Umbro returns as Premier League's main kit sponsor

When the Premier League replaced the Football League in the 1992/93 season, half of the twenty-two clubs that took part in that historic first season wore Umbro jerseys. The Manchester brand then became synonymous with the English aesthetic and marked an unrepeatable decade in British football. And today, more than 30 years later, Umbro is again the brand with the most sponsored clubs in the Premier League, five, surpassing both Nike and adidas with four teams each. Castore follows with three, while PUMA, Macron, Hummel and Erreà each have one team.

After being the most present kit sponsor of the English top division again in the 2010/11 season following the takeover of Nike in October 2012, Umbro disappeared from the Premier League the following year. Then the slow resurgence to its rightful role as a representative of English football and its aesthetic, despite the many changes it has undergone in recent years. This is not a given for a brand that has undergone a major renaissance in recent years, driven in part by a strong nostalgic feeling for old kits and in part by Umbro's ability to insert itself into the new relationship between football and fashion with targeted collaborations.

Moreover, despite the loss of some of the strongest clubs it has sponsored in the past, the company has continued to work on the minor leagues and provincial clubs, guiding them in their quest for the Premier League. Indeed, it was the newly-promoted clubs that catapulted Umbro to the top of the insurmountable sponsorship pyramid, most notably Burnley and Luton Town, who will both wear the double diamond on their shirts next Premier League season. Then, of course, there is West Ham, for whom Umbro has designed a jersey with the club's iconic bubble pattern, Brentford, who will also wear this season's jersey next season, and finally Bournemouth.