An undisclosed ‘substantial six-figure sum’ has been agreed between Tranmere Rovers FC and the discount retailer Home Bargains, which will see the retailer on the club’s shirts from next season.
The deal with Home Bargains ends a shirt sponsorship agreement for the club that it has had in place since 1989 with Wirral council.
Home Bargains, which was founded in Liverpool over 30 years ago by Tom Morris, currently has over 290 outlets across the UK employing over 8,000 staff. The company is still family-owned and according to the Grocer Magazine, it is the third largest independent grocer in the UK (March 2011).
Tranmere chief executive Mick Horton said: “We wanted to find a company that has the same values as we have. We like to think we are a family club, we work in the community and we offer value for money. In Home Bargains we have found all three. I think it is going to be a perfect match.
Liz Dicastiglione
“To have a national company on board at this level the game is a great coup for the club.”
Horton added: “Getting a sponsor in place this early is going to be an enormous help. It is going to help manager Ronnie Moore and it means we can start up plans for next season sooner rather than later.”
The sponsorship arrangement was brought to Home Bargains and brokered by Tranmere’s commercial manager and business development manager Liz Dicastiglione.
As a parting gesture of goodwill, Tranmere marked the 24 year association with the local authority by presenting the gift of a framed photograph of Prenton Park to deputy Wirral Council leader George Davies at the end of season dinner earlier this week.
The club’s latest filed accounts for the year to July 2012 saw the Rovers move out of the red and back into the black, as it posted a pre-tax profit of £207,323 against a pre-tax loss of £197,428 for the previous year on turnover largely unchanged.
