Paddy Power has continued to strengthen its ‘Save our Shirt’ campaign after confirming that League Two side Newport County will be the third team to join the campaign.
The deal was confirmed last night on TalkSPORT ahead of the Exiles upcoming game against Weston-super-Mare in a pre-season friendly.
Paddy Power expressed excitement towards the new deal. A spokesperson commented: “Newport County are the latest team to join our Save Our Shirt movement, which sees their shirt go sponsor-free for the upcoming season. We’re sure the fans are excited to shed their sponsor as they head into League Two following their play-off heroics.”
One of the main differences with the Newport County deal, however, is that the new kit had been designed by a fan of the club.
Neal Heard, football shirt expert and author, commented on the opportunity to design the kit: “It was a treat to get free reign over the design of a ‘pure’ kit – free of a sponsor’s logo – for my club, Newport County. It’s a great campaign to give the shirt back to the fans, and it was a pleasure to design it.”
As the new main sponsor for the team, Paddy Power will be entitled to utilise the front-of-shirt for sponsorship, however, the ‘unsponsored’ kits will have no Paddy Power logo whatsoever
Newport’s Operational Chairman, Gavin Foxal, reiterated the importance of the deal, concluding: “This is a significant deal for the club, not just from a financial perspective but also being part of the high-profile Save Our Shirt campaign. As a supporter-owned club we felt the fit was right.”
The Save Our Shirt campaign has certainly sparked discussion within the football community, with a multitude of mocked up ‘unsponsored’ kits appearing throughout social media.
As was said when the Huddersfield announcement was made, Paddy Power concluded by stating: “We know our place, and it’s not on your shirt.”
