- Four-year agreement with Italian company covers playing and leisure wear
Italian sportswear maker Macron is to supply playing and leisure wear for Irish FA match officials.
The Irish FA has signed a four-year deal with the Bologna-based company which will see Macron kits worn by officials in NIFL’s three leagues, including the Danske Bank Premiership, as well as those officiating in Northern Ireland’s intermediate leagues.
'The range and quality of the referee kit and leisure wear is first class, and those are sentiments which have been echoed by NIFL Premiership match officials who have started to wear the new kit over the past few weeks'
Under the agreement Macron gear will also be worn by attendees at the Irish FA Referee Academy and those involved in various male and female refereeing development groups.
The Irish FA’s Head of Refereeing, Trevor Moutray, said: “I am very pleased and excited that both parties have reached an agreement that will see Macron supplying playing and leisure wear to match officials right across the IFA referee family.
“The range and quality of the referee kit and leisure wear is first class, and those are sentiments which have been echoed by NIFL Premiership match officials who have started to wear the new kit over the past few weeks.”
And he added: “I am very much looking forward to working with Macron over the next four years to develop and grow the partnership for the mutual benefit of both parties.”
Macron kits are worn around the world by both international teams and club teams, from Albania, Belarus and Cyprus to a handful of Scottish Premiership teams, including Hibernian and St Johnstone, plus Real Sociedad and Levante in Spain’s La Liga and Nice in France’s Ligue 1.
Millwall, Nottingham Forest, Reading and Stoke City also wear Macron kits in the EFL Championship, while other clients include Bologna, Lazio, Sampdoria and Verona in Italy’s Serie A, Hannover 96 and Arminia Bielefeld in Germany’s Bundesliga, Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon, Belgium’s Club Brugge, Perth Glory in Australia.
