MANUFACTURER: Reusch
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany
DATE FOUNDED: 1934
HISTORY: Reusch has a long and illustrious history of the production of goalkeeper gloves of the highest quality, rivalled maybe only by Uhlsport and Sondico. One of the first ever manufacturers of goalkeeper gloves, Reusch gained major recognition when German goalkeeping legend Sepp Maier won the 1974 FIFA World Cup wearing a pair of Reusch gloves. After that the brand grew enormously, as more and more goalkeepers realised the benefits of wearing goalkeeper gloves, and Reusch’s glove technology continued to progress.
Historically, Reusch gloves have attracted a remarkable array of bona fide goalkeeping legends: Peter Schmeichel (whose huge tailored Reusch gloves featured a large initial ‘S’ in the middle), Harald ‘Toni’ Schumacher, Cláudio Taffarel, Jorge Campos, Rene Higuita, Joel Bats, Jean-Marie Pfaff, David Seaman, Chris Woods and Andoni Zubizarreta to name but a few. Reusch has continued its association with great and successful goalkeepers – in 2007, for instance, Milan’s Brazilian goalkeeper Dida was wearing Reusch as he helped AC Milan win the UEFA Champions League.
One reason Reusch has been so popular for so long, is that it has frequently played a key role in glove innovation and technology. Daringly, Reusch recently broke with its highly successful and long-maintained classic backhand design layout – which is possibly one of the most popular and successful aesthetic designs ever – in favour of the extremely progressive appearance of its current glove range.
KEY ENDORSEES: Frank Rost, Nelson Dida, Júlio César, Christian Abbiati
LIST OF ENDORSEES: Nelson Dida, Júlio César, Christian Abbiati, Frank Rost, Joey Didulca, Fabio Coltorti, Philipp Heerwagen, German Lux, Christian Mora, Alex Manninger, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Johnny Leoni, Christofer Heimeroth, Mariano Barbosa, Gabor Babos, Fabio Coltori, Olivier Renard.
A HISTORY OF REUSCH SUCCESSES:
It is an amazing fact that from the creation of the first professional Reusch goalkeeper gloves in 1973 until 1998, no World Cup Final match was played without a goalkeeper wearing Reusch, and only one of those matches – 1982, when Zoff lifted the World Cup in uhlsport gloves – ended without a victory for a goalkeeper wearing Reusch. Even more amazing, every single European Championship between 1976 and 1996 was won by a goalkeeper wearing Reusch.
The FIFA World Cup
1974 Sepp Maier (West Germany) - World Cup Winner
1978 Ubaldo Fillol (Argentina) - World Cup Winner
1982 Harrald ‘Toni’ Schumacher (West Germany) - World Cup Runner Up
1986 Nery Pumpido (Argentina) - World Cup Winner
1990 Bodo Illgner (West Germany) - World Cup Winner
1994 Claudio Taffarel (Brazil) - World Cup Winner
2002 Marcos Reis (Brazil) - World Cup Winner
UEFA European Championship Finals
1976 Victor (USSR) - European Championship Winner
1980 Toni Schumacher (West Germany) - European Championship Winner
1984 Joel Bats (France) - European Championship Winner
1988 Hans van Breukelen (Holland) - European Championship Winner
1992 Peter Schmeichel (Denmark) - European Championship Winner
1996 Andreas Kopke (Germany) - European Championship Winner (12 of all 16 keepers at the Championships were wearing Reusch in Euro 96)
Hard to argue with that!