In Focus: What is Footy.com?
Ask any football player or fan where they buy their boots or training gear from and you’re likely to get a myriad of passionate answers. There are different reasons to shop at one retailer or another and with the range of products on the market, finding the right product, at the right price can often take some investment of time.
Footy.com is the UK’s leading price comparison website for football merchandise and sportswear, and after securing a £1.625m round of investment earlier this year, they are looking to roll out their expansion strategy and global growth plans.
Based in Durham and backed by North East venture capital firm Northstar Ventures, FOOTY.COM will use the funding injection to increase brand awareness, bolster its workforce and invest in its online technology so its customers can find competitive deals on sportswear with ease.
Established in 2015 by five founding serial entrepreneurs – who have involvement with a string of high profile businesses across the North of England including SaleCycle and The Leighton Group – FOOTY.COM helps customers throughout the UK, Europe and the USA get the best pricing for trainers, football boots, football kits and sports clothing, providing access to thousands of products.
Following investment Footy.com are now working directly with over 100 retailers as well as an ever-increasing number of football clubs who are looking for alternative routes to market.
Speaking about FOOTY.COM’s investment and vision for the future, its CEO Paul Lucherini, former Commercial Director at J2 Global, said: “We believe we’re the only company globally comparing prices across the football world and the technology we have built is robust and innovative. We’ve got a great opportunity to grow the business into something that millions of people will benefit from.
“The new funding we have acquired will help us reach the millions of football fans around the country, and the world.
“The plan is to build the awareness of FOOTY.COM as well as optimising the technology so that we become the go-to place when people look for football-related merchandise. We’re planning for quick growth and ultimately have the opportunity to look at international markets such as USA, Europe and Asia-PAC too.”
Looking ahead to the short and medium term, FOOTY.COM has said it is now well placed to be in a high growth position following the outbreak of Covid-19.
It has said it is on course to achieve a £1m revenue run rate in the next 12 months and expects this to grow to £5m within the next three years.
Paul Lucherini added: “We’re in a great position following investment to really take the next steps in growing awareness of FOOTY.COM. We’ll improve our technology even further and with our vision of making football affordable for everyone we really feel we can become a household name across the country. The next stage of the journey is going to be an exciting one.
“After the global pandemic this year, we think there will be even more demand online in the short term for people to find the best pricing for products, and long term there will be no shortage of people looking for football boots and trainers.
“The business is in a strong position, in a recovering economy, to help consumers get the best options online and we believe the demand for our type of service will always be there. We just have to look at the impact of comparison sites in other sectors that help consumers and within the sporting world it should be no different.”
For more information about FOOTY.COM visit www.footy.com
