Ralph Slazenger
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| Industry | Sporting goods |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1881 |
| Founder | Ralph Slazenger Albert Slazenger |
| Headquarters | Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England |
| Products | Racquets, tennis equipment, cricket equipment, golf equipment, apparel, accessories |
| Parent | Sports Direct |
| Website | Slazenger.com |
Slazenger /ˈslæzɪndʒər/ is a British sporting goods manufacturer which concentrates on racket sports including tennis, golf, cricket and hockey. Founded in 1881, it is one of the oldest surviving sporting brand names. It has the longest sporting sponsorship in world history, thanks to its association with the Wimbledon Tennis Championship, providing balls for the tournament since 1902.
Slazenger was founded in 1881 by a pair of Jewish brothers, Ralph and Albert Slazenger. In 1881 Ralph Slazenger left his native Manchester, and opened a shop on London's Cannon Street selling rubber sporting goods. Slazenger quickly became a leading manufacturer of sporting equipment for golf and tennis. Four years after the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club held its first ever championships, Slazengers produced 'The New Game of Lawn Tennis' complete in a box.
Their plant in Barnsley manufactured tennis balls and exported them round the world. The plant closed in 2002, and production is now based in the Philippines.
In 1902, Slazengers were appointed as the official tennis ball supplier to The Championships, Wimbledon, and it remains one of the longest unbroken sporting sponsorships in history.
In 1910, a public company was incorporated to acquire Slazenger and Sons, "manufacturers of sports equipment, india rubber, gutta percha and waterproof goods, leather merchants and dealers", which floated on the stock market. In 1931 Slazengers acquired H. Gradidge and Sons[.
Slazenger, like most nonessential manufacturing in the UK, redirected its production to manufacture a wide variety of items for military purposes, utilising Slazenger's expertise in wood and rubber manufacturing.
On 15 September 1940, during The Blitz on London, incendiary bombs fell on the Slazenger factory. The Gradidge factory in Woolwich similarly suffered. The competing William Sykes Ltd factory at Horbury was undamaged by the bombings. Slazenger and Gradidge were able to continue production at other facilities but began a series of mergers with competing companies. In 1942 it acquired William Sykes Ltd to broaden its wartime production facilities. Around 1943 Slazenger acquired F. H. Ayres. Thereafter the company was known as Slazengers Sykes Gradidge and Ayres.
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