TRIDENT CHIEFS WELCOMING A SPONSOR DEAL LIKE NO OTHER

LEAGUE BOSSES HAIL THE START OF A NEW ERA AS UNIQUE SPONSORS GVC PITCH IN

NON-LEAGUE PAPER: This is a unique partnership which has come at a difficult time, you must be very happy to secure the new sponsorship with GVC and the Pitching In idea?

NICK ROBINSON: It was exactly what we’re looking for. I’m sure there will be some cynical people out there who say it’s just another way for them to get publicity, but I think the more we spoke to them, the more we were genuinely impressed by what they were driven by, they’re very community-driven.

MARK HARRIS: Had they come to us and said we want to sponsor as Ladbrokes Coral, we would have had to have thought very long and hard about a like-for-like replacement for BetVictor.

They recognise the value and importance of our level of the game and crucially what makes it tick i.e. community and volunteers. They’ve got that from the very first instance.

The Trust element to this is absolutely unique. There will be those who choose to be cynical and say it’s betting under a different name. These will be the same people who, 12 months ago, said betting companies don’t put anything back into football.

Here is a betting company – we’re not hiding from the fact it’s GVC who own Ladbrokes and Coral – putting its money back into football without any commercial return. That for me is fairly unique. It is a corporate social responsibility play and we’re delighted to be beneficiaries of that.

ANTHONY HUGHES: This is about giving back something to the community rather than the traditional betting route of sponsorship.