THE Reebok Stadium is to be renamed the Macron Stadium.

Wanderers revealed the shock news today as they announced a new sponsorship deal with the Italian sportswear company.

It means, from July, the Whites’ long association with sportswear giant Reebok, which has given the stadium its name since it was opened in 1997, will be over.

Club chairman Phil Gartside has not disclosed how much the new deal was worth.

As well as buying the stadium rights, Macron will also make the team kits, training gear and leisurewear from the summer.

Both deals will run for an initial period of four years with the club maintaining an option to extend it.

But they also end the club’s long affinity with Reebok, the company founded by Joe Foster in Bolton in 1895.

Since 2005, Reebok International Ltd has been a subsidiary of German group Adidas.

Macron is based in Bologna, Italy, but has shops across the UK.

Mr Gartside said: “This is an extremely exciting and beneficial deal for our club.

“We will be proud to carry the Macron brand on our stadium and official merchandise for the coming seasons.

“We have been very impressed with their passion for football and their ideas to grow our partnership.

“They are an ambitious and innovative company and we are looking forward to becoming one of their flagship clubs.


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“I would also like to take this opportunity to place on record our thanks to Reebok and the rest of the Adidas Group for their continued support over the years.”

Macron chief executive, Gianluca Pavanello, added: “We are very proud to start this relationship with such a prestigious club as Bolton Wanderers.

“Macron wishes to be associated with top clubs where the company's principles of high quality customised products can be further demonstrated.”

  • Read our head of sport's response to the move here.