SSE Airtricity, in conjunction with the FAI, have announced Sligo Rovers as the overall winner for this season’s ‘A Common Goal’ project.

As part of the programme, SSE Airtricity committed €50,000 to support League of Ireland and Women’s National League clubs in environmental initiatives offering a grant of €2,250 to each participating club.

As the club that took the biggest steps on their sustainability journey, Sligo Rovers have been rewarded with a €25,000 retrofit of The Showgrounds to make it more energy-efficient and to reduce the club’s carbon footprint for years to come.

The club’s sustainability plans include providing more bicycle facilities in The Showgrounds to encourage supporters to travel by bike to matches as well as using the facility on non-matchdays to cycle to work.

It also plans to upgrade bins within the stadium to encourage recycling and reduce waste and eliminate invasive knotweed, which has grown around the club’s training pitch.

As part of the ‘A Common Goal’ programme, SSE Airtricity created an online hub to show each club’s monthly performance and their actions taken towards sustainability.

We spoke to Marketing and Sponsorship Manager Leanne Sheill earlier this year to learn more about the programme.

The platform hosted information and was a communication tool for each club to engage with the programme. As part of the programme, six players competed in challenges each month as they took on different green themes and championed the positive action we can all make towards our common goal. Among the themes covered were Biodiversity, Water Efficiency, Sustainable Transport, and Energy Efficiency.

“We all want to live in a cleaner, greener world and at SSE Airtricity, we’re delighted to support the clubs and their communities in making greener choices that benefit the environment,” said Sheill at the presentation yesterday.

“A Common Goal was launched this year to improve the environmental sustainability of football clubs and the wider communities and over the course of the season, we introduced expert tips and advice, promoting positive discussions on how we can make our league one of the most environmentally sustainable in the world.”

“Everybody at Sligo Rovers was delighted to be involved with the SSE Airtricity’ A Common Goal’ initiative,” added Chair Tommy Higgins. “I would particularly like to thank our staff and volunteers for their great work with this programme.”

“We are delighted to work with SSE Airtricity on this fantastic environmental programme and I congratulate Sligo Rovers on their award as ‘A Common Goal’ winners,” said Leauge of Ireland Director Mark Scanlon.

“Their project and their ongoing work around green themes at The Showgrounds are an example to every League of Ireland and Women’s National League club. I want to thank SSE Airtricity for their continued support of our national leagues and we look forward to next year’s programme.”

 
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