 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports equipment,textile |
| Founded | 1817; 208 years ago (1817) inHuddersfield,England |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Footballballs anduniforms,rugby balls,sportswear,apparel, accessories |
| Parent | Pentland Group |
| Website | mitre.com |
Mitre Sports International Ltd., mostly known asMitre, is anEnglishsports equipment manufacturer based inWakefield. Mitre is mainly focused onassociation football but also providing equipment (mostly balls) for other sports. Having founded in 1817 inHuddersfield, the company is one of the oldest of its type in the world.[1] Mitre is currently asubsidiary of the British family–ownedPentland Group.
Products manufactured and commercialised by Mitre include sports equipment forassociation football (balls,team uniforms,clothing lines),rugby union (balls, training shirts),[2]basketball (balls), andnetball (balls, rings). Mitre also offers a list of accessories for those sports such asbags, space markers,water bottles,safety cones, among others.
The "Delta" football has been used in some professional leagues of the United Kingdom including theFootball League Cup,The Football League,Scottish Premiership,Welsh Premier Division and theFootball 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, Mitre have its footballs used across a variety of competitions around including theAFF Championship and theS.League.
In 1817 Benjamin Crook opened his tannery in Huddersfield, England, giving his own name to the company he founded.[3] The origin of its name is related to the longtime friendship between Crook and the bishop of the village. Crook took the ceremonial head-dress worn by bishops in traditional Christianity (the "mitre") to name his company.[4]
The company producedfootballs andrugby 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 footballerDenis Law became the first official Mitre spokesman in 1964. Two years later Mitre went on to become the official ball supplier for theEnglish Football Association, and for the next forty years, theFA Cup Final was to be played with a Mitre ball.
Muhammad Ali wore Mitre in his 59th professional fight againstLeon Spinks inNew Orleans, andStuart Pearce wore Mitre football boots in 1977. Mitre was also the official ball supplier to the1987 Rugby World Cup,[5] jointly hosted byAustralia andNew Zealand. In 1992, Mitre became the official ball supplier to the newly formedFA Premier League,[citation needed] introducing its synthetic footballs instead of leather balls, which had been used previously. In 2003 the Mitre ball was used in theNetball World Championships held inJamaica.[6] TheEngland national netball team also appeared at the tournament wearing Mitre apparel.
In 2000 Mitre arrived in Argentina, signing deals with severalPrimera División clubs.Newell's Old Boys,Estudiantes de La Plata,Unión de Santa Fe,Belgrano de Córdoba,Arsenal de Sarandí andChacarita Juniors were the first teams wearing uniforms by Mitre.[4] Football star andUNICEF goodwill ambassadorGeorge Weah teamed up with Mitre in 2004 to donate 5,000 footballs to underprivileged children inLiberia and 5,000 footballs toIraqi children. Another endorsee joined Mitre in 2006, when Australiancricketer and record breaking test wicket-takerShane Warne was signed to wear Mitre footwear and protection.[7]
In 2007 Mitre launched its new "Revolve" football ball to theEFL, 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 withIpswich Town andHuddersfield Town FC. In 2008 Mitre signedAll Black playerLuke McAlister to be the figurehead of its rugby range. The same year, the company signed an agreement with theEl Salvador national football team to be its exclusive uniform provider.[8] In 2009 Mitre expanded its business in South America, becoming the official uniform provider of many teams of theChilean league.[9]
In June 2011, Mitre extended its deal with theScottish Premier League to be the official ball supplier until 2015.[10] In 2015 Mitre released their new Hyperseam technology,[11] which will graceThe Football League andScottish 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 personalised footballs as a gift option for young football fans[12] In 2016, Mitre announced its sponsorship deal to become the official match ball sponsor for theSingapore Professional Football League. Mitre also announced gloves sponsorship for Singaporean goalkeepers Nozawa Yosuke (Albirex Niigata Singapore),[13]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.[citation needed]
In May 2017, Mitre brought back the "Delta" ball design as the official match ball of theEnglish Football League since the2017–18 season.[14] The company also launched its "Legend Returns" campaign to promote the event. The football was unveiled live on Soccer AM and at Wembley Stadium.
The following chart contains all the product lines by Mitre.[15]
| Sport | Range of products |
|---|---|
| Football | Team uniforms,boots,goalkeeper gloves,shin guards,balls,goals,linesmman flags,cones |
| Basketball | Balls |
| Netball | Balls, rings |
| Rugby union | Balls, training shirts |
| Clothing | Jackets,raincoats,hoodies,t-shirts,polo shirts,compression garment,shorts,leggings |
| Accessories | Bags, pumps,water bottles,safety cones |
The following is a list with teams, associations and players that wear uniforms and equipment provided by Mitre:
Mitre provides its official balls for the following football associations:
AFF Championship[note 1]
The Football Association[note 2]
Liga Indonesia Baru
SPFL[note 3]
LFF
LPF
Russian Cup
FFL
FAW[18] Netball League (all tournaments)
Football Association of Singapore[note 4]
NPSL
Vietnam Football Federation
Mark Schwarzer Andrew Plummer Nick Jordan Nick Jupp Tom Smith Liam O'Brien Luke Denis Le Seve Joshua Bowers Charlie Tan Danny GoldbergAndrey Bukhlitskiy
Chad HarpurIan JoyceNeil EtheridgeWayne Hennessey
Rodolfo Zelaya
Nozawa Yosuke Khairulhin Khalid Beatrice TanMitre provides its official balls for the following netball association and players:
The company sponsors the following players:
Aaron Liffchak[21]
Peter Bracken[21]
Luke McAlister[21]Albert Van den Berg[21] Johann Muller[21]Richard Mustoe[21]Nick Macleod[21]
Cameroon national football team (1994–95)El Salvador national football team (2009–17)New Zealand national football teamBurnley (1993-1996)Huddersfield Town (1999–2011)Ipswich Town (2008–2014)Norwich City (1994–1997)Notts County (1994–1997)Hibernian (1994–1998)
Hammarby (1992–1993)Premier League (official match ball, 1992–2000)EFL (official match ball, 1976–2021)FA Cup (official match ball, 2018–present)
