Multinational sports brand Locust has come to an agreement to enter a new region this week by agreeing a deal with Red Lion Football in Australia.
Locust led by former Premier League striker Trevor Benjamin and his fellow directors recently launched the brand with headquarters in the North East after three years in research and development.
Locust, originally a Tier 1 brand from Canada, started in 1999 and ran to 2012 successfully before Trevor and his colleagues successfully negotiated to take on Locust and relaunch it as a UK-based brand. “Nothing is ever simple in football. We were delighted to be able to take on Locust with its supply chain and history. I mean, it has supplied International teams with kits before now, so why can’t it again? It had to be ready for the UK market and took far longer than we ever envisaged, but after the successful launch, this move will take us to the next step to where we want to be, a global powerhouse in football”
Locust still has roots in Canada and North America with distribution set up there, and when the opportunity to work with ex professional goalkeeper Graham Ross and his team at Red Lion Football came along it was too good to turn down. “Graham’s experience of the Australian leagues and market is second to none. With his contacts in the game over there, we knew he was the best candidate to distribute Locust. He has shown he can successfully take brands to Australia before and we are all really excited by this unexpected development”.
On taking on the Locust Brand Graham added “After meeting with the guys from Locust and seeing the products first hand, it felt like they are on the cusp of something special and we wanted to be part of it. We turned down several more established brands currently in the marketplace for Locust because we feel it fits with our image and the quality of the products really set them apart from the crowd. We will make Locust a household name in football, initially with their goalkeeping range over here and help the guys in the UK achieve all their aims. This is going to be a really exciting time for goalkeepers especially over here”
Though seen initially as a goalkeeping brand with several high profile endorsees including ex-England international Chris Kirkland and David Button of Brentford, Trevor added “The goalkeeping side of our business is certainly core and it has allowed us to demonstrate at a high level that our products can mix it with the best but we are a football brand with an ever-expanding product range including footballs, apparel, kits, protective wear and medical equipment”.
“The future is bright and we can’t wait to get started over there and continue to do what we do best “Creating Champions”
For more information on Locust please visit www.locust.com or email uk@locust.com or in Australia graham@redlionfootball.com.au