younger brother Bob. He has a youthful appearance, broad smile, and shows remarkably little resemblance to his older brother.

“We are completely different in our personalities, and we don’t really share any physical traits. People often ask if we’re brothers! Tijmen leans more towards the entrepreneurial side, while I’m more focused on processes, controls, checks, and balances.”

‘We’re looking after this for Ed’

On the wall of the relaxed workspace (which MatchWornShirt has already outgrown), there is a large framed Netherlands shirt bearing the inscription ‘ED’ where you would usually find a number or sponsor’s logo.

“This was a gift for the national team’s players and staff. It’s not match-worn, but it has flags from all the games they participated in at the 2022 World Cup. It belongs to Edgar Davids. He lives just around the corner, but he still needs to come and pick this up; we’ll see when he has time.”

I begin by asking Bob to recount the moment when the idea for a business that now generates seven figures in monthly revenue from auctioning match-worn football shirts was conceived.

“I think it was during Christmas 2015,” he reflects. At that time, he was practicing law alongside Tijmen. However, their true passion has always been football. Growing up in a village near Arnhem, Bob quickly clarifies that they are not Vitesse fans—“We do have a soft spot for Vitesse though,” he concedes. Their allegiance lies with Ajax, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. It was their father who unintentionally inspired the concept for MatchWornShirt.com. As he approached retirement from his role as a school headmaster, they sought to procure him a gift.

“We wanted something that could represent him, something to hang on the office wall, you know—a conversation starter. We debated: should we give him a painting or a photograph? But he’s not really into that. He’s just a regular guy who loves football and his job.”

“So we decided on a match-worn Ajax shirt since we were season ticket holders for 15 years. His highlight always revolved around our trips to Amsterdam every two weeks, enjoying a few beers before heading to the game together. His favorite player was Davy Klaassen, which reflects his personality well—Klaassen isn’t the most flamboyant player, but he is a diligent worker, driving the team forward.”

At the time, Ajax occasionally auctioned match-worn shirts during Christmas, but these events were corporate and closed-off, with proceeds benefiting charities. Bob and Tijmen believed that these events were not tapping into the full value of the shirts, and by opening bidding to anyone worldwide, greater funds could be raised for charitable causes.

Eighteen months later, the brothers found themselves in suits, making their initial business pitch to FC Twente’s retail team. “We entered the club, clearly overdressed, especially when the person we met was in a tracksuit.”

“We unleashed our pitch at him, and he didn’t flinch. Then he said, ‘Okay, sounds like a win-win, when can we start?’ We thought, ‘Oh, s––t, this is going to become real!’”

This was in September 2017 when Bob and Tijmen secured an agreement to purchase the starting XI’s first-half shirts from a recent game for €200 each to auction them off. “The crucial element was making it risk-free for the club. We alleviate all the hurdles because the club’s primary concern is winning points. Any additional stress does not work.”

“We handle everything for the club. The only requirement is that we communicate with the kit managers. We typically manage pickups via DHL, coordinating with a club contact, while they merely need to box up the shirts. Nowadays, it’s quite organized; earlier, it was just us directly in the dressing room.”

The brothers faced a loss on the FC Twente shirts but were undeterred. “You must fall and stand up again—trial and error.” Their first successful auction was their third attempt, which included some ADO Den Haag shirts.

“The club was generous enough to give us ten minutes of filming time with their two most iconic players. We scripted a bit of slapstick-style humor around what the other person’s shirt might smell like.” The content went viral, attracting fans to the auctions, which drove up bids and caught the attention of other clubs, like PSV.

Quickly, the brothers decided to take their model to England, pitching partnerships. They discovered clubs were open to the idea of a guaranteed, hassle-free revenue stream that had previously been nonexistent. Today, they maintain active partnerships with over 300 clubs worldwide, including Chelsea, Spurs, PSG, AC Milan, and many others.

“To operate profitably, we need to achieve a 25% revenue share on each shirt,” Bob clarifies. “We possess a wealth of data now, but we’re just emerging from our startup phase and commencing our scaling. Every deal is unique.”

MatchWornShirt now auctions hundreds of items daily, ranging from match-worn Messi shirts (one sold for €55,019, marking their highest sale to date) to shirts from South American women’s players. There’s something available for every fan.

Auction prices range from €89 all the way to €50-60k for a match-worn Lionel Messi shirt, who is ranked number one in eScored’s list of the greatest footballers ever. Two remarkable auctions this season included the shirt Cole Palmer wore against Brighton when he scored four goals (€41,127) and the shirt Erling Haaland wore when he became Norway’s all-time leading scorer (£25k).

While the revenue figures sound impressive, a considerable portion of that is directed to charity. MatchWornShirt leverages its business model and audience to assist clubs in raising funds for their charitable foundations. It’s a clever strategy that fosters strong relationships and trust while making significant contributions to admirable causes.

eScored’s visit to Amsterdam aligns with the company’s Movember charity initiative, where match-used footballs—from Tottenham Hotspur to AC Milan and Gremio—are auctioned off, with all net proceeds benefiting men’s health charities.

The staff is also busy photographing and shipping hundreds of poppy shirts. This marks the sixth year MatchWornShirt has auctioned these items, and remarkably, they have raised over £3m for the British Legion during that period.

“We take great pride in this partnership. Many of our colleagues are British. The Netherlands hasn’t experienced a major war like the UK, where entire generations have been lost twice. That’s why this is possibly our most vital charity partnership.”

One exciting and innovative feature that MatchWornShirt is beginning to roll out is an authenticity process for their shirts called Fabricks. This is possible since the items go directly from the pitch, to the DHL box, and then to the MatchWornShirt warehouse. There’s even a faint scent of sweat when you enter a room filled with them.

Upon arrival, a special chip, roughly the size of a 10p coin, can be affixed to the lower hem of the shirt. When a smartphone camera hovers over the chip, it links to a webpage that provides details about the shirt: the game it was worn in, player images, statistics, etc. The system has the potential to include video content as well. MatchWornShirt aims to capture content from players to upload to this platform. For instance, “Hi, Son Hueng-MIn here, congratulations on winning my shirt at auction.”

A player verifying the authenticity of their match-worn shirt that you’ve won at auction? That’s definitely an appealing concept. It’s still early for this feature, but in an industry plagued by counterfeit items, it’s a refreshing advance for serious collectors and fans.

“The crucial point is confirming authenticity. We have reliable partners and conduct our own authenticity checks, but if someone comes to us claiming, ‘I possess a match-worn Johan Cruyff shirt’—well, how can I verify that? Is there enough footage available to substantiate that? Our approach is always to work directly with the club. I believe fans appreciate that.”

MatchWornShirt also has the ability to activate live auctions during games, while players are still on the pitch wearing the items, allowing fans to bid as they watch the match unfold. At this point, I inquire about the obvious dilemma: what happens if a player throws the shirt into the crowd, swaps with an opponent, or decides to keep the shirt for themselves or a loved one?

“In national teams, generally, the shirts belong to the players, but they receive numerous shirts per match compared to clubs. It only operates effectively if all parties are content.

“Most people don’t realize that players have multiple shirts per game. In the Premier League, they typically have a first-half shirt, a second-half shirt, and a blood shirt. Players are usually not overly sentimental about their sweat, so they tend to be less attached to their first-half shirt, which is usually the one we acquire. Our business model revolves around this.”

“Occasionally, players do wish to keep a shirt. Take the Wout Weghorst shirt from when he scored against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup—what an incredible corner. He was on for just a few minutes and scored. He chose to keep his shirt, and that’s something we respect.”

Terms and conditions safeguard both fans and MatchWornShirt. If you place a bid on a shirt during a game and witness the player tossing it into the crowd or swapping it, you can expect an email notifying you that the auction is void.

Fortunately, there are literally thousands of other shirts available for bidding on MatchWornShirt.com. These unique items are at your fingertips, and the landscape of football shirt collecting has truly changed.