Congratulations to Darren Bent on scoring his 100th Premier League goal tonight! Here’s a close up view of the very special Speciali R boots Darren has to mark the occasion. Here’s to 100 more!
We’re very happy to have some new music to share with you here on the Umbro blog, as Tailored At Dale Street returns in 2012. Collaborating with some of the best promoters from in and around Manchester, Tailored At Dale Street is our way of showcasing some of the finest talent in Manchester and beyond.
Our latest gig was co-ordinated by Now Wave, who regularly put on some of the finest gigs in the north-west. The party we staged at our Dale Street design studio was a great night, and the first act to be picked from the evening is The Cold One Hundred, who perform their track ‘On To The Next One’ in the video above.
Formed in Salford in 2010, the band soon outgrew their university roots and are now regarding as one of the north-west’s finest upcoming indie-rock acts. Specialising in post-Britpop romantic anthems, The Cold One Hundred recently supported Suede frontman Brett Anderson on his solo tour. Check out their website for details of any forthcoming gigs and releases, and take a look at our Flickr stream for more great photos from the night…
Umbro founder Harold Humphreys was born on this day in 1902, the man who brought football and fashion together and introduced tailoring to the world of sport. Over the years, Umbro have crafted some of the most iconic moments in football’s history, kits and products that continue to influence the sport today. It’s these items that we’re celebrating in our Icons Reissued collection.
A premium collection of some of our most iconic products, reproduced stitch by stitch from the original designs, Icons Reissued are steeped in history and the story of football, but they also look great as modern designs. There’s four items in the Icons Reissued collection, here’s a little bit on them all:
Icons Reissued 1966 Anthem Jacket
Crafted from a Victoria blue stonewash twill, this Anthem jacket will forever be associated with English football’s greatest every victory. With the England crest proudly embroidered on the chest, the jacket also has red, white and blue ribbed trim on the collar, cuffs and hem.
Icons Reissued Mexico 1977 Jersey
Another item forever associated with classic England footballing moments, the Mexico 70 jersey looks just as good today as it did over 40 years ago! With a classic crew neck collar, the shirt is crafted from the same ribbed fabric as the original, and features a reproduction of the ‘Choice Of Champions’ screen print that featured on the hem of the original shirts.
The original inspiration for our celebrated New Blue collection, the classic Umbro drill top was a part of every player’s wardrobe and even found its way onto the stage at one of the biggest gigs to ever take place in Manchester. Recreated stitch for stitch, the drill top features an oversized Umbro logo on the chest, and is crafted from the same washed cotton twill as the original.
Icons Reissued Taped Track Jacket
We’ve recreated the look of the taped track jacket many times, but this is the original that they’re all inspired by! With the same ribbed taping down the sleeves as the original, the Icons Reissued track jacket features a subtle Umbro logo on the chest.
We’re really excited by the Icons Reissued collection, and we’re sure you’re going to be impressed when you see it up close. There’s more pictures over on our Flickr stream, or you can head straight over to Umbro.com now for more details. Happy birthday, Harold Humpreys!
Football teams often talk about keeping their fans close at heart, but Peru’s finest team have gone one step further with their latest home shirt. Universitario de Deportes, based in the capital city of Lima, have stitched a special crest onto the inside of their new shirt, so that it will be close to the heart of both players and fans that wear it and show their support around the world.
The special internal crest has been created by Peruvian artist and Universitario fan Cherman, inspired by one of the team’s nicknames, ‘Garra Crema’ – the Cream Claws. While this is a literal translation of the team’s colours, ‘garra’ is also considered to be a local word for resilliance and strength, and is seen by the Universitario fans as a key characteristic of the team.
The new shirt, which the team will wear throughout the forthcoming 2012 season, has been Tailored by Umbro to reflect the culture and history of the team, who were the first Peruvian squad to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores. Alongside the internal crest, the shirt also features the supporter’s ‘garra crema’ logo on the hem. Crafted from a lightweight cotton/polyester fabric, the shirt also features the team’s iconic U logo embroidered on the chest.
We know how popular some of our overseas shirts are amongst football fans around the world, and if we find out any ways in which this new Universitario shirt will be available we’ll be sure to let you know! Check out more photos of the new shirt over on our Flickr stream.

Earlier today we revealed the special football boots that Darren Bent will be wearing for Aston Villa’s big FA Cup match against Arsenal on Sunday, but what about the other games that are live on TV? Well, every game will feature the Umbro Neo Pro, the official ball of the FA Cup, and our boots are going to be well represented as well. Every other game on the box will feature some of Umbro’s finest, so keep your eyes peeled for these on the pitch from tonight:
Kyle Walker (Watford vs Spurs, tonight) – Umbro GT silver/red
Andy Carroll (Liverpool vs Manchester United, tomorrow), Speciali R
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool vs Manchester United, tomorrow) Geometra white/red
Jonas Gutierrez (Brighton vs Newcastle) Geometra black/green
Connor Wickham (Sunderland vs Middlesbrough) Umbro GT silver/red

Plenty of great matches to look forward to on TV this weekend, and plenty of great boots on display! Head to Umbro.com for more on all our football boots
It’s the FA Cup Fourth Round this weekend, and once again there’s some cracking ties to look out for. Whatever the game you should be counting the amount of times the ball hits the back of the net though, as it could win you a great prize. We’re asking you to guess the total amount of goals that will be scored in the round for the chance to win an Umbro Neo Pro ball, the official ball of the FA Cup sponsored by Budweiser. Head over to our special Facebook competition page to submit your answer, and you could be one of three lucky winners. The Neo Hi Vis will feature in every game this weekend, as teams look to take one step closer to Wembley and the chance to lift the trophy. Luckily the Neo goes where it should, so if your team are on their toes, they should see it heading for the back of the net! Best of luck in the competition, and lets hope we see plenty of goals….
Our special Umbro Tee Shop collaboration with Tinchy Stryder has been getting plenty of attention since we revealed it last week, but just how did this special connection come about? While we were finalising the design earlier this week, we spoke to Tinchy about the tee, the song and his admiration of Mario, despite being a Manchester United fan! Here’s what he had to say:
So how did the song Why Always Me come about?
‘Slix, one of the members of Ruff Sqwad reached out to me and said he had this song Why Always Me that would be good for the EP we were working on. So he sent it over and I really liked it. Why Always Me is something that anyone can relate to whether it’s positive or negative, so I got involved and people seem to really like it.
When the track got sent over, the hook really stood out, and it got me thinking. At the time I was supposed to be going into the Celebrity Big Brother house, so my verse is a lot around that and how I was feeling about that. Something about the whole Mario Balotelli character appealed to me in that way.’
What is it that you like about Mario Balotelli?
‘I like everything about him, his whole character. For example, when I first met him I said, “why do you never smile when you score goals?” and he said: “I’m a striker, that’s just what I do. You’re a performer, so that’s what you go out and do.” That’s a good way of looking at it, he’s just doing his thing, he’s not putting it on, he’s just naturally like that. I think people can relate to him, he’s got a good heart and he’s strong to his beliefs. That’s the thing that I think the world of football needed, we haven’t had a character like that in England for a long time. And to go along with all of that, he’s also a good footballer, which helps!’
That must be difficult for you to say, as a Manchester United fan?
‘Yeah, that’s the hard part! But I just love football. I am a United fan, so I know people are going to be thinking “Tinch supports Man U, he’s done a track with Ruff Sqwad that’s all about Mario Balotelli, that doesn’t add up.” But, I like him as a person, and it was the ‘Why Always Me’ moment that grabbed me. If you’re a football fan and you know football, you’ll know he’s a good player.’
So ideally, Mario will be the top scorer in the league but United will win it?
‘That’s the dream world, yeah. Mario can be top scorer but United win the league, I’ll take that.’
Why did you decide to create the tee shirt with Umbro?
‘I guess the whole situation is that, music is my first thing in life, but I’ve always been interested in the business world as well. So when the Mario Balotelli track came up, we knew that it’d be good to come together with Umbro and design the tee based on the Why Always Me design. We related it to me, to him and to the whole situation really. It’s all for good reasons, so it’s all positive.’
What did you think of the designs?
‘The designs have been really cool man, when I explain something and then someone can capture what you’re thinking and put it onto a tee shirt, that’s great. It doesn’t look like it’s representing any one thing either, anyone can wear this shirt, but there’s little things in there like the music notes for me. It’s a great collaboration that represents me, Mario and Umbro all linked into one.’
I hear that you’re quite a decent footballer, who would you compare yourself to?
‘Yeah, I was good at football, and then I guess music just became a bit more important for me. If I was going to suggest a player I always liked or hoped I played like, I’d say Ronaldo – the older, Brazilian one – or maybe Aguero, another City player! I was quite quick, good on the ball and I scored goals, so maybe Romario as well.’
You were born in Ghana but grew up in England, so who do you support?
‘I went to that game against England, and I was supporting Ghana, that was a great game. It felt like a win for Ghana even though it was 1-1. If they’re not playing against each other, then I’ll be supporting England. I was born in Ghana, so that’s where my heart is.’
What else have you got planned for this year in terms of music?
‘After this EP, I’ve been working on loads of different things. I’ve got a single out with Pixie Lott called Bright Lights, and then I’m launching my own label Cloud 9. With music I never like to plan too far in advance, so things come up all the time. I know this year is going to be really exciting for me though.’
You’ve met Jay-Z a couple of times, do you think he’d enjoy watching a game of football?
‘Yeah, it’s different because he likes basketball, but I reckon he’d like football. He’s a really cool guy, really laid back. If he wanted to come over I’d take him to Old Trafford for a game. I’m not sure if he’d want a pie and chips though!’
Thanks to Tinchy for taking the time to speak to us. The special Why Always Me tee shirt is available exclusively from the Umbro Tee Shop now. Ruff Sqwad’s EP is out on January 24th, here’s the video of the track Why Always Me:
We’ve already shown you the tee shirt that Umbro and Tinchy Stryder have created, but here’s a great video that shows the moment when Tinchy arrived at our Dale Street studio to finalise the design along with Mario Balotelli.
In the video, Tinchy talks about how he came to write the song ‘Why Always Me’ with Ruff Sqwad, why he wanted to create a tee shirt with us and why he’s a fan of Mario – despite being a Manchester United fan!
The tee shirt is on sale now, exclusively at the Umbro Tee Shop