Umbro hires Fallon to push England football sponsorship

UK sportswear company Umbro is understood to have appointed Fallon to handle its advertising business as it prepares for a major offensive in the run-up to the Euro 2000 football championships.

The company, which previously used Manchester agency Cheetham Bell, started looking for a London agency last month as part of marketing director Shay Boyd’s plans to stop using local agencies.

Umbro spends just over &£1m a year on advertising but Boyd, who joined from Adidas last October, is understood to be planning to boost the budget.

Fallon’s first work is expected to break in the next two weeks to promote Umbro’s sponsorship of the England football team, which is competing at Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The brand’s most recent TV ad was aired last year, featuring England stars such as Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and David Seaman. It was the first time Umbro had used TV ads to promote a kit launch.

Umbro renewed its sponsorship contract for the England team with the Football Association by signing a &£50m five-year deal in May 1998.

It is not known whether media, which is handled by the Media Business North, is affected by the move.