Studs Up

I’ve not been shy in professing my love for the way Umbro has gone about reviving its brand the last few seasons, resulting in some of the best product releases I’ve ever seen from a football brand. They’ve made a point of taking their football heritage, one which most of their competitors could only dream of, and brought it back to the fore. Their “Tailored By Umbro” concept has brought bespoke tailoring and a dedication to the finer points of sartorial detail to football kit design. The end result has been a slew of product releases that have left me wondering what the heck the rest of the industry has been playing at all this time. Nike’s acquisition of Umbro in 2007 looks like a real turning point, putting the resources of the biggest and best sportswear company on the planet at the finger tips of one of the most history-rich and respected football brands. A match made in football heaven.

The product hits since have ranged from a warm up jacket that has become maybe the favourite item in my closet (and I’m not even English) and got me stopped on the street multiple times during a recent trip to LA to England’s World Cup Away Kit which, unlike the team, was simply a masterful blend of form and function. I can count on one hand the number of football kits I’ve felt comfortable wearing out for style purposes (it’s zero) but Umbro are flipping that script rather quickly. The new England kit is no different, the pop on the bright blue shorts with white shirt is a winner alone but the henley collar and risky coloured St. George’s on the shoulders mean the national team will once again look far better than they can ever play.

The newest announcement has given me a lot of reasons to get excited: Umbro will be the official kit provider for the New York Cosmos who were re-launched this past August. A fitting partnership considering Umbro’s involvement with the original Cosmos and the brand’s dedication to reaching back into football’s history.

The Cosmos remain America’s only football club which has truly made an impact on the annals of football history with its brief but incredibly high profile existence in the 1970s with the NASL. The Cosmos were sort of the original billionaire-owned club, backed by Warner Communications, signing a host of big names like Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and of course most notably Pele. The fanfare and star power helped create probably the only period in which football was actually ‘cool’ in America, a feat yet to be matched by any team in the MLS and perhaps never will.

The staff list is fleshing out nicely as well. Pele returns with the ‘new’ New York Cosmos as Honourary President, joining Cosmos chairman Paul Kelmsley (former vice-charman at Tottenham). So there’s some big hitters already lined up up front and behind the scenes to ensure a successful revival.

Even though the club only consists of to youth academies right now, with a professional team in the works, the reviving of essentially what amounts to a football cult brand is enough for me to pay attention. I lived in New York for a number of years after university and still spend a lot of time there, so I’m partial to anything cool coming from the city. Despite my best efforts, it was always a little tough for me to develop any true affection for NYC’s local team, perhaps because it’s named after a beverage, so the prospect of the Cosmos coming back full circle is a tasty one to say the least.

The Cosmos sent me photos of the initial releases (below) that will be hitting later this year and it’s definitely Umbro at its best. As you’ll probably guess, my pick of the lot is the Cosmos version of my favourite jacket while I absolutely love the collar on the kit. The colour scheme is an excellent update of the original club colours, the green and yellow come from just the right spot on the Pantone scale to invoke retro and modern style sensibilities.

“More to come” would be an understatement, as the Cosmos represents Umbro’s big push into the US market, but I’ll keep you guys updated as I hear more from them.