Southampton FC eyes soccer academies in China

Premier League football club Southampton have announced a 7-year partnership with the kit supplier Under Armour. This announcement was made on April 14th by Club Chairman Ralph Krueger and Peter Murray, Vice President of Under Armour.

The deal starts July 1 and runs to 2023. As of yet financial terms have not been disclosed. As part of the deal, the pair are looking to launch academies and Southampton/Under Armour development programmes, initially in the US and then in China.

As Krueger said, the club will recruit new coaches to teach in the “Southampton way”. Under Armour will provide its own expertise in this field: it has 200 grassroots academy partners in the US, providing kit for “50,000 kids”.

Discussions on launching in the Chinese market were “just starting”, the Chairman said, “There’s so much opportunity in how China and India would like to learn and develop football players. The sport is just booming right now.”

Southampton, known as the Saints , currently sit 7th in the 20-team league.

Source: leisureopportunities.co.uk

Proofread by John Devlin.