Supporters of Football League clubs can look forward to sunning themselves on the beach during the close season and benefiting their local football club in the process, following the signing of a major new agreement between The Football League and Thomas Cook that sees the 163 year-old travel agent become the Official Travel Partner of The Football League.
Under the new three-year arrangement supporters of League Clubs will have the opportunity to join club-branded travel schemes and receive an exclusive Football League Travel Card offering discounts on any holiday organised through Thomas Cook.
League Clubs will benefit through a royalty paid by Thomas Cook on each holiday booked by their supporters. In addition, each club will have the option for Thomas Cook to arrange reduced-cost travel packages for fans and players to away matches. They may also select Thomas Cook as their overall travel partner to handle all travel arrangements including business travel for the players and management team. Thomas Cook will also handle The Football League’s business travel needs.
Football League Chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney said:
‘For League clubs and their supporters this is an arrangement with almost limitless potential. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Thomas Cook as our Official Travel Partner. We see this as a win-win-win arrangement; for clubs, supporters and Thomas Cook.
‘This is the first new partnership that we have announced since broadening the commercial horizons of The Football League through our recent re-branding.
‘The point of this re-brand was to make The Football League a viable and attractive commercial entity. This significant new deal indicates that this aspect of the re-branding is working. We will look to develop a number of similar partnerships in coming months.’
Manny Fontenla-Novoa, chief executive of Thomas Cook UK & Ireland said:
‘This is a major new partnership for Thomas Cook’s sports division. We are very proud to be working with The Football League, and hope it will bring us closer to the UK’s millions of avid football fans on a national level, and more locally with our 615 high street stores. Football is such a major part of British life – as are holidays – and this partnership combines the two on a grand scale.’
Further Details:
John Nagle
Head of Communications
The Football League
Tel:0870 443 9283 & 07979 645 416
JNagle@football-league.co.uk
Ian Christon
Communications Executive
The Football League
Tel:0870 443 9282 & 07900 572 280
Faith Wootton
Thomas Cook Press Office
Tel:01733 417271
faith.Wootton@thomascook.com