Admiral is one of the oldest English sportswear brands, with a manufacturing emphasis on clothing for association football. Founded in 1914 in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, Admiral was originally an undergarment brand but switched to the manufacture of apparel for sports that have included

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, cycling and athletics, as well as football. The Admiral logo was formally registered with the trademark office on 6 September 1922. The company reached the peak of its success in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s through a series of football team sponsorships. Some of the teams most notably sponsored by Admiral were the England national team, Leeds United,

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Kerala Blasters and some teams of the now-defunct NASL.Publicidad retro: el estilo Admiral
Por Eugenio Palopoli on Arte y Sport, 24 Jul 2012 The Admiral brand was brought back to life by a Manchester firm established by a local entrepreneur,Admiral Sportswear to launch retro leisure range
on ''The Manchester Evening News'', 14 Feb 2012 "Admiral Sportswear Ltd.", which in 2011 acquired rights to manufacture and market

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

, clothing and accessories.

History

Beginning

"Cook & Hurst Ltd.", a

-based manufacturing company of underwear established by Christopher Cook and Harold Hurst in Wigston in 1908, created the 'Admiral' trademark in 1914 to brand their products. When England won the World Cup in 1966, Bert Patrick, the owner of Cook & Hurst Ltd, commenced manufacturing and marketing football kits. The kits sales were aimed at the juvenile market and through selling connections in the sports retail trade. Bert Patrick believed that the advent of coloured television would enable him to persuade football clubs to accept personalised kits which his designers would produce and then register them under the Design Copyright Act. There was stiff opposition to his ideas from all sections of the public.

1970s: Leeds and England

Through its connection with Leeds United, Admiral pioneered the introduction and development of the

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

kit market in the UK. In the 1973–74 season, Leeds United wore the first visibly branded kit in the English top flight. Realising the potential of the replica kit market, Admiral brokered a deal with the Football Association in 1974 to produce the first commercially available England shirt that featured a sportswear manufacturers logo. They agreed a five-year contract for a starting payment of £15,000 a year or a 10 per cent royalty.

Other clubs

Admiral signed up other big clubs alongside Leeds United, such as

,History
on Admiral website

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, and West Ham. It also developed outside England, signing sides Aberdeen,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in Scotland, Yugoslavian club Red Star Belgrade, Bundesliga outfit

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, the Italian clubs Bologna and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, the Swiss club Servette, Swedish giants Malmö, and the Indian club Kerala Blasters, in addition to the national teams of Belgium, Saudi Arabia and Wales. Admiral also produced kits for many of the NASL teams during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had a replica licensing deal with some clubs, and for two seasons produced the uniforms for every team in the

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

1980s: Decline and rebirth

Admiral began the decade with the launch of a new England kit in 1980, the first new kit in nearly 6 years. This kit was first worn in a 3–1 win over Argentina at Wembley Stadium on 13 May, and lasted until 1983. However, the 1980s marked a period of decline for the Admiral brand, as it began to lose the contracts with the major clubs to domestic rival Umbro and new international entrant

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

. Even though Admiral still held the England kit contract, one of the most valuable in the world, the company was declared bankrupt in 1982. The brand reappeared on the market for the 1983–84 season producing the same double pinstripe design for both Leicester City and Notts County. Towards the end of the 1980s

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, Crystal Palace, Hull City,

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

and Wrexham were added to the Admiral roster. It was also the first ever kit maker of

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

1990s

Admiral entered the 1990s well placed to build upon its widespread recognition and continued to supply clubs including Dynamo Kyiv, Southampton, Middlesbrough,

, Charlton Athletic,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, Hearts,

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, Partizan Belgrade and many more. In 1992 after Leeds United had won the last Football League division One title before the advent of the Premier League they negotiated a deal to make their kits for the following season. After a period of relative inactivity during the mid-1990s, the Admiral trademark was acquired by Hay & Robertson plc in 1997, and ownership was transferred to International Brand Licensing plc in a demerger in 2002.

2000 and beyond

In 2000, Admiral entered the world of cricket and was the official kit supplier to the England cricket team until 2008 (the sponsorship was then taken over by

). By 2001, it had also become the kit supplier to the West Indies and South Africa cricket teams as well as supplying the Canadian team for the 2003

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...

held in South Africa. However, Admiral kept its connection with English football by sponsoring Leeds United until the end of the 2007–08 season. In the 2010s, Admiral continues to sponsor a number of football teams around the world. In 2011, Admiral Sportswear Limited acquired the rights of the Admiral trademark for most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, with the intention of revitalizing the heritage sports brand. In 2016,

won promotion to

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

wearing Admiral. This is the highest position the club has held in the football league. In Italy Cisalfa Sport have the exclusive licence to retail Admiral Performance and Essentials. As part of the regeneration project Admiral started to work and collaborate with different design partners. The first of these was with Represent, shown at the 2019 Milan Fashion Week In September 2020, the "Admiral Sporting Goods Co." line was launched. The line, that took inspiration from pre-1966 sportswear, was composed of t-shirts, hoodies, and accessories. the projects first collaboration was with

Acme Whistles J Hudson & Co was founded in the 1870s in Birmingham by Joseph Hudson (1848–1930) and his brother James Hudson (1850–1889). The company became a manufacturer of whistles and continues as Acme Whistles. Acme is the world's largest and most ...

the inventors of the first every pea whistle. Also that year, the company together with Wellgosh made a special common release.

Sponsorships

Admiral currently provides kit uniforms for the following teams:

Association football

National teams

* *

Club teams

* Radcliffe FC *

Europa Point Europa Point (Spanish language, Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of ...

* Jubilo Iwata *

SCSA Eagles SCSA may refer to: * The California State and Consumer Services Agency * The VSR V8 Trophy ASCAR (Anglo-American Stock Car Racing), was a stock car racing series that raced at circuits around the United Kingdom and Europe from 2001 until 2008. T ...

* Gremio FC SD * AC Miracle Hill *

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

* Greater Lowell United *

New Orleans Jesters The New Orleans Jesters are an American soccer team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Nicknamed 'The Jesters', they are co ...

* Sioux Falls Thunder * Inter Nashville *

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

Sonoma County Sol Sonoma County Sol is an American soccer team based in Santa Rosa, California, United States. Founded in 2004, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyrami ...

Milwaukee Torrent FC Milwaukee Torrent is an American soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The club fields a men's and women's team. The men play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), and the women play in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) ...

* Dayton Dynamo *

Demize NPSL Demize NPSL, formerly known as Joplin Demize, is an American amateur soccer club based in Springfield, Missouri, which began play in the fourth-tier National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in May 2014. The team competes within the Heartland Conferen ...

* Kitsap Pumas * Cleveland * Jersey Express *

Tri-Cities Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

* West Virginia Alliance * Harrisburg Heat * Corpus Christi *

Austin Bold Austin Bold FC was an American professional soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort Worth, Texas leaving Circ ...

* Santa Ana Winds * Temecula

Players

* Shota Kaneko

Cricket

* United States

Golf

Satoshi Kodaira is a Japanese professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and Japan Golf Tour. While playing on the Japan Golf Tour, Kodaira has had seven victories, including two Japan Golf Tour majors, the 2013 Japan Golf Tour Championship Shishido Hills a ...

Nasa Hataoka is a Japanese professional golfer. She has won six times on the LPGA Tour and six times on the LPGA of Japan Tour. Amateur career Hataoka was born on 13 January 1999, named after the United States space program, NASA. As an amateur, she won the ...

Tennis

* Himari Sato * Yusuke Futawatari *

Maaya Uno Maaya may refer to: * Maaya (given name) Maaya (written: 真綾 or 真礼) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and voice actress *, Japanese actress and voice actress *, ...

Shogo Takano Shogo, Shōgo, Shohgo or Shougo (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese professional baseball player *, Japanese politician * ...

* Sho Shimabukuro

Music and Showbitz

The Reytons The Reytons are an English indie-rock band from Rotherham. Band members include frontman Jonny Yerrell, lead guitarist Joe O'Brien, bass player Lee Holland and drummer Jamie Todd. They formed in 2017. They released their debut album, ''Kid ...

* The Jam * The Style Council

Former sponsorships

National teams

* * * * * * (1974–84) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Club teams

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

* Bolívar * Vancouver Whitecaps * Whitecaps * Aldershot Town *

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

* Birmingham City *

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

* Brighton & Hove Albion *

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

* Charlton Athletic * Coventry * Crystal Palace * Derby County * Everton *

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

* Grimsby Town *

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

* Huddersfield * Hull City * Leeds United * Leicester City * Leyton Orient * Luton Town *

* Middlesbrough *

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

* Notts County * Norwich *

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

* Peterborough United *

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

* Portsmouth *

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

* Queens Park Rangers *

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

* Sheffield United * Shrewsbury Town * Southend United * Southampton * Stockport County *

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

* Tottenham Hotspur * Wallsall * West Ham United *

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

* Wolverhampton Wanderers * York City *

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

* Kerala Blasters (2017–2018) *

Rastakhiz ''Rastakhiz'' (Persian رستاخیز "resurrection") may refer to: * Rastakhiz F.C., an Iranian football team *Rastakhiz Party The Party of Resurrection of the Iranian Nation ( fa, حزب رستاخیز ملت ایران) or simply Rastakhiz ...

* Beitar Jerusalem * Hapoel Haddera * Hapoel Haifa *

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

* St Patrick's *

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

Aprilia Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. ...

* Bologna *

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

* Frosinone * Avispa Fukuoka * T-Team * Utrecht * Dordrecth *

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

* Twente *

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

Portadown F.C. Portadown Football Club is a professional, Northern Irish football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was formed in 1887 as a junior team seeking to participate in the Mid-Ulster Cup, eventually joining the Irish League with t ...

* Puerto Rico Islanders *

* Aberdeen *

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

* East Fife * Dumbarton *

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

* Hamilton Academical *

Queen's Park F.C. Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional association football, football club based in Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the Oldest footba ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

* St Mirren * Inverness Caledonian * Hearts * Hibernian * Malmö * IFK Göteborg * Servette * Fenerbahçe * Dynamo Kyiv * Crvena Zvezda * Partizan Belgrade * California Surf * New York Cosmos (1979) * Tampa Bay Rowdies * Los Angeles Aztecs * Seattle Sounders *

Houston Hurricanes The Houston Hurricanes were a soccer club that competed in the United Soccer Leagues from 1996 to 2000. Description and history The Hurricanes were a Division III (D-3) franchise, and their Major League Soccer affiliation was with the Kansas City ...

* Minnesota Kicks * Tacoma Stars * Temecula *

Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger Fa ...

* Las Vegas Quicksilvers * Chicago Sting *

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 19 ...

* Oklahoma City *

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

* Edmonton Drillers *

Philadelphia Fury The Philadelphia Fury was an American soccer team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that last competed in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The club formerly competed in the American Soccer League and is currently owned by ...

* Cardiff *

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

* Wrexham

Cycling

* Ti-Raleigh *

Splendor (cycling team) Splendor was a Belgian professional cycling team that existed from 1975 to 1989. It won the team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differ ...

Cricket

* Canada * England * South Africa * West Indies

F1

* Minardi F1 Team

Golf

* US Golf Association

Kabaddi

* Tamil Thalaivas

References

External links

* {{Sports equipment brands British brands Clothing brands of the United Kingdom Clothing companies of England British companies established in 1914 Clothing companies established in 1914 Manufacturing companies based in Manchester Oadby and Wigston Sporting goods brands Sporting goods manufacturers of the United Kingdom Sportswear brands 1914 establishments in England