Preston North End Football Club and Tennent Caledonian Breweries announce an agreement that secures Tennent's Lager, one of Britain's most popular beer brands, as Preston North End's first team shirt sponsor from the start of the 2010/11 season in a three-year-deal.
The Glasgow-based brewer has stepped in to support Preston North End - one of Britain's most iconic football clubs. Tennent's has offered its financial backing to support the Club through a period of change which aims to rebuild the famous Club and make one of the great names of British football successful once again.
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The Club will benefit from a cash injection of around £1m over the three year sponsorship. The new first team home kit will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, 20th July, with the new away strip available from Saturday, 24th July.
This landmark sponsorship deal marks Tennent's Lager's first involvement with English football since its support for the FA Charity Shield in the early 1990s. The sponsorship coincides with a targeted drive by Tennent's to build on current brand distribution in the North West of England by growing Tennent's Lager's presence in pubs, bars and restaurants in the Preston area. To support this, Preston North End FC will also serve Tennent's Lager at Deepdale.
The Lilywhites' strong heritage, as a founder member of the Football League, and the Club's traditional Scottish connections, with a long history of successful Scottish players and managers, were major attractions for Tennent's.
Mike Lees, Managing Director of Tennent Caledonian Breweries, said:
"When Tennent's Lager was founded in 1885, Preston North End was already five-years-old, so both these institutions each enjoy a great deal of history and heritage.
"And as the brewers of Scotland's favourite pint and a longstanding supporter of Scottish football, we can't help but notice the Scottish connections with Preston North End - five Scottish managers since 1998; a Scottish captain in Callum Davidson and the Club where Scottish football legend Bill Shankly played on more than 300 occasions.
"Our sponsorship of Preston North End gives us a unique opportunity to associate Tennent's with one of the Football League's most prestigious clubs while, at the same time, supporting our aim of expanding Tennent's Lager in the North West of England."
Recently appointed Preston North End chairman Maurice Lindsay expressed his gratitude for the support from Tennent's. He said:
"This is a fantastic deal for Preston North End. As one of the most northern English clubs and with our fantastic connections with Scotland throughout our successful history, a partnership with a big brand like Tennent's is one we are very pleased to be entering into.
"The new deal is a financial boost to us over a three-year period and I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with this dynamic company.
"I very much look forward to toasting our first win of the new season with a pint of Tennent's."
Enterprise, the existing shirt sponsor, has agreed to step aside from the final year of its first team sponsorship deal to allow the Club to enter into the new deal with Tennent's. The current Enterprise shirt will be replaced for the 2010/11 campaign, but the support services company will continue to provide sponsorship of the youth team kit. As an alcohol brand, the Tennent's logo will not be used on junior replica shirts nor the youth team's kit and Enterprise' continued association with the Club will see their branding remain on these strips.
As part of the new deal, those supporters who have already purchased a 2010/11 Puma replica first team shirt will be entitled to have the shirt rebranded to a Tennent's shirt free of charge and will also receive a £5 gift voucher from the Club shop for the trouble of having to bring their old shirt back.
