We were delighted to host a special football business breakfast in Dublin on Tuesday with the latest new members of the Sport for Business network, Norwich City Football Club and their club ambassador Republic of Ireland legend Wes Hoolahan.
A group of 25 brands and agencies including Aer Lingus, Bank of Ireland, SSE Airtricity, Legacy Communications, KPMG, Fifty-Three Six, Wilson Hartnell, Vhi and Polestar were in the room to hear Wes reflect on Monday night’s big game at the Aviva Stadium and then the story of the club and what it was hoping to achieve from Commercial Director Sam Jeffery and Director of Football Stuart Webber.
Theirs is not an ordinary story of massive investment and buying success. It is one of building a club that is rooted in community, that sees the multiple benefits in creating a sustainable future and which wants to build on a fan base in Ireland that is already third in size only to markets in Australia and the United States.
The owners of the club, Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wyn Jones do not have the backing of a sovereign wealth fund. The fortune based on sales of cookery books is not quite that of one built on millions of barrels of oil. And yet the club has been and will be a regular fixture in the Premier League and has a loyal fan base that makes it a club of particular interest here.
They cannot outspend their rivals at the top of the game in England but they have built their success on out thinking them in different areas from their entry to esports, to a positive approach to ESG and building the profile of its Women’s team.
This was an introduction and we will be working with them over the coming months to tell their story and see what lessons we can learn, what projects we can create, and what future we might build in Ireland for the only regular Premier League club that has green as an integral part of its kit.
