[NJC]

Utilita Partner club’s fact file!
Southampton FC

Information
• Manager: Ralph Hasenhüttl
• League: Premier League
• Chairman: Gao Jisheng
• Stadium: St Mary's Stadium
• Nickname: The Saints
• Founded: 21 November 1885

History
• One of the founding members of the Premier League, they have spent much of their history in the topflight since their first promotion to it in 1966; their longest continuous period was for 27 seasons between 1978 and 2005.
• The club was originally known as St. Mary's Young Men's Association F.C. before adopting the name Southampton St. Mary's when the club joined the Southern League in 1894, 3 years later in 1897 they finally stuck with the name we know Southampton FC
• St Mary's Stadium has been home to the Saints since August 2001. It has a capacity of 32,689, The stadium has also been host to a number of international games. The ground's record attendance is 32,363, set in a game between Southampton and Coventry City in April 2012.
• Southampton FC have a bunch of cult heroes and legends to have worn the shirt including names such as Matt Le Tissier, Terry Paine the all-time appearance maker, Mick Channon the all-time top goal scorer and Ted Bates the former player, manager and director who is dubbed ‘Mr Southampton’ by fans.
Utilita Partnership
• Southampton Football Club announced Utilita as its new Official Energy and Utilities Partner in August 2017
• One of the first initiatives of the new deal was Saints legend Matt Le Tissier representing the club at the opening of Utilita's Energy Hub Shop on Shirley High Street in Southampton.
• In June 2021 Utilita and Southampton FC announced the partnership was being extended and It saw the energy company become the new front of shirt sponsor for the junior shirts after the launch of the Utilita Coaching Hub in March, supporting grassroots teams with training drills and exercises that can be done at home during the pandemic.

[NJC]

Utilita Partner club’s fact file!
Bristol Rovers

Information
• Stadium: Memorial Stadium
• Manager: Joey Barton
• Nickname(s): The Gas, the Pirates
• Capacity: 12,296 (3,000 seated)
• Owner: Wael al-Qadi
• Founded: 1st August 1883

History
• Bristol Rovers F.C. is a professional football club in Bristol, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
• They have played home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield since 1996. They spent 1897 to 1986 at the Eastville Stadium and the following ten years at Twerton Park in Bath.
• The club's official nickname is "The Pirates", reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. The nickname "The Gas", derived from the gasworks next to their former home, Eastville Stadium, which started as a derogatory term used by fans of their main rivals, Bristol City, but was affectionately adopted by the club and its supporters.
• Bristol has two professional football clubs in the city with Bristol City their biggest rivals who currently sit in the Championship, the second tier of English football.
• Club Legends include all-time top goal scorer Geoff Bradford and all time appearance maker Stuart Taylor.

Utilita Partnership
• On July 26th, 2019 Bristol Rovers announced a sponsorship deal with Utilita for the upcoming 2019-2020 season, this saw the Utilita branding on the front of the new home and away kit for the season.
• The deal was extended for another season on the 30th of June 2020. Tom Gorringe the Rovers commercial director had this to say about the extension "With the recent events leading to the curtailment of the season, Utilita were keen to communicate to us that they were not seeking a refund for the games that were not played and were swift to agree improved terms to further our partnership.
• The extension of the kit sponsorship meant this was the first time in over a decade the Rovers have had a kit sponsor for longer than a season.