Newcastle United Announce Wonga Sponsor Deal
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Newcastle United has agreed a new four-year deal with wonga.com which will make the digital finance company the Club's lead commercial sponsor.
In addition to sponsoring the team shirt from the start of the 2013/14 season and working on a range of other initiatives with fans, Wonga will invest at least £1.5m in two of the Club's most important projects.
Wonga is investing in Newcastle United's young talent by providing significant financial support for the Academy. The investment will enable the Club to transform its Academy into one of the leading centres of youth football development in the country, enabling us to nurture the top playing stars of the future.
Wonga has also committed to invest in the Newcastle United Foundation Enterprise Scheme. The existing programme helps 15-16 year-olds find employment by developing their skills and experience through practical and educational courses. Wonga's investment will vastly expand the scheme and help more young people in the North-East in their future careers.
Other initiatives with Wonga will include a straight talking forum with the fans for discussing ideas for fan involvement in the Club and working on a specific new initiative to involve fans in the design of the shirt.
Derek Llambias, Managing Director of Newcastle United, said: "We are building a club that can regularly compete for top honours at the highest level.
"As everyone knows, a strong commercial programme is vital to this goal and I am delighted to welcome Wonga into the fold as our lead commercial partner, alongside Puma and Sports Direct.
"Throughout our discussions Wonga's desire to help us invest in our young playing talent, the local community and new fan initiatives really impressed us and stood them apart from other candidates."
Wonga provides small, short-term loans online and via smartphones. To date the company has provided over six million loans, while generating industry-leading satisfaction rates from customers.
Errol Damelin, founder and CEO of Wonga said: "We're really proud to be involved with Newcastle United.
"It is one of the biggest and most important clubs in the UK by any measure and has a fantastic following around the world. We're also really excited about investing in future stars both on and off the field. The Academy and the Enterprise Scheme gives us the opportunity to make a big difference.
"We have just launched our small business offering and there are more great products to come. We know our customers love football and it goes without saying that, alongside Newcastle United, we will continue to support Blackpool and SFA Cup Winners Hearts."
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Comments
Have allready seen Ba, Cisse, Ben Arfa and Tiote being advised not to wear their shirts. Hope they do!!
thats rubbish, (not your quote) they have been advised not to wear the shirt, but why were they not advised not to wear the current sponsor?
They have been advised not to wear the new sponsor on the basis that earning money off interest is against Sharia Law. Ba, Ben Arfa and Tiote have all worn shirts with Northern Rock written across them, they've also worn (Cisse as well) shirts with Virgin Money on them, so why are the Muslim Council speaking out against the Wonga deal?
Because everybody else has and it's an easy piece of publicity for the bloke who said it.
Look at the world we live in. Google Wonga's interest rates and sh*t your pants.
NUFC's Academy will be paid for by the misery and poverty of those who can least afford it.
@MartinLeRoy: Of course there was an uproar when Hearts and Blackpool were suckered into similar deals - it's just that NUFC are much bigger and also because people are wising up to Wonga's attempt to make poor people become even more impoverished.
Well Harry, if you take the case of Holland, France & 1 other Eastern European nation (which I'm not able to remember), they don't allow sponsorship by gambling firms. In football, this is evident during Champions/Europa League when teams from more lenient nations tour the above countries with 'offending' sponsors not shown. So people do give a sh*t.
Also, at a personal level, a couple of members of the South African cricket team wear kits without the logo of a beer company as it offends their religious sensibilities; and so too is the case with Fredric Kanoute at Sevilla who doesn't wear the betting firm on his shirt.
I agree!
I agree that players should be allowed to refuse to wear a sponsor if they feel it clashes with their beliefs. But you can't really use Freddie Kanoute as an example. Google him - you'll see countless images of him in Sevilla shirts with 888.com on them. So clearly it wasn't that big a deal for that particular Muslim.
Wonga aren't interested in football?! No way. As opposed to all those other sponsors who really love football? They're all after your money, and they all use football to get it. Wonga are no different. You tool.