Sunderland Away Shirt 2017-18 Adidas Vintage | 8/10

Sunderland Away Shirt 2017-18 Adidas — The Season of Decline in the Championship

In 2017-18, Sunderland AFC was no longer playing in the Premier League. The club had just experienced a brutal relegation, and wore this Adidas away shirt in the trenches of the Championship before sinking even lower. A shirt that tells a painful story, that of a great English club in freefall — and that's precisely why it deserves a place in your collection.

Shirt Details

Season: 2017-2018
Club: Sunderland AFC
Type: Away
Kit Manufacturer: Adidas
Sponsor: DAFABET
Condition: 8/10
State: LITTLE USED PRINTINGS - authentic wear of a worn vintage shirt

What this shirt represents

The 2017-18 Sunderland season is one of the most tragic stories in contemporary English football. After two consecutive relegations — first from the Premier League in 2017, then from the Championship in 2018 to League One — the North-East English club hit rock bottom, something no one would have imagined a few years earlier. This Adidas away shirt was worn during that pivotal season, the season of the second relegation, the one that changed everything for Sunderland AFC.

The chaotic management of the club under Ellis Short, the American owner desperately seeking to sell, had plunged the institution into a deep crisis. On the pitch, coaches succeeded each other at lightning speed — Simon Grayson then Chris Coleman tried to turn things around without success. Players like Aiden McGeady or Lewis Grabban wore this shirt with the hope of keeping the club in the Championship, but the mechanism of decline was already underway. The Stadium of Light, one of England's largest stadiums, echoed in relative silence, far from its glory years.

Moments etched in this shirt

The historic double relegation
In 2018, Sunderland became the first club to suffer two consecutive relegations since the birth of the Premier League in 1992, a distinction no one in Wearside wanted. This Adidas away shirt was at the heart of that Championship season which ended in relegation to the English third division for the first time in decades.

The "Sunderland 'Til I Die" documentary
Netflix immortalized this exact period with its cult documentary series, giving the whole world raw access to Sunderland AFC's descent into hell. This shirt is literally the kit seen on screen, the one supporters watched with eyes full of disbelief during away matches of the 2017-18 season.

The DAFABET partnership visible on the chest
The sponsor DAFABET, an Asian betting operator, had been present on Sunderland's shirts for several seasons and is prominently featured on this away shirt. This commercial detail recalls a time when the club was desperately seeking revenue to cover the abyssal losses recorded year after year.

Authentic vs Replica

An authentic vintage shirt is not a simple copy sold in supermarkets. It is the real product of the era — the same stitching, the same technical materials, the same finishes that Adidas reserved for professional teams or the most demanding supporters. You are wearing exactly what the players of that season wore, with the same construction and details as those that appeared on the pitches of the English Championship.

This one is in 8/10 condition with "LITTLE USED PRINTINGS," which means that the flocking or prints show slight natural wear — exactly what you expect from an authentic vintage shirt that has lived. The cut, embroidery, and structure of the shirt remain impeccable. This is the honest wear of an object that has existed, not a product taken out of its packaging yesterday and manufactured this week.

Vintage sizing guide

Vintage Adidas shirts from this generation generally run smaller than modern standards. A vintage Medium often corresponds to a current Small or Small-Medium depending on your body shape and the brand you're used to. This is not a defect; it's simply the norm for football cuts of the time, which were more fitted and less oversized than what we see today on pitches and in stores.

Before finalizing your order, take a tape measure and measure your chest circumference and torso length. Then compare with the flat measurements of the shirt available in the product description. A vintage football shirt should be tried on, not randomly ordered — and once you have the right size, it's a pleasure to wear daily or in the stands.

Why have it in your collection

The Sunderland away shirt 2017-18 is a collector's item in its own right. It documents a pivotal season in the history of a century-old club, a period made globally famous by the Netflix documentary. Shirts from this specific season, in the away version, are not common — many supporters at the time simply didn't have the heart to invest in a kit during such a decline, which today makes it a rare shirt on the vintage football collection market.

There aren't many in this condition. A vintage shirt in 8/10 condition is the collector's sweet spot: worn enough to be authentic, clean enough to be displayed or worn. It's not a damaged shirt you hide in a drawer — it's a presentable piece, with a history, that a football fan or an astute collector would be proud to have in their wardrobe or on their shelf.

To go further

• Sunderland AFC - Wikipedia
• Football Kit Archive - Kit History
• UEFA - European Football

If you want a shirt that tells a true football story — not a success story, but a brutal human story — this one is for you. Sunderland 'Til I Die, as they say.