adidas Football Shirt Product Codes Explained

Where to find adidas's article number on a shirt, and what it can and can't tell you.

adidas identifies products with an article number, printed or woven onto the wash label. Historically it was a simple numeric code; more recently it is a short alphanumeric one. Reading it is a genuinely useful cross-check, particularly because adidas's system has changed noticeably across eras, which itself helps date a shirt.

As with any manufacturer code, it's one input among several, not a standalone authentication test.

How the System Has Changed

Older adidas shirts, including the Equipment era through the 1990s, typically carry a short numeric article number with no barcode at all. That absence is period-correct, not a warning sign. Modern adidas shirts use a longer alphanumeric code, generally consistent in format across a given season's product range.

Where to Find It

There are two places to look. On most modern shirts the article number sits on a small label tucked inside the collar, at the back of the neck. On older shirts, and on plenty of kits from before roughly 2010, it is on the wash label sewn into the inside left side seam near the hem instead. If a hangtag is still attached the code appears there too, but the sewn-in label is the more durable and reliable reference.

What the Code Actually Tells You

A code in the format expected for the shirt's era, cross-checked against a real documented adidas product for that season, supports authenticity. A code in the wrong format for the claimed era is a clear inconsistency worth questioning: a long modern-style alphanumeric code on a shirt claimed to be from the 1990s, for instance.

What a Code Can't Prove

It doesn't rule out a fake copying a genuine code, and it says nothing about condition. Combine it with the label and stitching checks covered in our other authentication guides.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do some old adidas shirts have no barcode at all?

Barcoding on football shirt labels wasn't standard practice in the 1990s and earlier. A missing barcode on a shirt genuinely from that period is expected, not a red flag.

Is the Equipment-era label a reliable dating tool?

Yes. The distinctive Equipment branding on adidas labels from that period is a useful, recognisable reference point for dating a shirt to the early-to-mid 1990s.

Does a correct article number guarantee authenticity?

No. Treat it as one supporting check alongside the label and stitching checks, not proof by itself.

Not sure what you're looking at? KitMarket's

has a specialist verify the code alongside the label, stitching and crest.