Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont highlights rebrand success as club release new kit: ‘We needed to create a stir’
Leigh Leopards 2024 home kit & owner Derek Beaumont - Photo Credit: Leigh Leopards / Alamy
Leigh Leopards have released their new home kit for 2024 on the back of a successful first year under their new tagline, with owner Derek Beaumont taking the opportunity to laud the success of their rebrand.
Within a few weeks of their promotion to Super League being confirmed, Leigh announced their rebrand, dumping the near 30-year association with the ‘Centurions’ name and adopting ‘Leopards’.
With it not only came a new name for the club, but also a new kit which caused a great deal of discussion in the rugby league world, large portions of it positive.
An actual picture of a Leopard may not feature on the 2024 shirt, but red Leopard print does, keeping very much in touch with the new theme but embracing the club’s more traditional colours. A picture of the newly-released shirt can be seen below.
‘We needed to create a stir’: Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont reflects on successful rebrand as 2024 kit is released
Adrian Lam’s men have switched manufacturers for their second year as ‘Leopards’, cutting ties with Ellgren and opting for a move to Patrick. Their new kit suppliers produced the shoes worn by the travelling party for August’s Challenge Cup final, which they unforgettably went on to win in golden point against Hull KR courtesy of Lachlan Lam’s drop goal.
They have retained the same front of shirt sponsor, ‘Homes Together‘, and seen local company Fitfield Limited enter a tenth season as collar sponsor.
Outspoken owner Beaumont, who was the main driving factor in the club’s rebrand, has utilised the release of their 2024 threads to praise the success of it.
He said: “Last year’s shirt created a lot of interest, and whilst it gained a lot of criticism in certain areas, the figures did the talking. There were considerably more sales of it than any other shirt in the ten years I have been back at the club.
“We needed to create a stir with the whole rebrand and we certainly achieved that. We have known since then the type of design we wanted to move with this year, as it was one that we had considered in the first instance.
“But we also looked at our new suppliers’ take on things, which produced two designs that fans will see, one as a training top and the other as a beachwear shirt. These will be released along with several other retail items which we will be bringing to our stall and online platform ahead of Christmas.
“We will also, for the first time, be making available for retail sales the players’ training range, details of which will follow over the coming weeks. Images of the full kit will follow the release of the continued and new sponsors in the following days.”