Shorts: Euro 2028, New Balance, Matchfit

The UK & Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 has been submitted with the 14 shortlisted host stadiums revealed.

According to the official bid, matches would take place in England at Wembley, Villa Park, Everton Stadium, London Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Wembley, Etihad Stadium, St James’ Park, Stadium of Light and Old Trafford. Ireland’s host venues would be the Aviva Arena and Croke Park. Casement Park Stadium in Belfast, Hampden Park  in Glasgow and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff are also among the shortlist.

The final list of 10 stadiums will be submitted to UEFA in April 2023.

The bid has reportedly set out ‘a clear and compelling vision’ for the tournament and uses the slogan ‘Football for all. Football for good. Football for the future.’

The UK and Ireland do face competition from Turkey, with UEFA’s executive committee set to make a decision on hosting for Euro 2028 and Euro 2032 in September 2023.

London-based consumer sport, fashion and lifestyle communications agency GUNG HO has expanded its sport offering by adding New Balance Football to its roster of clients.

New Balance, that sponsors a number of high-profile football players and European club sides, has seen its PR and influencer activity in the lifestyle sector looked after by GUNG HO for over a decade.

In this new agreement, GUNG HO will also assist in managing the brand’s football press office.

In addition, GUNG HO has hired Paula Kowalska as Account Director to lead on New Balance Football as well as existing sports clients including Canterbury and Speedo, with Hamish Murdoch hired to support as Senior Account Manager. Both come with a wealth of experience across sports PR, communications and sponsorship.

UK-based sports PR and sponsorship agency MatchFit and Bloomsbury Football have announced a new strategic partnership.

The agreement will see MatchFit offer its expertise to the grassroots football charity as it continues working to improve the lives of young people in London through the power of football.

As part of the relationship, MatchFit will make Bloomsbury Football its official charity partner, providing support on strategic communications and campaign PR activation for the London-based charity. In addition, the agency will offer work experience and internship opportunities via Bloomsbury Football.

Charlie Hyman, Founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Football said, “It’s amazing to have MatchFit recognise and support the impact that we are having as a grassroots football charity in London. Bloomsbury Football was founded four years ago, and we are constantly developing the ways in which we can engage as many young people as possible and maximise our impact through football. We are excited to work with the MatchFit team to develop our capacity and change the game for more young people in London”

Donald Parish, Co-Founder of MatchFit, added, “At MatchFit we are guided by a simple mission; we want everyone in the world to love sport as much as we do. We know the life-changing benefits it can offer, so it is heart-breaking that many young people simply don’t have access to sport for all manner of social and economic reasons.

That’s why we’ve been blown away by the impact that Bloomsbury Football has been able to make across London over the past four years. Their values align perfectly with our own, and we are incredibly excited that MatchFit will now be playing a part in helping Charlie Hyman and the Bloomsbury Football team continue their mission.”

Scottish football club Celtic FC has announced a new partnership with Scotland-based recruiters s1jobs.

The new deal will see the brand become the official recruiting partner of Celtic’s B & women’s teams.

In addition, there will be a significant s1jobs presence across stadium screens and programmes throughout the season.

Head of Business Development at Celtic FC, Ben Slater, said, “It is fantastic to have a Scottish brand like s1Jobs supporting the Celtic B Team and the Celtic FC women’s team.

“s1jobs play an important role in our community by ensuring people have access to employment opportunities and we look forward to working with them.”