Gunners dumps Umbro, hunts new kit sponsor
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday March 19, 2021 21:32
Gunners entered into a five-year deal with the English sportswear manufacturer in 2020 for an undisclosed fee.
The club has since opted out just a year into the deal as it proved unprofitable. “We have terminated the partnership with Umbro because it did not work for us. This is because the other party did not meet certain contractual obligations, hence we saw it fit to end the partnership,” Gunners communications officer, Gerald Mahumba said.
The club has since opened up a tender application, inviting all potential sponsors to come on board.
The club is looking for a three-year technical partner. The tender application closes on March 28, 2021. “Extension Gunners FC invites proposals from local and international companies for the technical partnership to supply sportswear and related apparel for a period of 36 months,” a statement from the club reads.
Gunners has interchanged technical sponsors rapidly in the past seasons and has a different dresser every season. The club had a technical sponsorship agreement with the local brand, 90mins Plus Sportswear in 2018, which was terminated in 2019 when they roped in Italian sportswear company, Errea. The Errea deal apparently never materialised hence the team resorted to purchasing MN Clothing kit owned by Mogakolodi Ngele, which they used for the majority of the 2019-2020 season. Mahumba, however, said the club has opted for a longer partnership as part of improving governance at the financially troubled club. “As a club, we are trying to improve our organisation, in terms of governance. We are doing away with the trend of headhunting partnerships this is why we have opened it up this time. The advert has just been released and there’s nothing on the table just yet,” he said.
The club has been on a restructuring exercise that was spearheaded through membership recruitment. Gunners has urged members to renew their membership with the club while vigorously hunting for new members. The exercise will move to Mmathethe this weekend before heading to Jwaneng the next.
Meanwhile, the club has hinted it is inching closer to securing a primary sponsor following fruitful talks with an unnamed company.
“We have been in talks with certain people over partnerships, the talks have been promising. We are just waiting to finalise and will announce at an unveiling we will host once we are done,” Mahumba said.