City strike groundbreaking sponsorship deal

- Greaves Sports to provide five-figure backing to SWF Premier League champions and sell replica jerseys in a Scottish football first -

Greaves Sports has agreed a substantial five-figure sponsorship deal with Glasgow City Ladies FC which will see the independent retailer make a Scottish women’s football replica kit available for sale for the first time in Scotland.

As Glasgow City prepare to fly out to Serbia today for three UEFA Womens Cup 1st Qualifying Round ties, Greaves has announced details of its three-year sponsorship agreement which takes effect as of this season.

It is the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of the Scottish women’s game and includes support for Glasgow City’s new under-21 team.

The deal includes:

  • Greaves Sports becoming sole shirt sponsors of Glasgow City LFC.

  • Greaves and adidas providing kit, equipment and training wear for the first team squad and under-21s.

  • For the first time in Scottish women’s football, Greaves will sell replica shirts of a ladies team with GCLFC kit due to be available in store soon. City will also be selling the replica kits online on their own website.

  • Additional offering of assistance to players with boots and other sporting items.

Frank Bannigan, football department manager for Greaves Sports, said: “We are absolutely delighted to become official club sponsor and retail partner for Glasgow City LFC. Women’s football is one of the most rapidly-growing sports in Scotland and it seemed a natural step for Greaves Sports to get involved and support an ambitious club like Glasgow City.

“As a business it is always exciting to break new ground so to be the first retailer in Scotland to sell the replica kit of a women’s football team is naturally something we are very enthusiastic about. We look forward to a successful partnership which we hope will help bring Glasgow City even more success as well as promoting the Scottish women’s game to a wider audience.”

Glasgow City’s trip to Serbia will last for ten days and will see the team take on the Women’s champions of the Netherlands, Serbia and Moldova. Their match schedule is as follows:

4 Sept – AZ Alkmaar (NED) v Glasgow City (SCO), Stadium Cair, Nis, Serbia
6 Sept – ZFK Masinac (SER) v Glasgow City (SCO), Stadium Delijski, Nis, Serbia
9 Sept – Glasgow City (SCO) v FC Narta (MDA), Delijski, Nis, Serbia

Full results and information on the trip can be found on Glasgow City’s website www.glasgowcityladiesfc.co.uk

City captain Laura Montgomery is thrilled with the new sponsorship deal and is looking forward to Europe. She said, “To obtain this level of sponsorship is unheard of in Scottish Women’s football and we are really excited to be working with Greaves and Adidas. Selling replica jerseys is a whole new avenue for our game and we are delighted to be part of it. Despite being amateurs we have a fully professional approach to our sport and it is fantastic that this is being recognised. Europe will be tough as the vast majority of the sides in other countries are semi-professional, but we are looking forward to testing our abilities against some of the very best players. Only the winners of each group progress into the Second Round and with no Scottish team ever having achieved this before, we are determined to try and make a little bit of history.”

Greaves Sports is a family-run business which has been established in Glasgow since the 1960s. It has three stores, one each on Gordon Street and Sauchiehall Street as well as a Nike shop in Buchanan Galleries, while it runs the Scottish Rugby store at Murrayfield as the official retail partner of Scottish Rugby. Earlier this year Greaves Sports also become official retail partner for Partick Thistle FC.

For more info visit www.greavessports.com

01.09.08