Barclays has today unveiled a new campaign which will see thousands of tickets and unique football experiences given away to young fans via the Barclays Spirit of the Game website.
The initiative, which looks to help the next generation of fans start their football love affair in the best possible way, is supported by a new television advert starring ex-England captain and all-time leading Barclays Premier League goal scorer Alan Shearer.
The advert explores the importance of a fan’s first football experience through the eyes of Alan Shearer as he reminisces about his first ever visit to Newcastle’s St James’ Park in August 1982 and the memories that day evoked – from the baker who made Alan his first matchday pie to the Metro driver who transported him to the ground that very day. The advert finishes with Alan surprising one lucky fan with his first pair of Barclays Premier League tickets.
Alan Shearer said, “Young fans are the future of football and the experience of their first game will last a lifetime. Reminiscing about the first game I attended when I was 12 years old brings back so many fond and lifelong memories. It was a privilege to personally give young Newcastle fans the chance to attend their first matches through this Barclays’ initiative. I’m sure they’ll enjoy the day as much as I did and I look forward to hearing about lots of other first game experiences as part of the campaign.”
Nathan Homer, Global Head of Sponsorship, Barclays, said: “Football is all about the fans. Throughout the 2014/15 season we have been championing those who represent the true spirit of the game, and now we’re turning our attention to young fans. In keeping with our broader company commitment to the next generation, we will be rewarding young fans with tickets and other football experiences, to give them the opportunity to start a lifelong love affair with football”.
To support the launch, Barclays commissioned independent research that shows just how significant a first match experience is to football fans. Of the 2,000 people surveyed more than half said that their first live game experience was their favourite football memory and the reason they fell in love with the sport. Whilst around a quarter said they remember the roar of the crowd above anything else from their first live football match.
Starting on Tuesday 3rd March, Barclays will give fans the chance to win tickets to their favourite team every week for the remainder of the 2014/15 season via the Barclays Spirit of the Game website. Barclays will also once again be giving away more than 8,000 tickets to local communities in partnership with Barclays Premier League clubs.
As well as giving away tickets on a weekly basis, the Barclays Spirit of the Game website will also house exclusive Barclays customer-only promotions with the chance to win mascot places, a school visit from the Barclays Premier League trophy or even the opportunity to play on a Barclays Premier League pitch.
Throughout the rest of the 2014/15 season, Barclays will be championing a series of Spirit of the Game heroes linked to the next generation – from young community football coaches to teachers inspiring schoolchildren through football. Barclays will be rewarding fans who join the conversation via the Barclays Football Facebook Page or Barclays Footy Twitter Page with exclusive ticket and merchandise giveaways. To be in with a chance of winning, fans will simply need to share their first game memories via Facebook and Twitter.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Lewis Miles
Havas Sports and Entertainment
07713 997 199
Sean O’Connor
Havas Sports and Entertainment
07540 012 885
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the campaign
The campaign was developed by BBH and Havas Sports & Entertainment. The television advert was developed by BBH and directed by Si & Ad (Si Atkinson and Ad Townley) for Academy Films production company. Maxus handle all media for this advert and Havas SE negotiated the deal with Alan Shearer.
Survey
- 2,000 football fans surveyed independently by One Poll – onepoll.com
- 524 people said they first fell in love with football after their first live game experience
- 609 people said their favourite memory as a football fan was attending their first live game
- 441 people said their favourite memory from their first game was the roar of the crowd
Barclays
Barclays is an international financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth management with an extensive presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays’ purpose is to help people achieve their ambitions – in the right way.
With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs approximately 135,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.
Barclays are committed to sport at a grassroots level. Barclays Spaces for Sport has invested over £40m over last 10 years, across more than 200 sports sites and programmes in the UK and overseas which are used by more than 2.5 million people per year. In 2014 a joint programme was founded with the Premier League called Barclays Premier League Works to help thousands of young people become more employable.
For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.
Barclays Premier League
The Barclays Premier League is the most watched continuous annual global sporting event in the world. Last season 13.9 million fans attended matches with record average stadium occupancy of 95.9%. Across nine months of the year, 380 matches are viewed in 175 countries with coverage available in over 650 million households. The quality of Premier League football and the interest that it generates allows us to support all areas of the sport. This season we will invest in more than 50 new artificial grass roots pitches in communities across the UK and deliver hundreds of projects that focus on improving sports coaching in schools and inspiring young people to play sport. The financial investment in this important area of our work will be £56m. On top of this, the Premier League also invests in the Football League, the Football Conference and other football bodies. Premier League football provides in excess of £1.3bn per season to the UK Government in tax revenue.
