SoccerBible Brand Focus: Hummel
It is a brand that has been around for over 90 years and is now making a bid for attention this summer - so here at the SoccerBible we sit up to take notice of Hummel, a prestigious brand you may not have seen before...
To coincide with the launch of Hummel's 2010 Football boots collection, we take a look at the origins of a brand steeped in retro cool and a distinctive, iconic look.
Michael and his brother Albrech Ludwig Messmer founded the company Messmer Co. in a backyard in the Hamburg village of Eppendorf in 1919. But it was not until 1923 that the name hummel was used for the first time in connection with sporting goods, when the Messmer family launched a collection which contained football boots and shoes for cycling, athletics and handball.
The name "Hummel" comes from the German word for "bumblebee", in reference to the way a bumblebee is by all accounts not supposed to fly, but defies gravity to do so. With the Messmer brothers' football boots, players too were able to defy convention and that's how the name stuck.
Hummel has been associated with football ever since - from the first team sponsorship of Bundesliga 2 side MSV Dusiberg, to the glittering success of the Danish national team as they stormed to victory in the 1992 European Championships. There is an interesting anicdote to the Danes story...
Since Denmark had not originally qualified and were admitted into the tournament only 10 days before the start, there were concerns over getting delivery of the teams playing kit. One "big" issue was getting the right size jersey for then national keeper Peter Schmeichel. had to Hummel combine three regular jerseys into two in order to make match day kit to fit the Great Dane. And the unexpected success of the Danish national team created a national shortage of the Hummel replica jerseys.
Hummel has also be worn by many of the world's most famous clubs, with Real Madrid, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Red Star Belgrade and Feyenoord all sporting the iconic chevron styles during their illustrious pasts.
Today, those chevrons are still as famous. A collection of retro inspired track jackets and shirts have been re-launched to a whole new wave of players and fans to discover the Hummel style.
We love our retro football boots at the SoccerBible, and they don't come much more classic than Hummel. Check out their flagship Old School Stars Football Boots to see what we mean.
