Umbro history

Umbro football boots

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Umbro is a sports brand associated with the worlds of football and futsal. It is regarded by many as the brand that drove the growth of football and is also considered the most historic brand linked to the beautiful game. We’re talking about a company that is 95 years old and which, despite its ups and downs, still has a strong presence in the world of football.

History

Football presence

Sports representation

Umbro history

To learn more about the history of this great brand, we need to go back to the early 20th century, specifically to 1924. This was a time when football was growing rapidly and was even played as a fully professional sport in some European countries and on other continents as well. As such, the demand for match kit – home and away – as well as training kit, was immense, and existing textile factories were unable to keep up with all the orders. It was from this business opportunity that UMBRO was founded by H. Aphrey Brothers, hence the choice of the brand name. The English brand was founded on the 23rd of May 1924 in the small town of Cheadle, located on the outskirts of Manchester in the north of England.

The brand earned its reputation as the official sponsor of the finalists in the FA Cup, the world’s oldest club competition. During the Second World War, all the brand’s factories were used to manufacture uniforms for the British armed forces, as well as various accessories for Allied aircraft. It was in the 1960s, with the emergence of competitions such as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and the first football matches broadcast on television, that the British brand experienced its heyday. For example, in terms of sporting representation, we are talking about 85% of the top English teams, as well as the leading teams in the English-speaking world. To round off a golden decade, we cannot overlook the 1961 agreement with adidas, under which the English brand became the official retailer of adidas football boots throughout the United Kingdom.

Football presence

With a constant and almost dominant presence in the world of football, both in England and internationally, between the 1960s and the mid-1990s, we must bear in mind that we are dealing with a brand that represented national champions, European champions and world-class football teams. Among others, Umbro supplied the kits for Brazil – World Champions in 1994; England – World Champions in 1966; Celta – national and European champions; and Manchester United – national and European champions, amongst many others. More recently, and as a consequence of having been acquired by Nike in the past, Umbro has seen a decline in both growth and reputation, all because it is no longer present. However, with the brand’s resurgence in recent years, focusing on products— both in futsal shoes and by continuing to innovate in football boots, it seems that the English brand is gradually returning to the race for the top spots in the world of football-related sports brands. We are talking about a brand with a strong connection to the growth of the sport itself and one that enjoys significant support and representation in English and Brazilian football.

Sports representation 

At its peak, the brand sponsored players such as Michael Owen, David Beckham, Alan Shearer and John Terry; national teams including England, Brazil, Colombia, Scotland and Sweden; and clubs such as Chelsea FC, Inter Milan, Aston Villa and Glasgow Rangers. Currently, the brand has a strong presence in the world of Brazilian football, acting as the kit supplier for many professional football clubs in Brazil, where it even holds a record: the kit sponsorship deal with Atlético Paranaense is one of the most significant in the history of Brazilian football. A deal that began in 1997 and remains in place to this day. In the Premier League, we highlight the kit sponsorship deal with Everton, one of the historic clubs in the English league.