Aston Villa and Under Armour have mutually terminated kit partnership
By Josh Tonti
Aston Villa and technical partners, the American sports wear brand Under Armour, have mutually terminated their agreement just two years into a five-year deal.
A bit of surprise news dropped earlier this week on the Aston Villa front. The club, and its primary kit partners Under Armour, have, “mutually decided to end their relationship.” The surprise is not necessarily because the two parted ways, but just how soon they decided to do so.
The conclusion of this season is just the second of a pre-determined five year contract, signed when Dr. Tony Xia and RECON Group took over as primary principals. Under Armour, for all their might, global reach and size, are not exactly the most well-known football kit manufacturer. Still, the kits put on display these last two seasons have been among the best Aston Villa have ever worn in my lifetime.
But all is not lost! Aston Villa are already hyping up their 2018/2019 partner, to what end, I do not know:
"“News of a new technical partner for our 2018/19 kits will break on club channels in the coming weeks. Today we announced that we will be mutually ending our agreement with Under Armour, who have been with us for the past two years. They will make way for an innovative new agreement, which will be ground-breaking within football and, more importantly, will benefit our supporters.”"
Aston Villa can confirm that the club and its technical partner, Under Armour, have mutually decided to end their relationship.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 6, 2018
The club would like to thank Under Armour for their support over the past two years and would like to wish them all the best for the future.#AVFC pic.twitter.com/7wXGGcepbX
Who Is On The Horizon?
I genuinely do not have a clue, but I wouldn’t look past a Far East brand for Aston Villa. Dr. Tony Xia is committed to building a lasting, dynamic relationship between the club and his native country of China. Is their a company whose plans will will be, “ground-breaking within football”?
Other possibilities remain the laundry list of sportswear brands like: Adidas, New Balance, Nike, Fila, Umbro, Mizuno and others. Whoever the partner, I only require three things:
- They need to look good. Can’t have my club looking sub-par. The team’s performances do that enough sometimes.
- Commercial success! Going off of #1, if they look good, they are more likely to sell.
- Sponsorship money! What is a few extra million pounds for the transfer budget?