Football club on the lookout for new shirt sponsor

Photo: Jon Coluccio

MMC will end their shirt sponsorship at the end of this season.

Rochdale Football Club is looking for a new shirt sponsor after their deal with local property developers MMC Estates was suspended by mutual agreement.

The MMC name will remain on the Dale shirts for the rest of this season but the club is looking for a new sponsor from the start of 2009/10.

MMC still had a year to run on their sponsorship but both the company and the football club have agreed to suspend the final year of their four year agreement.

A spokesperson for the football club said: "The club would like to publicly record their thanks to MMC Estates for their support over the last three seasons, which of course has seen Rochdale AFC reach Wembley for the first time.

"The current financial climate does make the decision to enter into a sponsorship agreement a considered one but it is in the lower divisions where real value can be found, an increasingly important factor as sponsors consider where they will achieve a return on their investment. This is why investment in Rochdale AFC is a rare opportunity to be involved, potentially in English Football History and so gain unprecedented levels of exposure at a fraction of the cost of investing in The Premiership or The Championship.

"Sponsorship in the Premiership certainly achieves good levels of media coverage but requires a very high level of investment. A new shirt sponsor coming into the Premiership may see the team involved climb one or two places and possibly, but not very likely, break into the elite top four. However, a sponsor working with Rochdale will be involved with a team who are in year two of a seven year plan to reach the Championship and so break one of the longest standing records in English Football as they vigorously pursue only the second promotion in their history.

"The proposition with Rochdale AFC is exceptional as our plan is destined to deliver unprecedented success for the Club, the associated benefits of which will be shared by our sponsors. Coupled to the fact that the Club has provided professional football in Rochdale for 101 years, and has done so by astute financial management avoiding the pitfalls suffered by other clubs, then, we really are a unique proposition.

"The current team, both on, and off the park intend to provide the platform for another 101 years and have an ambition and desire to take the Club forward to the Championship backed by some of the most loyal supporters in the country who support both the Club and its sponsors' businesses."

Any businesses interested in the shirt sponsorship opportunity should contact the club's business development manager Iain Johnstone on 01706 753581 or email iain@rochdaleafc.co.uk.