OUR HISTORY
We are a family business who has 35 years of experience in the trade.
In the late 1970s Johnny and Mari Provan began their independent trading days as newsagents in Paisley then Johnstone.
In 1984 An opportunity to buy the stock, from the local sports shop that was closing down, came around and the Provan family were off into the world of sports retail and teamwear. These were the days of shell suits and black and white trainers and World Cups that Scotland used to qualify for!
After some success in Johnstone we returned to Paisley and opened a second high street retail sports shop. The two high street stores were trading well and the second generation of the family began to get involved. In 1991 Alan Provan joined the business in Paisley and saw an opportunity to work with St Mirren FC who occasionally came into the store to buy kit. This relationship was the beginning of the teamwear business that has become the mainstay of the business today.
High Street retail was becoming more competitive and out of town retail parks were taking business away from the town centres.
Alan drove the teamwear side of the business and the success of the relationship was noticed by the kit manufacturer (Xara, back in the day!). This saw the addition of Motherwell FC in 1999 and Dundee FC in 2001. We've been with Dundee and Motherwell ever since but have been working with other suppliers along the way. Hummel, Puma, Canterbury, to name a few.
Over the years our supply base has improved and we have an extensive network who provide replica kit, training wear, leisurewear and accessories. We can pretty much source any merchandise a club might need from crystal to golf bags and watches to gnomes (yes you heard me, they've been very popular and have brought much fun to the journey!).
In 2017 we began working with Hibernian FC and the Macron brand. This relationship helped us up our game and we've introduced Macron to both Motherwell FC and Dundee FC.
Frank Bannigan joined the business in 2011 and brought a wealth of experience in teamwear provision. Frank heads up our Pitch Teamwear division and provides a full service to grassroots football clubs. We can provide a one off kit solution to a single age group at a club (or to several year groups) or we can create a club shop for the convenience of coaches and officials, club members and supporters and parents.
David Provan joined the business in 2006 (although it was probably much earlier). As a chartered accountant David has advised the business since qualifying in 1995. More recently David took on the role of Managing Director to work on the sale of part of the business and to help drive the business forward with a focus on football.
Alan's work in teamwear never stopped but we have rebranded the relationships with Pro Clubs as Pitch Pro Retail.
Frank's focus is on the provision of teamwear to amateur, junior and boys and girls teams. This division is Pitch Teamwear.
David is focussed on strategy, finance and business improvement. As a lean practitioner he has brought simplification to our business processes and improvements along the customer journey.
Together we run the Pitch business and we love to bring kit solutions to all of our clubs.