Castore co-founder Tom Beahon has revealed that the brand intends to start making football boots in the future, though no specific details or timeframes have been given.
Football kit supplier for teams such as Newcastle United, Wolves, Aston Villa, Sevilla and Rangers, Castore has disrupted the manufacturing market since first moving into professional football in 2020. And now, the brand plans to enter into the football boot market as well.
Speaking to The Athletic, Beahon let slip about the brand's future ambitions, but refused to divulge any specific information.
“I can’t tell you any more or I’ll get shot by my product team," Tom Beahon said.
Given how rapidly Castore has grown since being founded in July 2015, it is likely football boots adorned with the company's logo will be in circulation sooner rather than later.
Castore has 24 team partnerships across five different sports currently, sponsoring the likes of the England, South Africa and West Indies cricket teams, Formula One teams McLaren and Red Bull Racing, with athletes such as tennis star Andy Murray and Olympic champion swimmer Adam Peaty all endorsing the brand, too.
It has also recently announced multi-year deals with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Athletic Bilbao and Feyenoord, highlighting Castore's desire to continue along its upward trajectory of growth.
Consumers will be keen to see Castore's step into the football boot market, whenever that may be, after suffering some questionable hiccoughs this season.
In a Premier League game between Aston Villa and Wolves in January, the shirt Nelson Semedo was wearing had the Wolves crest printed upside down, causing plenty of ridicule online.
Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic even wore a shirt that didn't feature the club crest in a game earlier this season. However, Beahon isn't concerned with these blunders, suggesting issues for manufacturers arise all the time.
“Castore has not had any more issues than Nike, Adidas or Puma in terms of supply chain or quality,” he said.
“We just get judged by a slightly different and higher standard because we’re the new guy who’s burst onto the scene and partnered with some big, high-profile clubs. It almost feels like some people are looking to say, ‘We knew those guys were too good to be true and what they were doing wasn’t sustainable’, so every time there’s a minor issue people like to put down the disruptor rather than encourage you.
"I don’t think that’s unique to Castore or the sportswear market; it’s just one of the crosses you have to bear as the new guy."
