If you have looked at match worn shirts, you will have seen the letters COA. It stands for Certificate of Authenticity, and it is one of the most important, and most misunderstood, parts of collecting.
What a COA is meant to do
A COA is a written statement of where a shirt came from. At minimum it should confirm that the shirt was worn or issued to a specific player, and by whom that is being confirmed.
It exists because a match worn shirt looks, to the untrained eye, much like any other shirt. The value sits entirely in its history, and history cannot be seen in a photograph. The certificate is what carries that history forward when the shirt changes hands.
What separates a good COA from a worthless one
Not all certificates mean the same thing. A COA is only as good as the person or organisation issuing it.
Strong: issued by the club itself, by a player's foundation, by an established auction house, or by a dealer with a long and checkable reputation. Names the player, names the fixture or season, and states clearly how the shirt was obtained.
Weak: a printed card with a logo, no named issuer, no fixture, no explanation of provenance. Anyone can print one of these. They are common enough that a vague certificate should make you more cautious, not less.
The questions to ask
Before buying, ask the seller three things. Who issued the certificate? Which match or season does it cover? And how did the shirt get from the player to here?
A seller who knows their material will answer all three without hesitation. Vagueness at this stage is the clearest warning sign there is.
Does a shirt without a COA have value?
Yes, but less, and it is harder to sell on. Photographic evidence of the shirt in a specific match, known as photo matching, can be even stronger than a certificate. So can a clear, documented chain from the player or club.
What is worth avoiding is a shirt sold as match worn with no documentation of any kind and no explanation of where it came from. At that point you are not buying provenance, you are buying a claim.
Our approach
Where a shirt comes with a COA, we say so and we tell you which fixture it relates to. Where it does not, we say that too. A collector should never have to guess what they are getting, and an honest description costs nothing.
Several shirts in our collection are supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity, including our Bayern München and Borussia Mönchengladbach match worn pieces. Browse our match worn shirts or ask us anything about a specific piece.