Teen plans to leave uni 'debt free' after making £35,000 selling vintage football shirts
A Cardiff teenager turned vintage shirt resale into a £35,000 profit and now hopes to fund university without debt.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Eleri Williams began selling old football shirts at 15 and has grown the hobby into Ballers CP, a Cardiff shop. The profits are now set to help pay for her law degree, as more students turn to side hustles to cover rising costs.
A teenager started selling old football shirts like trading cards, and it grew into a real shop. Now the money she made could help pay for university, like filling a piggy bank big enough for school bills.
Analysis
From spare room to shopfront
Eleri Williams started reselling football shirts in 2023, when she was 15, using some of her dad’s old shirts as a first attempt at making extra money. What began as pocket money quickly grew into a real business, and she says she has now made more than £35,000 in profit.
Funding university
Williams has opened Ballers CP in Cardiff’s Royal Arcade and says the business will help her study law at Cardiff University without taking on debt. She described the experience as overwhelming, but said she is now in a financially comfortable position to attend.
The article notes that students in Wales typically graduate with lower debt than those in England, with average figures of £40,000 and £53,000 respectively. It also points to wider concern about student debt after the UK government froze the repayment threshold for some English graduates, while the Welsh government declined to follow that move.
A wider trend
BBC Wales links Williams’s story to a broader rise in side hustles. A survey cited in the piece found 65% of 600 students had a side hustle last year, compared with 38% in the 1980s, according to Aviva. Finder data said the main reason people take on extra work is to cover day-to-day living costs.
Williams says the shop is supported by her parents when she is at school or exams, and that she plans to keep the business running while adapting hours around university. She also says the shirts come from suppliers around the world, as well as local sellers and resale sites.
Key points
- Eleri Williams says she made more than £35,000 profit from reselling vintage football shirts.
- She has opened Ballers CP in Cardiff’s Royal Arcade after starting from her parents’ spare room.
- Williams hopes the business will let her study law at Cardiff University without graduate debt.
- BBC Wales frames her story as part of a wider rise in student side hustles driven by living costs.
- She says her parents help run the shop when she is in school or taking exams.
If the business keeps growing, Williams could continue funding her degree with less or no student debt. The shop also gives her a working business she can adapt around university.
Running a shop while studying law could become harder if coursework and exams demand more time. The article also makes clear that her success is unusual, so most students with side hustles may not earn enough to cover university costs.
