Mitre Sports International

Mitre
Subsidiary
Industry Sports equipment
Founded 1817 (1817) in Huddersfield, England
Headquarters Finchley, England
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Football and rugby balls
Football and netball playing kits
Parent Pentland
Website mitre.com

Mitre Sports International Ltd., known as Mitre, is a British sportswear and equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's oldest sports manufacturer.[1] Existing for over 200 years, the company was established in Huddersfield, England, in 1817 and is now owned by the British family owned company The Pentland Group. Mitre currently uses the Mitre Delta Football in competitive professional matches. This includes the Football League Cup, The Football League, Scottish Premiership, Welsh Premier Division and the Football League Trophy. Mitre also supplies many other competitions including the Isthmian League, Evo-Stik Southern League, Spartan South Midlands League and many more. These leagues play with a variety of footballs including the Delta Hyperseam, Max Hyperseam and ProMax Hyperseam. Internationally the sports brand Mitre have their football used across a variety of competitions around including the AFF Championship and the S.League.

History

In 1817 Benjamin Crook opened his tannery in Huddersfield, England, giving his own name to the company he founded.[2] By 1949 the name changed to "Mitre", producing footballs and rugby balls for clubs all over the world, and in 1959 Mitre expanded into cricket, soft leather and bags. Sports footwear followed a year later. Manchester United's prominent footballer Denis Law became the first official Mitre spokesman in 1964. Two years later Mitre went on to become the official ball supplier for the English Football Association, and for the next forty years, the FA Cup Final was to be played with a Mitre ball.

Muhammad Ali wore Mitre in his 59th professional fight against Leon Spinks in New Orleans, and Stuart Pearce wore Mitre football boots in 1977. Mitre was also the official ball supplier to the 1987 Rugby World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In 1992, Mitre became the official ball supplier to the newly formed FA Premier League, introducing its synthetic footballs instead of leather balls, which had been used previously. In 2003 the Mitre ball was used in the Netball World Championships held in Jamaica. The England national netball team also appeared at the tournament wearing Mitre apparel.

In 2000 Mitre arrived in Argentina, signing deals with several Primera División clubs. Newell's Old Boys, Estudiantes de La Plata, Unión de Santa Fe, Belgrano de Córdoba, Arsenal de Sarandí and Chacarita Juniors were the first teams wearing uniforms by Mitre. Football star and UNICEF goodwill ambassador George Weah teamed up with Mitre in 2004 to donate 5,000 footballs to underprivileged children in Liberia and 5,000 footballs to Iraqi children. Another endorsee joined Mitre in 2006, when Australian cricketer and record breaking test wicket-taker Shane Warne was signed to wear Mitre footwear and protection.

In 2007 Mitre launched its new revolutionary Revolve football to the Football League, where each club played with its own club coloured and badged ball. This was the first time this had happened. Mitre also re-entered the apparel markets with kit deals with Ipswich Town and Huddersfield Town FC. In 2008 Mitre signed All Black player Luke McAlister to be the figurehead of its rugby range. The same year, the company signed an agreement with the El Salvador national football team to be its exclusive uniform provider.[3] In 2009 Mitre expanded its business in South America, becoming the official uniform provider of many teams of the Chilean league.[4]

In June 2011, Mitre extended its deal with the Scottish Premier League to be the official ball supplier until 2015.[5] In 2015 Mitre released their new Hyperseam technology,[6] which will grace The Football League and Scottish Premier League for years to come as they both announced new sponsorship deals for Mitre to continue being the official ball supplier. In 2015 Mitre also started to personalized footballs as a gift option for young football fans [7] In 2016, Mitre announced its sponsorship deal to become the official match ball sponsor for the Singapore Professional Football League. Mitre also announced gloves sponsorship for goalkeepers Nozawa Yosuke (Albirex Niigata Singapore), Khairulhin Khalid (Hougang United) and Beatrice Tan (Singapore Women's National Team). The sponsorship with Beatrice Tan marked the first time that a female footballer is being sponsored in Singapore.

In May 2017, Mitre launched their Legend Returns campaign which ended with the football being unveiled live on Soccer AM and at Wembley Stadium. The Legend Returns relates to the classic Delta mark on the football - which is now making a comeback for the first time since 2001.

Products

The following chart contains all the product lines by Mitre.[8]

Sport Range of products
Footballballs, goalkeeper gloves, shin guards, apparel, footwear, bags, accessories
Netballballs, bags, accessories
Rugbyballs, apparel, footwear, protective equipment, bags, accessories

Sponsorships

The following is a list with teams, associations and players that wear uniforms and equipment provided by Mitre:

Club teams

Associations

Mitre provides its official balls for the following football associations:

Players

Netball

Mitre provides its official balls for the following netball association and players:

Rugby

The company sponsors the following players:

Former sponsorships

Football

References

  1. ↑ Atkinson, Neil (2015-08-04). "Sporting history with its roots in Huddersfield". huddersfieldexaminer. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  2. ↑ "History".
  3. ↑ "Mitre.com - Footballs, Training Kits & Other Sportswear". Archived from the original on 23 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Mitre.com - Footballs, Training Kits & Other Sportswear". Archived from the original on 25 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Mitre.com - Footballs, Training Kits & Other Sportswear". Archived from the original on 8 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Hyperseam Footballs - Mitre.com".
  7. ↑ "Personalised Football: The Perfect Gift".
  8. ↑ "Mitre.com - Footballs, Training Kits & Other Sportswear". Archived from the original on 20 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Todo Sobre Camisetas: Camisetas Mitre del Huachipato 2013".
  10. ↑ "Patrocinadores de Deportes Tolima" at club official site, 9 January 2013 Archived 21 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ "New Team Kit Announcement". Berwick Rangers FC. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Mitre tiếp tục tài trợ áo thi đấu FLC Thanh Hoá năm 2016". bongdathanhhoa.com. FLC Thanh Hóa. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Football League Partners" at FL official site, retrieved 4 March 2013
  14. ↑ Mitre listed as sponsor at FAW official site, retrieved 4 March 2013
  15. ↑ "MITRE UNVEILED AS NEW OFFICIAL S.LEAGUE MATCH BALL SPONSOR | The Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  16. 1 2 3 Endorsements and Associations on Mitre official site, retrieved 4 March 2013
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rugby endorsements and associations" on Mitre official site, retrieved 4 March 2013
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