Scottish women’s soccer club takes a brave new stance on sponsorship

Women’s soccer breaks new ground all the time. In Scotland, a leading club has set a new financial stance with a healthy declaration on sponsorship deals.

Women’s soccer is breaking new ground all the time in many ways. In Scotland, it could now be setting a new financial stance with a leading club making a healthy declaration about sponsorship deals.

Glasgow City FC may only have been around since 1998, a relatively short time in terms of soccer clubs, but they have the highest number of women’s Premier League titles and Scottish Cups in Scotland since 2000. So when they make a statement outlining new principles for sponsorship, women’s soccer in Scotland listens.  And perhaps the men’s game could pay attention too.

The club have decided it’s time to end alcohol sponsorship in sport and called on others to back their move. Glasgow City FC Chief Executive Laura Montgomery explained why in a Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) blog.

"“The health and wellbeing of our players and fans is extremely important to us and as a result we do not support exposing people to alcohol marketing through sport.”“As a club, our entire ethos is built around championing women and girl and we see no place for alcohol sponsorship at our matches, or indeed at any football matches. This is not an example we believe we should be setting, especially for young players and fans.”"

The significance of this is particularly important for Scotland as the blog explains:

"“Every day, almost 100 people are being hospitalised and 3 people lose their lives because of alcohol. Alcohol marketing and sponsorship directly influences how much and how often people consume alcohol.”"

Scotland took specific action by introducing a minimum pricing approach for alcohol in 2018.  As the BBC reports a recent study by The Lancet has subsequently seen a “significant” 13.4 percent reduction between May 2018 and December 2020 in the types of deaths caused by heavy drinking in Scotland. The gap in the number of related deaths in Scotland compared with neighboring England has also narrowed.

So a focus on restricting the influence alcohol can have on people is definitely going to get attention in Scotland. Especially where it could make a difference to young people as is very much the case with women’s soccer.

It could prove expensive for the club to take this stance.  They are confident though that, as they have done this year, they can continue to attract sufficient sponsorship without having to involve alcohol. The club already excludes sponsorship from gambling companies too. Tobacco sponsorship has already been ruled out in sport many years previously.

Time for women’s soccer to make a difference

Both SHAAP and the club are also keen to encourage other teams to follow this lead and have asked them to sign up and back the initiative.

In the men’s game alcohol still prevails financially.  In Scotland, there is currently a dispute brewing between their top league, who want to sign a sponsorship deal with a Vodka company, and one of the clubs who fear that conflicts awkwardly with their own partnership with a brewery.  However, at a top level, we saw the role of brewer Budweiser as a Qatar World Cup sponsor severely curtailed at the last minute, so things could change.

It’s by no means a simple solution but perhaps they could all learn something from Glasgow City’s new stance as an interesting and sensible starting point.

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