Image: The team wearing their new kits, posing at the museum’s historic boat dock (BCLM)
‘Pioneering partnership’ sees West Midlands museum sponsor local football team
A community football club will wear the name of a West Midlands museum on its shirt in what has been described as a ‘pioneering partnership’.
Wednesfield FC in the West Midlands had agreed the unique sponsorship agreement with the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM).
The new partnership has been made possible by Jonathan Badyal, a former Wednesfield player and now a Trustee of BCLM, who played for the club between the ages of 8 and 16.
has chosen to sponsor the club’s kit for the upcoming season, gifting it to the museum, which will now display the museum’s on the front of the first team’s shirts.
“Wednesfield FC and the Black Country Living Museum were two of the most important institutions to me growing up, just as they are today,” said Badyal.
“They are true cornerstones of our community. I have long felt there is huge untapped potential when it comes to collaborations between sporting and cultural organisations, and I’m confident that this partnership will lead to meaningful and lasting impact in our area.”
The museum said the partnership “reflects a shared pride in the Black Country’s identity and opens the door to innovative forms of community engagement.”
It said the initiative may prompt new research into football’s role in local working-class heritage.
Earlier this year, West Bromwich Albion joined the museum as a business partner, with Worcestershire County Cricket Club expected to join this month.
