That’s right, the frat bro-inspired W logo and the designs it inspired are gone from the soccer world, having been rebranded as New Balance Football. New Balance of course owns Warrior and the cleaner image of the parent company should do wonders for their hopes of hitting the sport’s big time.
New Balance (hopefully) kills off the “Murderhole” with Warrior rebrand
After years of, err, questionable designs and products with features named “gloryholes” and “murderholes,” among other strange designations, Warrior Football is no more.
The company famous for its lacrosse gear made major waves when it picked up giants Liverpool for what was then the biggest kit deal in the sport. Since then, they have added the likes of Sevilla and Stoke City to their roster with players like Vincent Kompany, Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey, Marouane Fellaini, Tim Cahill, and more joining the ranks wearing the Warrior logo. In recent months, we have seen a number of those players wear blackout and whiteout mystery boots that didn't betray the brand's identity until the Arsenal Man, Ramsey, trotted out his pair with a black "N" logo prominently featured on the sides.
In an event at New Balance’s Manhattan store, the move was made official with Warrior’s soccer efforts to be known as “New Balance Football” from this point forward. The announcement featured a look into the brand’s future offerings and confirmed a number of players and teams that would wear the new branding.
Speaking about the new deal, Richard Wright, General Manager of New Balance Football, said:
“We believe this global portfolio of clubs is an incredibly strong line-up for New Balance’s entry into the football market. We have four clubs all with distinctive, exciting identities and which will play a key role in taking New Balance Football to a truly global audience. This is an exciting, unprecedented start and we look forward to working with these clubs for many years to come.”
In addition to the huge sides that were announced in New Balance’s event, the company will also work with a number of smaller teams that include Shamrock Rovers, Odds BK, Sagan Tosu, Yamagata, Club Sport Emelec, O’Higgins FC and Persebaya Surabaya, among others.
Expect to see Liverpool ,Sevilla, Stoke City, and Porto in the NB Football branding soon with Cahill, Kompany, Ramsey, Nasri, and Fellaini being joined by Manchester City's Fernando & Jesus Navas, Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj, Hull City's Nikica Jelavic, and Valencia's Alvaro Negredo. It's a big and (mostly) impressive list.
The announcement from New Balance, when all is said and done, is a big deal in the world of football. Hopefully, this means cleaner and more classic looking kits for Liverpool next year. Maybe we can say goodbye to weird sashes, strange patterns, and the McDonalds happy meal look for good. Hopefully, this means that New Balance is a serious contender in the sport in terms of design and innovation and not just cash thrown around.
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