Gateshead FC is delighted to announce Utilita Energy as the club’s back of shirt sponsor for the 2021/22 season.
Eagle-eyed fans watching our 2-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic in the Emirates FA Cup second round will have spotted our shirts sporting a new logo on the back – a welcome boost from official club partner – Utilita Energy.
Since the start of the season Utilita’s presence at Gateshead International Stadium has been seen at home fixtures throughout the 2021/22 campaign so far, as well as digitally through the club’s official social media channels and website.
The partnership has also flourished alongside Gateshead FC Foundation, with Utilita supporting the Junior Heed Club since the beginning of the current season.
James Rushmore, Communications and Marketing Development Officer, said: “The club is delighted to be expanding its partnership with Utilita on a grander scale.
“Their support of both the club and Gateshead FC Foundation has been fantastic throughout the season so far and this feels like a natural progression.
“The incorporation of shirt sponsorship into the pre-existing partnership is indicative of Utilita’s commitment to the club, and the community as a whole.”
“The team is showing great promise, winning all their home matches so far this season – we fully expect they’ll stay at the top of the table based on their performance to date,” added Jem Maidment, Utilita’s Chief Marketing Officer.
“Seeing Utilita on the back of the home and away shirts is a real honour and the revival under the stewardship of Mike Williamson is brilliant – long may it continue!”
“As club partner we have loved seeing the work that the Gateshead FC Foundation is doing, and we feel lucky to be able to support those efforts, and for our local team to get involved, too.”
Strong presence in the Gateshead area
A large number of Utilita’s 4,000-strong team are based in North-East England, with an office in Gateshead’s Team Valley trading estate, many of which have been involved in community activities so far this year.
Football Rebooted Supporting Access to Football in the North East
The announcement follows Utilita’s recently launched Football Rebooted campaign, which brough former England goalkeeper, David James MBE to Cramlington’s North of England tournament in the summer.
The pro-planet ambassador was encouraging locals to donate and claim pre-played football boots and Astro boots to save families a small fortune, as well as 136,000 tonnes of carbon – the same as taking 7,000 cars off the road for a year, or turning the energy off in one million medium-sized houses for a week.
Football Rebooted is designed to put an aspirational spin on a mechanic that will get good boots through to families struggling to afford new ones, after Utilita’s State of Play report revealed that out of the 74 percent of families who had been impacted financially by the pandemic, 18 percent won’t be able to send their kids back to grassroots football as they can’t afford boots and other items such as goalie gloves and shin pads.
Watch David James launch the Football Rebooted collection points at his former secondary school here.
Central to the ongoing partnership is Utilita’s industry award-winning Energy High 5 movement – helping households to avoid the five most common habits that waste energy, enabling households to save up to £163 per year, while helping the planet. Everyone can take part and start saving today, at www.utilita.co.uk/energyhigh5.
Founded in 2003, Utilita is one of the nation’s fastest-growing independent energy suppliers – currently powering more than 800,000 UK customers.
It has established itself as a hugely recognisable brand within British football, having supplied power to a number of iconic stadiums while partnering with over 20 clubs.
Utilita’s regularly referenced State of Play report has been integral to the recent conclusion of the House of Lords Select Committee’s National Plan for Sport and Recreation, which has revealed that participation in sport is flatlining in the UK.
The report has called for a new Minister of Sport to be positioned within the Department of Health to deliver a new national plan for sport, health and wellbeing to improve access and participation.
Professional clubs across the UK, including Burnley, Southampton, Hibernian, Portsmouth and the England team from Soccer Aid, have already signed up to donate football boots in the interests of the environment.
As part of the new campaign schools can request boots be sent to them for children who they identify as needing football boots to enable them to play in or outside of school.
Find out more information about the schools campaign at www.footballrebooted.co.uk. Education partners can order their free pack here.
About Utilita’s Energy High 5 Challenge
Utilita’s #EnergyHigh5 Challenge is a positive behaviour change campaign designed to educate the nation on how every household can waste less energy and save approximately £163 on their annual energy bill by making five simple and free-of-charge adjustments to the way we use energy at home:
- Turning the heating off, when out (£80)
- Avoid using standby mode (£30)
- Unplug unused electrical items (£30)
- Turning lights off in unoccupied rooms (£14)
- Using a 30C wash instead of 40C / 60C (£9)
To sign up to the Utilita #EnergyHigh5 movement and access simple-to-follow advice on reducing energy wastage, visit www.Utilita.co.uk/energyhigh5
