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Mitre extends SPL deal
Ball manufacturer to supply Scottish top tier with footballs for further four years
Mitre and the Scottish Premier League (SPL) have extended their partnership, with the ball manufacturer to supply the league with balls until 2015.
Mitre has supplied balls to the SPL since the start of the league in 1998, with the Mitre Tensile ball to be used for the 2011/12 season and each league club having a personalised ball printed in club colours and displaying the club badge.
Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPL, said: "Mitre has been a valued partner of the SPL since 1998 and I am delighted to announce their continued commitment to the SPL for the next four seasons.
"This year the SPL distributed over £17m to Clydesdale Bank Premier League clubs. We remain focused on supporting SPL clubs financially as much as possible. The partnership with Mitre is an important piece in that jigsaw.
"Over the past 13 seasons of the SPL, 7,651 goals have been scored with Mitre balls and I hope to see many more over the coming seasons."
Gary Hibbert, managing director of Mitre, said: "The SPL is as passionate and exciting a competition as any and we’re thrilled to extend the deal to be the official ball supplier, continuing our long standing involvement in the Scottish game.
"We’re looking forward to further successes with the SPL over the next four years.”
Mitre also has a partnership with sports retailer ACA Sports, which will act as Mitre’s official online retail partner for the SPL, enabling supporters to purchase each club’s Tensile ball and other replica balls.
Hibbert said: “With the additional partnership with ACA Sports, meaning fans can buy replicas of their club’s footballs, this only enhances our offering to fans and clubs."
ACA Sports managing director Alistair Cameron said: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with the SPL and Mitre.
“This landmark deal will allow every fan in the SPL the opportunity to buy their club’s match and replica balls for the first time in the league’s history, something we are all very excited about."
