Growing up in the sixties and seventies, watching some of the greatest managers of all time kit out their clubs with Stylo Matchmakers football boots, this week the Bacup Borough Manager (of 25 years+) Brent Peters has teamed up with Stylo Matchmakers.

Peters, a football legend in his own right, who’s journey in football has seen him coach and manage at Rossendale United / Glossop North End / Bury / Accrington Stanley / Doncaster Rovers football clubs over the years, decided it was time to for the Bacup community to be introduced to the story of Stylo Matchmakers, the no-nonsense northern English football boot label which launched not too far from their very own back yard back in the late sixties.

Today Bacup Borough FC are members of the Lancashire County Football Association and are situated right in the heart of Lancashire, central to a lot of Stylo Matchmakers 56-year history. 

With the iconic Leeds United to the East (managed by Stylo Matchmakers legend’s Brian Clough and Don Revie), Manchester Stylo Legends to the South (inc George Best, Brian Kidd etc), Liverpool FC’s greatest all time squad to the West (managed by Stylo managers Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley) the M62 was key to Stylo Matchmakers distribution, making it the biggest boot brand in England for over a decade.

Repping Stylo Matchmakers in the north were Celtic (Managed by Stylo legend Jock Stein) as well as teams like Sunderland AFC and Newcastle United in the North East.

Stylo also populated clubs across Yorkshire (Sheffield Wednesday/United etc) and in the South (Fulham, Arsenal etc) to play their part in some of the biggest games in English football history.

Known as the first brand to ever sponsor top footballers, as well as full squads (Pele, George Best, Kevin Keegan included), Stylo Matchmakers are today known as the boot choice for players who dare to be different.

When we spoke with the Bacup Borough gaffer Brent Peters about teaming up with Stylo Matchmakers, he said..

“Stylo Matchmakers were the original football boot brand. There is something to be said nowadays about wearing black boots.

Growing up as a Manchester United fan, my first memory of the brand was seeing them worn at Old Trafford.

I was star struck. It didn’t take long for me to get a pair and unlike any football boot ever seen before, these George Best specials had the laces down one side of the shoe. I can still picture them now.

When we were recently looking at aligning Bacup Borough FC club values and teaming up with a boot brand, Stylo Matchmakers stood out a mile, I liked that these aren’t sold in the big sports shops.

It’s now our goal to play a part of the Stylo Matchmakers brand history like the legends who have done so before us. Due to the quality of their modernised boots and price offered, we are now an exclusive distribution partner for the brand so can offer their products to our network of players and families with healthy discounts. 

For the older generation, this brand is so nostalgic and brings back so many memories and for the younger players, there’s proper English football heritage and football history to take away with this challenger boot label.

Thinking about Stylo takes me back to the time I drove George Best all the way from Rossendale to his London apartment.

I was in charge of a club dinner party and Best alongside other legends (Denis Law) had been booked to speak.

It was the day after when George told me he needed to get to London for a flight which was LA bound, to see his son out there.

We were trying to get him a transfer flight from Manchester but in the end it was easier for me to just offer him a lift!

This time spent with Best in the car was priceless. He was great with directions around London and when we got there, invited me into his Chelsea apartment for a cuppa and a biscuit.

Upon leaving for a long drive back to Manchester George gave me his own personal business card, it was for Blondes health club, in the West End. He said if I was ever in the area to call in.

Brent Peters has not only recently been awarded by the local council for his dedication to the community through football, but is also believed to be the longest serving football manager in the world.