Umbro

Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924¹ in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their "double diamond" logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 countries. The business was started by brothers Harold and Wallace Humphreys. The name is a portmanteau of um, from Humphreys, and bro from brothers. Since 2012, the marque is a subsidiary of U.S-brand management company Iconix Brand Group.

Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their "double diamond" logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 countries. The business was started by brothers Harold and Wallace Humphreys. The name is a portmanteau of um, from Humphreys, and bro from brothers. Since 2012, the marque is a subsidiary of U.S-brand management company Iconix Brand Group. ==History== ===Beginning and expansion=== Inspired by the rapidly growing interest in football witnessed nationwide, the business started at the family's pub, once owned by the parents of Harold Humphreys and his brother Wallace, who founded Humphreys Brothers Limited in 1924, initially working out of a small cupboard in the pub before moving to a workshop in Wilmslow. The company name was changed in the same year to "Umbro" and is a quasi-portmanteau inspired by Humphreys Brothers. Umbro's kit debut was in the 1934 FA Cup final, when both teams – Manchester City and Portsmouth – wore kits designed and manufactured by the company. Other notably successful teams supplied by Umbro during the 1930s and 40s were Sheffield United, Preston North End, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackpool. In 1952, the British team at the Summer Olympics wore Umbro kits, tailored for the needs of their individual sports. Umbro would supply kits for the British Olympics team for the next 20 years. In 1955, Umbro introduced their first replica football kit, the 'Sportswear Xmas Pack'. The kit, designed for young boys, included a matching shirt, shorts, and socks. In 1957, Umbro entered the tennis market, producing sports clothing in collaboration with player Ted Tinling. This collaboration extended for three decades. Another sportsman who collaborated with Umbro was Manchester United manager Matt Busby, in 1959. ===Iconix Brand Group=== In October 2012, Nike announced that it had agreed with Iconix Brand Group to sell Umbro for US$225 million. The acquisition was completed in December 2012. In February 2014, it was announced that Umbro would supply Everton from the start of the 2014–15 football season. This was the first new club announcement since Iconix Brand Group bought Umbro, and was followed by the announcement of similar deals with Hull City and French clubs Lens and Nantes. On 9 June 2014, Derby County announced that their kits for the 2014–15 season would be made by Umbro. Later in 2014, Umbro announced deals to supply a number of teams, including the Serbia national football team, the Malawi national football team, Vasco da Gama and Grêmio. In February 2015, Dutch Eredivisie champions PSV announced a new kit deal with Umbro, replacing PSV's previous deal with Nike, which had been in existence since 1994. The deal coincided with PSV's return to the UEFA Champions League after a six-year absence. In late April 2015, West Ham United announced a new five-year agreement with Umbro as the club's official technical partner. This agreement included creating a commemorative kit for the Hammers' final year in the historic Boleyn Ground. In early December 2015, German club 1. FC Nürnberg announced a long-term kit deal with Umbro as the club's official kit supplier, replacing Adidas. In May 2016, it was announced that Umbro had become the technical sponsor of Blackburn Rovers in a five-year deal. It would also return to making AFC Bournemouth's kit after two occasions in the 1970s and 1980s for the 2017–18 season. In June 2017, seven-time German champion FC Schalke 04 announced a five-year deal with Umbro, replacing Adidas after 55 years. Also in December 2017, Umbro announced a deal with the Jamaica national team. In Europe, Iconix holds a brand licensing agreement with Scottish company GL Dameck Ltd to produce Umbro clothing and products. On 25 March 2024, it was reported that GL Dameck had sublicensed the Umbro brand to Manchester-based Castore; the latter became the sole licensee for Umbro Professional Team Sports apparel, enabling them to distribute the Umbro brand across several key European markets. ==Products== Umbro currently focuses on football and rugby union equipment, with products such as kit (jerseys, shorts and socks), and boots, as well as manufacturing other clothing such as t-shirts and jackets. Until the mid-1980s, the company manufactured only sports clothing, in particular football jerseys, shorts and socks, but had no footwear range. Eventually, in 1985, Umbro decided to introduce its first football boot into the Brazilian market. This design, cheaper than the products of existing boot brands such as Adidas, proved popular and went into mass production internationally two years later. Umbro also manufactured a popular style of shorts that reached its peak in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were made of nylon, had a drawstring waistband, and often came in bright colours. With the growth of youth soccer leagues in the U.S. in the 1980s, many youths, teens and young adults began wearing them as everyday clothing. At the height of the "Umbro fashion," other brands of football shorts, such as Adidas, Diadora, Hummel, Lotto and Mitre, also became popular. Its major competitors in this market include Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Puma and Lotto. Other releases by Umbro include the Stealth boot, released in 2010¹ and worn by players such as Gaël Clichy and Phil Jagielka. The same year, the company released the GT, worn by then-Fulham striker Darren Bent. The company announced it as its lightest ever boot. This was succeeded by the GT II model. June 2011 saw the release of the Umbro Geometra Pro. In 2013, Umbro introduced to a new wave of releases that included the Speciali IV and the Geometra II. Following the end of the Nike partnership, one of Umbro's first major product releases was the UX-1 shoe. ==References== ==External links==

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