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1905 - A star is born

On the 22nd of May the Gola brand was born, when the first hand-made football boots were conceived and made in a small workshop in England. These boots were completely made of leather, even the soles and studs!! To date no one is entirely sure how the great name came about, it is said to have been an anagram of the word Goal.

1930s - Gola means Goals

The first advertising campaign of Gola which was found on the sides of buses read Gola means Goals

1939-1944 - Times of war

Gola also made its contribution by making boots for the army during World War II.

1965 an anecdote loved by all Gola fans

Shankly’s famous Liverpool team stopped off at the Gola factory on their way to the FA Cup final at Wembley for some free boots. Adidas approached the team at Wembley and paid them to wear their boots. The anecdote goes on to say that the sly and saucy Liverpudlians certainly accepted adidas' money but what did they have on their feet? Gola boots onto which they applied the adidas stripes, and what's more, they won the cup!

1970s

The football legend Sir Alf Ramsay who joined Gola's board of directors acted as an ambassador for the brand. This is when Gola football boots were worn by high ranking players such as Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes, Gerry Francis, Trevor Brooking and Peter Shilton.

1974

Tennis shoes, rugby and cricket articles have their say and also bear the Gola label. The Mark Cox tennis shoe range is launched, followed by the Barry John rugby range and not to forget the Alan Knott cricket range.

1975

Gola supplies training kits to Manchester United.

1977 another anecdote!

Stan Bowles walks out for England vs Netherlands wearing one Gola and one adidas boot. As the saying goes he had accepted money from both companies. What boot struck the goal? It is rumoured the Gola boot.

1981

Gola sponsors popular boy’s football comic hero Roy Race and his team Melchester Rovers, of the comic Roy of the Rovers. Player/manager Roy was shot JR style the same month.

1984-1986

Gola sponsors the Conference league, which was then also known as the Gola League.

2004-2005

Gola Sport enhances its marketing strategy and appears repeatedly in perimeter board advertising to achieve a maximum coverage.

2005

Gola celebrates its 100th birthday!

Throughout its 100-year history, Gola has been associated with some of the biggest names in sport, and not to forget music and fashion that has been added of late. If you visited England this spring you might have visited Northampton. Gola teamed up with Northampton Museum and Art Gallery to exhibit key Gola items from the past 100 years. The exhibition included original football boots of Liverpool legend Bill Shankly, Gola’s oldest football boots in existence, and a Roy of the Rovers Gola shirt in the classic red and yellow colourway. Not only were bygones and the "good old days" on show but also the colourful and exciting modern-day ranges of Gola, including their bag collection.