The Irish Independent has been named as the new official newspaper partner to the Football Association of Ireland.
Republic of Ireland management team members Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane were on hand to announce the new partnership today ahead of their second home game in charge of the Republic of Ireland when they take on Serbia in the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday.
FAI CEO John Delaney, Irish Independent editor Claire Grady and Independent Newspapers Ireland Group Marketing Director Geoff Lyons were also present to make the announcement at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown this afternoon.
The Irish Independent will now develop new columns and features dedicated to supporting soccer from grassroots right through to international level in Ireland. There will likely be promotional opportunities around big games and it is hoped that there will be extra focus on the SSE Airtricity League which gets under way this weekend.
“This is a fantastic development for both the Association and indeed football in Ireland,” said FAI Chief Executive John Delaney. The Independent is a great newspaper, and provides extensive coverage to football nationwide. There is certainly a great appetite for soccer in Ireland, and the Independent will no doubt satisfy that for our fans. We are really looking forward to working with the Irish Independent going forward.”
“Our readers are passionate about football and as the largest selling newspaper in the county we want to continue to share in that passion,” added Claire Grady, Editor of the Irish Independent.
“From grass roots all the way to the national team, lovers of football turn to our writers for the definitive word on the beautiful game. We’re delighted at the Irish Independent to continue our support of Irish Football’.
Geoff Lyons, Independent Newspapers Ireland Group Marketing Director concluded, “We are delighted to be the official newspaper to the FAI and we are looking forward to developing some really exciting initiatives for our readers as a result of our association.”
It will be interesting to see what those initiatives look like and how they will add to the coverage and promotion of the sport around the country. Clearly there is major interest in sport across all newspaper and other titles will continue to carry extensive material on the national team and the domestic league.
Nevertheless a strong focus from one dedicated partner has worked well recently for women’s soccer in the Mail on Sunday, for Basketball and boxing with the Irish Daily Star.
The photograph accompanying this story is from Inpho.ie, a member and partner of Sport for Business. Credit to Donall Farmer for this interesting perspective on the ‘media scrum’.
