2010 Annual report - Scottish Football Association

03 off the field:
Commercial Activity
03 off the field
A partnership was also launched
with Citylink to assist with the
transportation of fans to and from
Hampden for Scotland matches.
Contracts with Specsavers, Park’s
Motor Group, Seat and Taggarts
were also renewed during the year.
While the results in the FIFA World
Cup 2010 qualifying campaign
were disappointing, the team
played in front of a sell-out crowd
in the last two matches against
Macedonia and The Netherlands. A
‘Saltire Saturday’ PR campaign was
initiated in the build-up to the crucial
Macedonia match and captured the
imagination of the supporters and the
media: the atmosphere at Hampden
Park was electric and the stadium
was a sea of blue and white.
We also launched a wide range
of new marketing initiatives on the
Scottish Cup.
These included the Homecoming
Trophy Tour, taking the famous old
cup on the road visiting schools,
shopping centres and iconic
venues across Scotland. We also
had a Cup Kidz campaign to give
young footballers the opportunity
to participate in a number of areas
during the tournament. Activities
ranged from PR and coaching
events attended by famous players,
to educational projects undertaken
in schools. The culmination of this
was The Homecoming Scottish Cup
Final Football Festival, involving
hundreds of youngsters in a prematch
parade.
Lottery Fund, a dramatic increase
in the number of participating clubs
was recorded.
Finally, in November, David Kells,
Group Commercial Director, retired
after three years at the Scottish
FA, combining his role with that of
Executive Director of Hampden Park
Limited. Following his retirement,
Kenny MacLeod was appointed as
Head of Commercial Operations.
Kenny joins us from Celtic FC and
brings a wealth of commercial
expertise to the role. He looks
forward to bringing in more revenue
and attracting new sponsors to the
Association this year and beyond.
Commercial revenue of £12.6m
was generated by the Association
last year thanks to the involvement
of several new sponsors and the
renewal of key contracts.
The most significant new addition to
the portfolio was adidas, the world’s
most prestigious football brand.
The four-year deal was announced
in October as the new official
sportswear supplier to the Scotland
National Teams, providing all match
apparel, replica kit, training and
leisure wear. In addition, adidas will
be the official supplier of footballs as
well as referees’ and coaching kit.
A new home kit was launched to
widespread approval from the
players, manager and Scotland
support when it was unveiled by the
national team for Craig Levein’s first
match in charge, in the Tennent’s
International Challenge match
against the Czech Republic at
Hampden on March 3. Replica kit
will be available for the public to buy
from our new on-line retail partner,
Greaves Sports.
G4S, Europe’s leading independent
event security company, also
became official sponsors of the
Scotland Supporters Club in a fouryear
deal.
This new deal recognises the
importance of the Scotland fans
to the success of the team and
the agreement will assist both
organisations to provide the best
possible support and information
for Scotland fans both at Hampden
Park and at away matches.
In addition, a new partnership
with Robert Wiseman Dairies was
launched to enhance the Scottish
FA’s successful Street Football
programme which brings football
into communities, giving more
young people the chance to play
football more often. The company
invested additional funding into the
programme, which is also supported
by the Scottish Government through
their CashBack funding scheme,
and run in partnership with local
authorities.
In December, renewals for
the Scotland Supporters Club
commenced for the period covering
January 2010 – December 2011. With
early figures for members renewing
reaching target it is hoped that the
membership will reach its maximum
level of 32,500 again.
This year also represents the 30th
anniversary of the Scottish FA’s official
supporters club. The occasion has
been marked by the development
of a new logo and strapline: Your
Country, Your
Passion, Your
Club. An exclusive
members’ pack has
been produced
to celebrate
the anniversary,
including an
exclusive retro t-shirt
and member’s
badge amongst
other items.
The Scottish FA Youth Football Brand
also had an extremely busy year
with a number of events supported
by our key partners - Street Football,
Midnight Leagues, Schools of
Football and Primary and Secondary
School programmes - taking place
across the country.
We introduced a new initiative,
Coaches for Communities, to
recruit volunteers to support
these programmes. This was run in
partnership with CashBack, Bank
of Scotland and the Scottish Sun
and resulted in 1250 new volunteers
signing up.
We also worked closely to
develop and support youth
football clubs through the
Quality Mark accreditation
programme. Thanks to
investment and supply of kit
from McDonald’s and The Big
SCOTTISH FA
SCOTTISH FA
22 ANNUAL REVIEW 2010
ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 23