Team and Club Uniforms: Size Spreads, Badging and Delivery Dates

A team or club order is three decisions taken in a fixed order: the size spread, the badges, and the date. Sizes come first because the minimum is counted per style per colour while sizes mix inside one colour, so the spread decides whether the order clears the minimum at all. Badges are fixed on the sample, and the date is counted backwards from written approval. Minimums are 100 pieces per style per colour, or 200 for bonded and seam-sealed builds; the sample stage runs 3–7 days and the bulk stage 15–25 days from written approval, shipping outside both.

Why the size spread is decided before the unit price

In a team programme the number that decides whether an order can run is not the cost per piece; it is whether each colour of each style clears the minimum. The count is 100 pieces per style per colour, and sizes can be mixed within a colour. A squad ordering one style in two colours is therefore ordering two colour runs of 100 pieces each, and the size spread is what fills both of them.

Two rules sit behind that count, and both are worth running before the roster is finalised. Where the kit uses bonded or seam-sealed construction, the minimum is 200 pieces per style per colour. And where the same fabric runs across two different patterns, that is two styles, each with its own minimum per colour, so a polo block and a jacket block are not one order even when they share a cloth and a colour name. Deciding the spread first tells you how many styles and colours the order can carry before anyone discusses unit cost.

Capacity is not usually the constraint on a squad order. Production runs on four lines with more than 180 staff across plants totalling over 18,000 square metres, at 150,000–200,000 pieces a month, so a team quantity is decided by the minimum and the calendar rather than by whether the lines can absorb it.

Collect every size before you fix colour quantities

Work in this order: take a size from every person first, then turn that list into a quantity per colour. Running it the other way round — fixing a total and guessing how it splits — leaves a colour short of its minimum or leaves you with sizes nobody wears.

The reason is the counting rule above. Sizes mix inside a colour, so a colour run of 100 pieces can be spread across the whole size range in whatever ratio the roster actually needs. That ratio only exists once the sizes are in, which makes the roster the first document the order needs, ahead of the badge artwork and ahead of the fabric choice.

The graded size set is then confirmed on the sample, and measurements are checked against the approved specification across the full size run. The spread you collect now is the spread that is graded, measured and packed, so a roster revised after approval is a revision to that specification rather than a note on the order.

Badge placement, method and colour count

Three things are fixed together for every badge: where it goes, how it is applied, and how many colours the artwork uses.

• Placement. Left chest, back and sleeve, stated for each badge rather than as a general instruction, with names and numbers positioned on the same approved sample.
• Method. Embroidery, heat transfer, jacquard patch or silicone badge. Heat transfer runs in our own plant; jacquard patches and silicone badges carry a supplier minimum of 300 pieces per design, counted apart from the garment minimum.
• Colour count. The number of colours in the artwork is stated up front, because it is part of what the method is set up against.

Each decoration takes its own pass, so a garment carrying a badge on the chest and a number on the back is two passes rather than one. Everything is applied as confirmed on the sample, and the sample is what inspection measures against.

Where the kit uses synthetic fabric, edges can also be laser cut, which seals the edge as it cuts, and heat transfer can carry neck information or a badge without a separate label run. Both are in-house, alongside garment wash, flatlock and bonding, and both are fixed on the same sample as the rest of the decoration.

Work backwards from the date you need them

Team orders usually start from a fixed date: a fixture, a season opener, an event. Count backwards from it in three steps — sampling at 3–7 days, written approval, then bulk at 15–25 days. Transport of the finished goods sits outside both figures, so it is planned separately and no destination or transit period belongs in the production plan.

The date to fix first is the sample approval date. The 15–25 day clock starts on the day your sample is approved in writing, not on the day the order is placed, and approval is what fixes fabric, measurements, construction, decoration and packing. Counting backwards from a delivery date without pinning that approval date leaves the longest stage with no start point. The trade term is settled at the same stage — EXW, FOB Shenzhen / Yantian or DDP — because it decides where our obligation ends and where yours begins. The full sequence is set out in the clothing production timeline.

Reorders and members who join later

Two situations come up after a kit has run once, and they are handled differently: a reorder is built to the same sealed pre-production sample, while a member joining later is its own order carrying its own minimum per style per colour.

That difference is worth planning for before the first run rather than after it. A squad that expects additions through a season can allow for them in the first colour runs, since the alternative is a later order that has to clear the minimum on its own. A full reorder carries no such constraint on specification: construction, measurements, badging and packing are already fixed by the sealed sample, so they do not go back through approval.

Sampling is charged as its own item, and on a first order of 300 pieces or more in one style that fee is credited against the order value. Payment on the bulk run is T/T deposit with the balance before shipment, and L/C at sight is available on full-container orders.

Which categories make up the kit

A team kit is usually built across three categories rather than one, because a season needs a match layer, a training layer and a warm layer:

• Polo shirts for match days and travel — start from the polo shirt category.
• T-shirts for training and warm-ups — see the t-shirt category.
• Jackets for the sideline and travel layer — see the jacket category.

Each category is its own style with its own minimum per colour, so the kit is planned as a set of style-and-colour counts rather than one total, and each one is checked against the size spread taken from the roster. Branding across all three, from the woven label to the badge, is covered by the private label page.

Send the roster with sizes, the styles and colours you want, the fabric, and every badge, name and number the kit carries, through the contact page, and we come back with the per-colour counts that clear the minimum and the date the sample has to be approved by.

Frequently asked questions

How many sizes can be mixed into one colour of a team order?

Sizes mix freely inside one colour. The minimum of 100 pieces per style per colour, or 200 for bonded and seam-sealed builds, is counted on the colour run, and that run can be spread across the size range in whatever ratio your roster needs. The limit is the total for the colour, not the number of sizes in it. The graded size set is confirmed on the sample, and measurements are checked against the approved specification across the full size run.

Should I collect sizes before choosing colours and quantities?

Yes. Take a size from every person first, then turn that list into a quantity per colour. Fixing a total first and guessing the split afterwards leaves a colour short of its minimum or leaves you with sizes nobody wears. Because sizes mix inside a colour, the roster is what tells you how each 100-piece run should be spread, which makes it the first document the order needs, ahead of the badge artwork and ahead of the fabric choice.

Which badge method should a team kit use?

The options are embroidery, heat transfer, jacquard patch and silicone badge, and the method is fixed per badge along with its placement and the number of colours in the artwork. Heat transfer runs in our own plant. Jacquard patches and silicone badges start at 300 pieces per design at the supplier, counted apart from the garment minimum. Each decoration takes its own pass, so a chest badge and a back number are two passes, both applied as confirmed on the sample.

How far ahead of a fixture should a team order be placed?

Count backwards from the date: sampling takes 3–7 days, then written approval, then bulk takes 15–25 days. Transport of the finished goods sits outside both figures, so plan it separately. The date to fix first is the sample approval date, because the 15–25 day clock starts on the day approval is given in writing, not on the day the order is placed. Settle the trade term — EXW, FOB Shenzhen / Yantian or DDP — before bulk starts as well.

Can I order for one new member after the kit has been made?

A late addition is its own order and carries its own minimum of 100 pieces per style per colour, so it is worth allowing for late additions in the first colour runs. A full reorder works differently: it is built to the same sealed pre-production sample, so construction, measurements, badging and packing do not go back through approval. Sampling is charged as its own item, and on a first order of 300 pieces or more in one style that fee is credited against the order value.