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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jonathan Blackburn & Saffron Otter

The pub in a tiny Cheshire village linked to football's greatest moments

One of the world's most iconic sportswear started with humble beginnings in a sleepy Cheshire village. To be more exact, inside a cupboard upstairs of one of Mobberley's popular pubs.

The Bull's Head, on Mill Lane, is the birthplace of Umbro, the brand that has kitted out major football teams for their finest hours on the pitch. The gastropub, now famous for its 'steak and wobbly ale pie', was once owned by the parents of Harold and Wallace Humphreys.

Harold, who was born in 1902, left school at the age of 13 to clean for a textile firm in Manchester and quickly worked his way up to the haberdashery department. He later secured a position as a salesman at Stockport sportswear brand Messrs Bucks - later known as Bukta.

READ MORE: Stockport's Ate Days A Week opens in Manchester and the pies are as cracking as ever

In 1922, Harold launched his own sportswear retail business, initially trading out of a cupboard in the back room of his parents' pub - The Bull's Head. With the help of his brother Wallace, the pair formed Humphreys Brothers Ltd in 1924 and moved to a workshop in Wilmslow.

The name was abbreviated to Umbro - taking the 'um' from Humphreys and the 'bro' from brothers. In the decades that have followed, the brand has provided kits to some of the world's biggest teams and was once referred to as the 'Dior of the football world'.

The Humphreys brothers - Wallace, left and Harold (Umbro)

Ten years after forming the company, Umbro supplied kits to both teams in the FA Cup final, played out in front of 93,000 spectators, CheshireLive reports. Portsmouth, in a black and white kit, would lose 2-1 to Manchester City, who wore maroon.

By 1966, the vast majority of English teams would play in their shirts. When the World Cup arrived that year, 15 out of the 16 teams competed in Umbro kits, including North Korea - with only the USSR snubbing the supplier.

England win World Cup final wearing Umbro - July 30, 1966 (manchester evening news)

When Manchester United completed the treble in 1999, they did so in two Umbro home kits, with a special kit reserved for European games.

Brazil also lifted the World Cup trophy twice in Umbro kits, first in 1958, when Pelé and co lifted the Jules Rimet in blue shirts; and again in 1994, beating Italy in the final in Los Angeles wearing yellow.

A year after the '94 World Cup, Ajax lifted the Champions League in Umbro shirts. The star-studded team featured Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert wearing the white and red made famous by Cruyff a generation before.

When a similarly star-studded Scotland team reached the World Cup finals in 1978, Liverpool stars Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness would be wearing Umbro kits, just as they did with their club.

Meanwhile, away from football, Umbro provided the kits for the British Olympic team for twenty years between 1952 and 1972. In 1954, Roger Bannister was the first man to break the four minute mile whilst wearing the clothing brand.

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