A HAPPY Christmas to all sports fans everywhere (except Southport and Barrow).

Christmas is an expensive time of year - even more so for the dedicated fan faced with the full Christmas programme and a brood of kids screaming for the latest replica shirt.

Unlike any other item of clothing, a football kit is top of every boy's shopping list, but it isn't exactly the cheapest of gifts for the festive season - even a junior shirt from a Premiership club can set Santa back £30.

Not surprisingly, prices like these have attracted the interest of the Office of Fair Trading, which is cur-rently investigating several companies (including one extremely large football club) over price fixing.

So, how do they defend themselves?

Surely the retailer, the football club and the clothing company don't need all that money to cover their costs and make a few 'umble shillings in profit? Especially when they are probably made by a five-year-old Taiwanese kid who is paid tuppence a day for the privilege.

But greed rules ok and, rather than settle down and lose a quid on every shirt sold to the kiddies, most clubs and the kit manufacturers decide to fight all the way to the courthouse.

But one club has shown the way forward and, surprisingly, it's the one club who, more than most, need the money.

Leeds United have been pleading poverty for the last few months after splashing out on too many presents for little David O' Leary, but they have done a deal with a local supermarket which will see them slash seven or eight quid off the bill.

Unfortunately, only the Leeds branch of the supermarket will stock the shirts - but it's one small step for football, one giant leap towards the end of the great shirt rip-off.

Cashing in is one thing Morecambe FC and Ipswich Town can't be accused of.

The pricing strategy for their Portman Road clash is sensible - £2 for kids seems about right when you consider the likely cost of the journey.

Let's hope that both clubs are rewarded with a full house which will, of course, generate much more cash than a half empty stadium at full price.

Hopefully the match will have more punch than a Celtic Christmas Party.