GoalSquad.com is a new website that offers official football merchandise at attractive prices. Dev Goswami checks out the collection on offer and tells you what to expect
Even though football is quite a popular sport, especially in Mumbai, the city has always lacked a practical source for official football merchandise. Until recently, the only option we had was to shop from a sports brand such as Nike or Adidas, where you could get your hands on jerseys and shoes — but only for the teams that they sponsor. However, with the launch of GoalSquad.com, sports buffs now have a great place to source (relatively) affordable, official merchandise.
Though the website claims to be a store for official football merchandise, there are also several basketball teams featured, including the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. On the football front, you can expect to find products for international teams such as AC Milan, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, the Brazil national squad, Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, along with our city’s very own Mumbai City FC.
GoalSquad.com stocks an impressive range of merchandise — from bags, wallets, caps and ties to bottles, mugs, flags, stickers, keychains and metal signs; you name it and they have it. They also have football equipment and a neat range of electronic accessories. One of the most impressive things about the website is the price tags — you can get small knick-knacks such as keychains and stickers for under Rs 500, or go all out and get duvet sets and inflatable chairs for a little over Rs 2,500.
I’m a fan of their Soccer Starz, which are action figures of players and managers from various clubs. Priced at Rs 499 each (though the price varies, with ex-managers and former squad members retailing at cheaper prices and top goal scorers at slightly higher prices), the figures are well-detailed. They offer great value-for-money and if you’re a football buff, you’ll be itching to buy them.
While the merchandise and prices impressed me, the website design did not. It’s a bit laggy, uses colours that are a little too bright and can be frustrating at times. However, this is not something that I am going to hold against them, because even though the look and feel of a website is really important to me, they more than make up for it with their excellent selection of merchandise, which is well-priced.
So, should you visit GoalSquad.com? Definitely! It’s just the type of store we need and I see them doing brisk business. They definitely need a better website design and perhaps a few more teams on their catalogue, but as long as you are patient and your favourite team is present on GoalSquad.com, you aren’t going to be disappointed. It’s perfect for personal purchases as well as gifts.
Where www.goalsquad.com