There has been a lot of speculation about contracts and continuity at the FAI since the start of the year and while the deal with Martin O’Neill is likely to be signed later this week, a renewal between the Association and Ford took place yesterday.
Ford Ireland will provide a fleet of more than 30 vehicles to the FAI as part of the partnership and these will be used to provide FAI Development Officers with the means to provide grassroots training programmes all across the country.
Ford is one of the few sponsors in the sports world to have actually won one of the competitions it has sponsored. The factory team in Cork entered the first FAI Cup in 1922 and won it in 1926.
It went on to sponsor the tournament for eight years from 2006. It has been the official vehicle partner since that time as well.
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“As official vehicle partner to the FAI, we’re very proud of our long-standing link with Irish football,” said Ciarán McMahon, Managing Director and Chairman of Ford Ireland.
“Football is ingrained in the Ford brand in Ireland and we are delighted to help foster the game from the roots up through the provision of a fleet of the latest Ford vehicles to key team members within the association.”
“We want to invest further in developing the future of Irish football and we’re very excited to partner with the association in introducing some really great grassroots initiatives later this year.”
“We’re incredibly proud to extend our partnership with Ford Ireland,” added FAI CEO John Delaney.
“The partnership enables us to offer specific programmes that are delivered to every corner of the country at grassroots level, which is extremely important to the development of football in Ireland.”
“Ford have always had a genuine passion for the game and we are delighted to be in a position to continue working closely with them going forward.”
The dual-branded vehicles can be seen around Ireland as the association’s Development Officers and other representatives work on promoting the game countrywide.
Join us on Thursday morning at the Marker Hotel for Breakfast with sporting and business leaders as we look ahead to the Sporting Year with Paraic Duffy of the GAA, Pat Keogh of Leopardstown Racecourse, Sue Ronan of the FAI, Diarmaid Murphy of the GAA and with Kelli O’Keefe of Teneo PSG delivering insight on the relationship between sport and the Irish public. Reserve your place here.
