England’s National football kit maker Umbro has had its profits hit.

Umbro state that cut-throat competition for replica strips has hit profits badly.

Umbro, produce shirts for over 150 teams, including England, Northern Ireland, Everton, Glasgow Rangers and Lyon. They lost their most prestigious club kit deal with Chelsea FC last year.

More positively, Chelsea and England captain John Terry this year signed a long term deal with Umbro.

Umbro said the UK market place remains ‘extremely tough and price-led’, which has hit its profit margins.

They went on to say that sales of England shirts since the World Cup have been slow. They blamed fierce cost-cutting between retail chains such as JJB Sports, JD Sports and Sportsworld.

England’s poor performance at the World Cup was also to blame, as fans had bought fewer replica shirts since the summer.

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