Everton Names Christopher Ward as Official Training Kit Partner

Everton have tightened their grip on a key commercial partnership, naming Christopher Ward as the club’s first-ever official training kit partner in a multi-year agreement that stretches deep into the club’s new stadium era.

What began as a neat fit between a British watchmaker and a historic football institution has quietly grown into one of the club’s flagship relationships. Now it moves from the sleeve to the very heart of the training ground.

From timing partner to training ground mainstay

Christopher Ward first entered Everton’s world as official global timing partner, then stepped onto the shirt as sleeve sponsor. It helped launch Hill Dickinson Stadium as a founding partner and backed both Everton Women and Everton in the Community.

This new deal is the next step up the ladder.

From the 2026/27 season, Christopher Ward branding will be woven into the daily rhythm of Finch Farm and beyond, appearing on training wear for the men’s and women’s first teams. The visibility won’t stop at the gates: the brand will feature across Everton’s social channels and matchday platforms, from LED boards and media backdrops to in-stadium branding at both Hill Dickinson Stadium and Goodison Park.

The pressure on clubs to turn every inch of real estate into value has never been greater. Everton are leaning into that reality with a partner they already know can deliver.

Academy, replicas and a long-term play

The partnership is built to grow over time rather than burn bright and fade.

From the 2027/28 season, Christopher Ward’s reach will extend across the club’s pathway, with branding on training kit for the Under-21s, Under-18s and Academy sides, while remaining on the senior men’s and women’s gear. Supporters will see the same look replicated in the club shop, with first-team replica training items carrying the watchmaker’s name.

This is not just logo placement. It’s a deliberate move to align the brand with every stage of Everton’s football operation, from teenagers breaking through to established internationals.

Everton’s president of business operations, Andrew Middleton, framed it as a landmark moment, describing Christopher Ward as “bold, innovative and committed” and emphasising how the deal embeds the company “within the environment where our teams prepare, develop and strive for excellence every day” while delivering global exposure.

53° North and a stadium built for partners

The agreement follows one of the more unusual commercial moves in English football: the opening last season of 53° North at Hill Dickinson Stadium, billed as the world’s first premium watch showroom inside a sporting venue.

Tucked inside Everton’s future home, 53° North is more than a display cabinet. The club view it as a bridge between supporters and the craft of mechanical watchmaking – an attempt to turn a sponsorship into an experience.

Middleton pointed to that project, Christopher Ward’s role as a founding partner of Hill Dickinson Stadium, and its support for Everton Women and Everton in the Community as proof the company “has consistently shown a genuine understanding of this club, our supporters and our ambitions for the future.”

The message is clear: this is a relationship the club want to carry with them into their new era on the banks of the Mersey.

Timepieces tied to Everton’s history

Christopher Ward have already tapped into Everton’s sense of identity with a trio of bespoke watches.

• The Dixie Dean, limited to 60 pieces, pays tribute to one of football’s greatest goalscorers.
• The Goodison incorporates a caseback crafted from the famous 1930s turnstiles at Goodison Park.
• The Goodison 3.1 commemorates the thunderous 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1985 European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final second leg, one of the club’s most cherished European nights.

Each piece is designed to speak directly to supporters, anchoring the brand in Everton’s history rather than hovering on the periphery as a generic sponsor.

Christopher Ward’s CEO and co-founder, Mike France, drew a straight line between elite sport and precision engineering, talking about “the smallest details” and the “discipline, precision and constant refinement that sits beneath the surface” in both watchmaking and football.

For Everton, those lines are no longer just marketing copy; they are printed across the kit players will wear every day as they prepare for competition.

Commercial muscle for a new era

The training kit deal drops into a broader commercial picture that is starting to look more robust.

Everton have already announced CMC Markets as the new main partner on the front of the men’s shirts and confirmed Stake as the club’s official sleeve partner. The club’s statement described the Christopher Ward agreement as another marker of “the continued growth of Everton’s commercial portfolio,” and a sign of the “increasing strength of Everton’s partnership proposition.”

Hill Dickinson Stadium sits at the centre of that pitch. A new ground means new spaces to sell, new experiences to shape, and fresh reasons for brands to buy into the club’s story. At the same time, the continued use of Goodison Park by Everton Women keeps the old and new strands of the club tied together.

Everton’s challenge now is simple and unforgiving: can they turn this sharpened commercial operation and a carefully curated set of partners into the on-pitch progress their supporters demand?