All good things come to an end, or do they?

Witham is the birthplace of names, numbers and sleeve badges for brands, clubs, leagues and nations.

The town was the home of Fuseon Graphics, later to become Chris Kay International, winner of numerous Newsquest business awards, and now Sporting iD.Those that know about football Heritage will tell us Witham was where the FA Premier League came to create all the clubs’ player identities since 1994 and to print many of the professional players’ shirts.

Then our national team England in 1999, and to follow; the Italian national team; Puma, Adidas and Nike team names and numbers for the Fifa 2006 World Cup, including the coveted Fifa player sleeve badges.

Add to the list AC Milan in 2005, and Real Madrid including David Beckham’s arrival in 2003, right through to the present day with Ronaldo and Kaka.

UEFA partnered Sporting iD to develop and distribute their badges for the Champions League, the UEFA Cup – now the UEFA Europa League – and for one incredible season in 2008, all of the teams in all the major finals in Europe wore Sporting iD designed and produced names and numbers.

Now the company is closing its Witham operation and moving Sporting iD to continue the success story at its Newcastle location.

But not without nailing history firmly and forever on to the map of the proud town of Witham.

To all those who know us and worked with us over the years – Braintree District Council, Newsquest, banks, businesses, local companies, suppliers and shops – thank you for all your support and enthusiasm.

To all those who worked with the company over the last 20 years or so, a very special thank you.

You were the company.

You believed in the passion of football and used it to achieve everything we did.

Our legacy is to have put Witham and ourselves firmly on the map as the place of Football Heritage forever.

Anthony Barnett
Sporting iD
Croft Way
Witham