Everton Partners with Christopher Ward as Official Training Kit Sponsor

Everton’s commercial reset under their new stadium era took another deliberate step forward as the club named Christopher Ward their first-ever official training kit partner, locking in a multi-year agreement that stretches across the men’s, women’s and academy setups.

What began as a timing deal has quietly become one of the most layered partnerships in English football. Christopher Ward first arrived at Everton as official global timing partner, then moved onto the shirt sleeve, then into the fabric of the club’s future home as a founding partner of Hill Dickinson Stadium. Now, their logo will live where the work really gets done: on the training ground.

From timing partner to training ground mainstay

From the 2026/27 season, Christopher Ward branding will appear on the training wear of Everton’s men’s and women’s first teams, embedded in the daily rhythm at Finch Farm as players prepare for Premier League and Women’s Super League campaigns. The visibility will not be limited to the training pitch. The deal brings a prominent presence across Everton’s social channels and matchday platforms, including LED boards, media backdrops and in-stadium branding at both Hill Dickinson Stadium and Goodison Park.

The reach grows again in 2027/28. At that point, the watchmaker’s branding will extend to the Under-21s, Under-18s and wider Academy training kit, while remaining on the senior squads’ gear. Supporters will see the partnership up close too, with Christopher Ward featuring on all first-team replica training items sold to fans.

For Everton, it is another carefully placed commercial building block as the club edges toward life at Hill Dickinson Stadium. For Christopher Ward, it is a move from the periphery of matchday to the inner sanctum of preparation.

53° North and a stadium built on stories

This agreement sits on top of a partnership that has already produced one of the more unusual fusions of luxury retail and football. Last season saw the opening of 53° North at Hill Dickinson Stadium – billed as the world’s first premium watch showroom inside a sporting venue. The club say the space has pulled supporters closer to the craft and precision of mechanical watchmaking, tying the brand’s identity to Everton’s matchday experience before a ball has even been kicked at the new ground.

Christopher Ward’s fingerprints are already on Everton’s heritage pieces. The company has created three exclusive Everton-inspired timepieces:

• The Dixie Dean, a 60-piece limited edition nod to one of the game’s most prolific goalscorers.
• The Goodison, with a caseback fashioned from the stadium’s iconic 1930s turnstiles.
• The Goodison 3.1, commemorating the famous 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1985 European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final second leg.

These are not generic club-branded watches; they are artefacts built from Everton’s own history and hardware.

“Embedded into the environment where performance is shaped”

Everton’s president of business operations, Andrew Middleton, framed the announcement as a natural escalation of a relationship that has consistently pushed into new ground.

“Christopher Ward has been a bold, innovative and committed partner to Everton, and we are delighted to see that relationship continue to grow through this landmark agreement,” he said.

“Becoming our first-ever official training kit partner is a significant step. It not only reflects the strength of the partnership, but places Christopher Ward directly within the environment where our teams prepare, develop and strive for excellence every day, while also providing valuable global exposure through training and matchday activity.”

Middleton pointed to the brand’s involvement across the club’s ecosystem – from Hill Dickinson Stadium and 53° North to Everton Women and Everton in the Community – as evidence of a partner that understands the club’s culture as much as its commercial potential.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with Mike France and the Christopher Ward team as we build on this partnership and explore new opportunities together during this exciting next chapter for the club,” he added.

Marginal gains and mechanical precision

For Christopher Ward, the move onto training kit is about proximity to performance. CEO and co-founder Mike France drew a straight line between the discipline of elite football and the detail of high-end watchmaking.

“We believe that excellence is built on the smallest details – whether in the precision of a mechanical watch or the marginal gains that define elite football,” he said.

“Becoming Everton’s first-ever training kit partner feels like a natural next step in our journey together. It builds on our presence both on and off matchday by embedding us even further into the club – in the daily environment where performance is really shaped, behind the scenes on the training ground.

“That’s something we recognise deeply in watchmaking: the discipline, precision and constant refinement that sits beneath the surface. There’s a genuine alignment between our worlds, built on timing and a relentless drive to improve.”

Commercial portfolio gathers pace

Inside the club, this is being viewed as another sign that Everton’s commercial offering is regaining traction. A club statement stressed that the Christopher Ward agreement “further underlines the continued growth of Everton’s commercial portfolio,” coming on the heels of CMC Markets being confirmed as the new main partner on the front of the men’s shirts and Stake taking the role of official sleeve partner.

“Together, the agreements reflect the increasing strength of Everton’s partnership proposition and the opportunities created by the club’s new stadium era at Hill Dickinson Stadium, alongside the continued growth of Everton Women at Goodison Park,” the statement read.

Everton have spent recent seasons wrestling with financial constraints and on-pitch turbulence. Now, as the countdown to Hill Dickinson Stadium continues, the club are working to ensure the commercial clock is set firmly to the future – with Christopher Ward’s logo ticking away on the training ground, where the next phase of Everton’s story will be forged.