Umbro-not worn by many professionals but once had significant influence in the sport. They still do produce football boots and at least give everyone an option to try something outside the Big 3 brands. Modernity has also caused them to provide different silos based on what aspect of your game you would like to prioritise. Umbro football boots have evolved to use a variety of materials for their build.
Umbro were founded in 1924 by Harold & Wallace Humphreys and are a UK company with headquarters near Manchester, since 2012 they are a subsidiary of American company Iconix Brand Group. It wasn’t until the mid eighties, that Umbro started their footwear range, their first boot was released to the Brazilian market as a test. It proved a success and by 1987 the first Umbro boots went into mass production and were released worldwide.
In October 2007 Nike Inc. bought Umbro for £285 million and then the American company agreed to sell Umbro to Iconix Brand Group for roughly £135 million in October 2012 having taken many of their kit contracts and players in the process. The brand started their resurgence in 2014, when they announced they would take over manufacture of the Everton kits from the 14/15 season.
Umbro Football Silos
At the moment, Umbro offers the Speciali, Tocco and the Velocita.
The Speciali falls under similar attributes as the likes of the adidas Copa Mundial: nostalgic old-school look, comfortable K-leather, classic fold-over tongue and flat outsole with bold studs. Its highest point came in the 1998 World Cup, courtesy of Michael Owen’s goal against Argentina.
The Tocco, now on its 3rd generation, is one of those leather boots that employs a technology to pair it up with other materials. Like the adidas Fusionskin or the Mizuno Beta, Tocco 3 uses synthetic materials to reinforce the responsiveness of leather.
And as the sport becomes faster, more and more players are looking for boots that are speedy and quick. Velocita, now under the Elixir generation, is the go-to speed boot from Umbro. It’s mainly comprised of woven yarns, and highlights the ProWeave material from Texon.
