Motherwell joins Paddy Power’s ‘Save Our Shirt’ campaign

Scottish Premier League football club Motherwell has become the latest team to sign a sponsorship deal with Paddy Power and join the bookmaker’s ‘Save Our Shirt’ campaign.

Paddy Power will serve as Motherwell’s title sponsor for the 19-20 season, but its logo will not appear on players’ shirts – in line with the new Save Our Shirt initiative.

Despite the lack of shirt branding, Motherwell said the deal represents the largest jersey sponsorship in the club’s history.

“We're delighted to be associated with Paddy Power's Save Our Shirt campaign,” Motherwell chairman, Jim McMahon, said. “It's a fantastic achievement by our commercial team to get them on board.

“Paddy Power are forward thinking and innovative, and it is a mark of how our fan-owned club is perceived in the world that we were able to attract such a high-calibre partner.”

Launched last week, Save Our Shirt calls for betting operators to stop striking football shirt sponsorship deals. The campaign highlights how in the 2019-20 season, over half the teams in England’s top two divisions will be sponsored by a bookmaker.

The campaign was unveiled after Paddy Power drew criticism over its new commercial deal with English Championship team Huddersfield Town, with much of this directed at the size of the logo on the front of the team’s shirts.

However, despite the English Football Association (FA) contacting Huddersfield over concerns the deal breached its guidelines in terms of shirt sponsorship, the move was later revealed as a hoax, with the deal instead serving as a platform for promoting the new campaign.

Paddy Power will still be the main sponsor of Huddersfield during the 2019-20 season, but it’s logo will be absent from players’ shirts as it seeks to encourage other bookmakers and gambling operators to follow suit.

A Paddy Power spokesperson said: “We’re delighted that Motherwell are joining in the fun for the upcoming campaign and we’ve been impressed with their ability to keep their involvement top secret, despite all the noise of the past week.

“We’ve been planning this with them for months, and it feels great to finally unveil their involvement and their beautiful home and away kits for next season.”

“We know our place, and it’s not on your shirt.”