Umbro

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Umbro PLC
UMBRO logo
Type Public company (LSE: UMB)
Founded 1924 in Manchester
Headquarters Cheadle, Manchester
Key people Peter McGuigan, CEO
Nigel Doughty, Chairman
Industry Textile
Products Footwear
Accessories
Website Umbro.com

Umbro (LSE: UMB) is an internationally recognised football brand based in Manchester, England. Umbro designs, sources and markets football-related apparel, footwear and equipment and its products are sold in over 90 countries worldwide.

Umbro are the current England, FA and FA Cup suppliers of sports apparel.


Contents

[edit] History

The company was founded in 1920, in Wilmslow, Cheshire, as Humphrey Brothers Clothing; in 1924, the company changed its name to Umbro, a contraction of its previous name, Humphrey Brothers. In 1985, in Brazil, Umbro introduced its first football boot, which went into production two years later.

Umbro also manufactured a popular style of shorts, which reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were made of nylon, had a drawstring waistband, and often came in bright colors. These shorts, nicknamed "Umbros", are football shorts, intended to be part of a football strip. With the growth of youth soccer leagues in the United States in the 1980s, many youths, teens, and young adults began wearing them as everyday clothing. Like football itself, they were equally popular among both genders. At the height of the fashion, other brands of football shorts, such as Adidas, Diadora, Hummel, Lotto, Mitre, and Xara, also became popular. However, by the mid 1990s, Umbros began to lose their appeal among youth to other styles, such as cargo shorts.

In the 1990s, the company relocated from its central Manchester facility to brand-new, state-of-the-art headquarters in Cheadle, on the outskirts of Manchester.

The company today specialises in football kits, clothing, and other football apparel, like boots and training kits, and is registered on the London Stock Exchange as UMB.

Its major competitors include Adidas, Nike, Lotto, Puma, and fellow North West England maker Reebok.

[edit] Products

Umbro currently manufactures all types of sports wear apparel including training gear and football boots. Umbro also produce casual clothes and shoes. The company is also a major player in kit manufacture for some of the world's best known teams.


Umbro have recently launched their new hi-technology SX Boot. Deco has been playing in the boots which are visually striking with different colours for each foot, reflecting the left (logical, assertive) and right (intuitive, creative and passionate) sides of the brains. The boot uses Michelin tyre manufacturing-related technology which improves control by up to 90%*.

[edit] Kit manufacturing

Umbro has produced kits for many notable football teams since establishment; its first kit was produced in 1934, for Manchester City, which won the FA Cup that year.

Over the years Umbro have also produced kits for major teams including: Arsenal, Club Bolivar, Cruz Azul, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, C.A.Independiente , Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Everton, Rangers, Deportivo La Coruña, Olympique Lyonnais, La U, Colo-Colo, Santos, Vasco, Atlético Nacional, Inter Milan, Ajax, Universitario de Deportes, Liga Deportiva Universitaria, Celta Vigo, FC Twente, Málaga CF, CSKA Moscow, Hajduk Split , Dynamo Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, FC Moscow, West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest. From the 2007/2008 season onwards, Birmingham City, Hull City, Sunderland, West Ham United and Heart of Midlothian will also be wearing Umbro kits.

In addition to club teams, Umbro also produced kits for international teams, including Brazil, England, Ireland, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden. During the 1966 World Cup, all but one of the 16 participating teams wore Umbro uniforms.

Umbro currently are the official sports manufacturer of the English FA Cup and official sponsor of the new Wembley Stadium. Umbro will partner The FA in the further development of the National Football Centre (NFC) at Burton–upon–Trent, becoming the title sponsor of the Centre. Umbro is also the exclusive supplier of footballs to The FA at all levels of the game

Umbro have also manufactured kits for Rugby Union (the Irish National team and London Irish), Athletics and rugby league.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup Sweden and England wore Umbro kits.

[edit] Umbro Endorsees

Players who have endorsed Umbro include Michael Owen, Deco, Luis García, Míchel Salgado, Alan Shearer, John Terry, and Tim Cahill.

[edit] Teams Sponsored By Umbro

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Teams Sponsored By Umbro (PARTIAL)

This is a list of all football teams sponsored by Umbro:

[edit] National Teams

[edit] Club Teams

[edit] Americas

[edit] Asia

[edit] Europe

[edit] One Love

Onelove leads with a global photography campaign, featuring images taken by Levon Biss, one of the UK’s most exciting emerging photographers. Levon traveled the world, visiting over 30 different countries to document football in all of its diverse forms. Covering North & South America, Europe, Australasia, The Middle East, China, Japan, Russia and Africa, Levon captured a truly global portrayal of the sport. His images reflect aspects from the real grass-roots of the game, all the way through to the professional teams and clubs that UMBRO are involved with, showcasing the passion, commitment and love of the game that unites the world.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../u/m/b/Umbro.html"