Lillywhites

Lillywhites was founded in 1863 by the Lillywhite family, a leading cricket family. As a gentleman was seen to require cricket bats and cigars, the first store on London’s Haymarket sold only cricket bats and cigars. But the Lillywhites store soon progressed to other sports equipment.

In 1866, the Lillywhites No 5 football was picked for a Football Association match. This was the first time a ball had been specified for a football game. In the same year, the Ivy League also chose the Lillywhite No J American football as the standard American college football.

In 1925, Lillywhites moved to its beautiful five floor Victorian building in 25 Regent Street on Piccadilly Circus with thirty four specialist sport departments, such as tennis. From the beginning, Lillywhites was renowned for its quality products. In 2002, SportsDirect.com, the UK’s number one sports retailer acquired Lillywhites and invested in the facilities. As Lillywhites continues producing high quality sports wear and equipment , we are keen to hear from our Lillywhites customers. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, we are always happy to hear from you.