World Group partnership a good fit for both parties
Carlisle United were delighted to announce local business World Group as our new ‘Back of Shirt’ sponsors for the new season with the official launch and photo shoot held at the stadium on Wednesday morning.
World Group Director Matthew Spooner spoke to us about the new partnership.
“We’re really proud of our association with Carlisle United at World Group,” he said. “We were always involved through the pre-Michael Knighton era, with the scoreboard and the Neil Sports Centre and things like that, so it does feel like a welcome home.
“There was a lot of deliberation between the directors about how to get involved again and we decided the ‘Back of Shirt’ sponsorship was something we really wanted to do. We’re still going through the process of getting the message across about our rebranding as World Group and I think it’s the case that we’re moving forward as much as the Club are moving forward on and off the field. On that basis it’s a partnership that works really nicely.”
“The final decision to come on board was very much a business decision,” he confirmed. “I’m a fan of the club and I think you learn very quickly that if you aren’t prepared to work with people you’ve had disagreements with in the past, for whatever reason, then you won’t work with anyone.
“From our point of view we want to help the Club to move forward and we’re hoping the Club can help us as well. Seeing the logo on the back of the shirt, with the players wearing it for the photo shoot, does bring a sense of pride.
“It’s a logo I designed myself, so to see it worn by professional footballers at a relatively big club is fantastic. The thing about football shirts is that people wear them for years and, hopefully, that means we’ll be seeing little blue World Group squares running around for a long time to come.”
United’s Sales and Marketing Director Phil King said: “It’s a deal we’ve been working on for the last few months, since the back end of last season, and it’s nice to see another good local company come on board.
“As we’ve said before, we want to create strong links with new business partners and companies and we’d like to thank them for stepping up to do this with us for the coming season. The conversations we had with World Group made it clear that they did want to work closely with us and it started with them sponsoring a game at the end of last season. That allowed us to look at the opportunities for this season and it all moved very quickly from there.”
“The fact that World Group were involved with the club a number of years ago and have decided to come back is an example of what we’ve been trying to do over the course of the last twelve months,” he explained. “We’ve been proactive in our approach and we’ve got out there to meet as many people as possible in the business community.
“Quite simply, the more proactive you are the stronger the links you create. If you build your own profile within the community it can only help when it comes to developing new or even existing partnerships. From a business point of view it isn’t just about what happens on the pitch, it’s about the other things we can do in terms of community work, commercial activity and help with exposure and PR work.”
“As I say, getting local companies like DSD Construction and World Group for something as big as the shirt sponsorship is a hugely positive sign,” he concluded. “Dealing with both of them has been really easy and hopefully it’s the start of very productive and long-lasting relationships in both cases.”
Click HERE for more information on World Group.
For more information on sponsorship and commercial opportunities with Carlisle United call our Commercial Department on 01228 554 155 or email on commercial@carlisleunited.co.uk
