Sponsors step up support for champions

Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division North champions Curzon Ashton are celebrating the signing of an extended sponsorship deal with long-term sponsors PP Plasma, writes Aaron Flanagan.

The Manchester-based company providing metal-based material supply and cutting services to the UK engineering and manufacturing markets is part of the PP Group of companies and has sponsored football at the Tameside stadium for the last three years.

Delighted club officials announced on Wednesday that John Flanagan’s championship winners would be backed by the PP Group as a whole when they take their place in the Evo-Stik NPL’s top flight in August.

The PP Group’s marketing executive Richard Mazurkiewicz is delighted that the whole group will be involved with The Nash. He believes it is important for the company to give something back to the local community and said: "It is always good to promote the brand of our company but at the same time it is important for us to give something back and support the community. I think that businesses have to be doing that more and more now."

After enjoying working with Curzon over the past few years, Mazurkiewicz had no doubts that the rest of the PP Group should get involved. More than 40 guests went to Curzon Ashton’s home game with Harrogate Railway Athletic last season and after enjoying the experience and learning more about the club, Mazurkiewicz said they knew it was a no-brainer to get more involved.

He added: "We have had a bit of a management change in the company, which has brought a lot of the companies to be moving together. We brought everybody down to a home game last season, the Harrogate Railway match, so rather than renew the deal as just PP Plasma, we thought we would get the rest of the group involved.

"It is a contribution to the community as well. Curzon is a club which is very far-reached into the community with the academies and we can only imagine some of the academy guys coming through and playing in five or ten years or so. It is more about what the club is doing outside of football as well which is important to us."

As big football fans in general with the majority of the PP Group's workers supporting Manchester’s two Premier League clubs, Mazurkiewicz says they will be making regular appearances at the Tameside Stadium next season and are already looking forward to attending the local derbies against Ashton United and FC United.

He added: "We are very football focused. A lot of us are reds but we have a few blues, but we have a lot of banter and an annual Fantasy Football with a cash prize. We go to United and City a bit, but the majority of our time now is spent here watching Curzon.

"We will be having a group outing to the FC United game next season and will 100 per cent be at the derby with Ashton United. We have also earmarked the friendly with Oldham Athletic at the start of the season."