Witton Give Naming Rights To Charity

Wincham Park to be known as 'Help The Heroes Stadium'

Evo-Stik NPL Div 1 (North) club Witton Albion has become one of the first clubs in professional or semi-pro football to donate naming rights on its stadium to a charity.

Wincham Park, Witton’s home since relocating from Northwich town centre in 1991, becomes the Help for Heroes stadium with immediate effect. The move marks a continuation of the club’s partnership with the charity formed to help service men and women injured whilst on active service for the country. Last season Albion’s home and away shirts carried the Help for Heroes logo , as Witton followed the lead established by Barcelona in their partnership with Unicef.

Witton Albion chairman Mark Harris explained the decision. “There are three reasons we were keen to do this. First, our link up with Help for Heroes has really helped emphasise the positive role the club wants to play in the local community. Having last season re-named our social club the Cheshire’s Suite after the local regiment, the re-naming of the stadium is the next logical step. This is a cause that demands everyone’s support. With men and women laying down their lives on our behalf around the world, the very least we can do is to say thank-you. This is one way we can do so.”

In addition to the re-naming of the stadium, Albion are also granting free admission to all home league games to any serving member of the armed forces upon presentation of identification. The club also hopes to stage, as it did last season, a charity match between a Help for Heroes and celebrity X1’s. Last year’s game raised in excess of £1,000 for the charity.

Kane Gunter, local Help for Heroes fundraiser, welcomed the move. "The H4H charity is very much needed for our Armed Forces. We normally only get to hear about fatalities but many more service personnel are injured & maimed in the war. These soldiers & their families need all our help. Witton Albion have already renamed their function room The Cheshire Suite in honour of 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), have run charity fundraising football matches for us and allow free entrance for home games for serving service personnel. By now naming their stadium this shows that Witton Albion have really taken H4H to heart & worked harder than most with their fans to raise funds & awareness for the charity".

Match centre

Northern Premier League - Premier
Northern Premier League - East
Northern Premier League - Midlands
Northern Premier League - West

Latest photos

The Pitching In Northern Premier League newsletter

Keep up-to-date with our exclusive email newsletters.

Subscribe