are to end their 13-year sponsorship of football with the Jersey Combination at the end of this season.
The airline are ending a long and successful partnership with the Combination, and the void which will be left once the partnership ends – which has seen tens of thousands of pounds pumped into club football – will need to be filled.Combination vice-president Charlie Binet said: ‘All good things have to come to an end at some time and we will go on.
We’ve had some fantastic years with Flybe.
and the clubs have a lot to thank the late Jack Walker for – he was a tremendous supporter of the game in Jersey.’I now think it’s time that the Combination and the Jersey Football Association were under the same roof.
We have officials sitting on both committees and I want to see everyone pulling together for the same cause.’I’ll certainly miss the end-of-season presentation nights.
They were great occasions that got all the clubs’ officials together with the sponsors and we had some excellent speakers over the years too.’JFA president Charlie Tostevin said: ‘I’m surprised and disappointed that another sponsorship has been lost but we must be grateful for the fantastic support Flybe.
has given local football over the years.’Football is the most popular sport participant-wise in Jersey and I wish the Combination every success in securing a new sponsor soon.’The Combination celebrate 30 years next season and they’ve only had two sponsors throughout that time, Flybe.
and Rothmans, the latter who sponsored the league for 16 years from its inception in 1975.This year’s final monetary contribution from the airline is £19,500.
The cash is distributed on a sliding scale for league positions, the Le Riches Cup, three-clear goals victories and, more-recently, introduced a sportsmanship award scheme.The late Jack Walker, a great supporter and follower of Jersey football as well as Blackburn Rovers, was behind Flybe.’s support when it first was introduced under the company’s former names of Jersey European Airways and British European.Ian Taylor, general manager of market development for flybe, said that it had not been an easy decision, not least because of the history they had through former airline owner, Jack Walker, who initially sponsored the league.However: ‘We felt it had been going on that little bit too long.
For both of us, it is the right time to change and move on.’Over the last 13 years I’ve calculated we’ve put in excess of £250,000 into the league, including the end of season dinner.’Purely in terms of a commercial relationship I think you’d find it highly unlikely to keep with the same type of sponsorship for such a long period of time.’In the New Year we will be announcing exciting new sponsorship opportunities in the Channel Islands, including sport, but I am not prepared to announce, yet, what they will be.’Combination president Tim Darwin, who was unavailable for comment this morning, said in a press release: ‘Football remains one of the most popular activities for Jersey residents and we have been extremely grateful for Flybe’s continued support.
We wish the airline the very best for the future and look forward to welcoming a new sponsor to the Combination for next season.’We will be discussing the opportunities with interested parties over the coming weeks and announcing the new sponsors ready for the 2004/05 season, this will coincide with the Combination’s 30th anniversary celebrations.”
