History
The letters JD in JD Sports stand for the initials of the founders of the company, John and David. The company was founded by John Wardle and David Makin in 1981 trading from a single shop in Bury.
In 1983, the Company opened a store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester. It opened its first store in Oxford Street in London in 1989 and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.
In 2002, it acquired nearly 200 further stores with the acquisition of First Sport from Blacks Leisure Group and in 2005 it bought 70 stores from the Administrators of Allsports.
In May 2005, Pentland Group bought Wardle's and Makin's shares for £44.6m; the pair later resigned from the board.
In December 2007, the company bought out Bank Stores, which sells fashion clothing such as Firetrap,Alu, Henleys and Adidas Originals among others, for around £19 million.
In June and July 2008, JD Sports announced sponsorship deals with AFC Bournemouth, Charlton Athletic, Dundee United, Blackpool F.C, Luton Town and Oldham Athletic; these sponsorship deals allow certain clubs to use the Carbrini brand.
2009 saw further expansion of the JD Group through the acquisition of Chausport which operates from 75 small stores in France. In addition, JD acquired the world famous rugby heritage brands 'Canterbury' and 'Canterbury of New Zealand' as well as 'The Duffer of St. George' and 'Kooga Rugby' brands.
In January 2011, it was announced that JD Sports Fashion would buy Irish sports goods chain Champion Sports for €19.6 million, pending approval by the Irish Competition Authority.
In January 2012, JD Sports purchased the troubled Blacks Leisure Group from administration for a total of £20 million.
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