Geelong Football Club sponsorship deal Ford backs Cats

Andrew Mathieson
GEELONG Football Club has signed its richest sponsorship deal with Ford, as the motor company prepares to sack hundreds of workers at its Geelong plant.
Ford agreed to an unprecedented five-year agreement that commits financial sponsorship to the reigning AFL premiers until the end of the 2013 season.
This week’s announcement comes on the back of the football club making a record $1.87 million profit last year.
Geelong senior shop steward Brendan Sexton said the highest-ever sponsorship deal would be cold comfort for Geelong Ford workers without jobs.
“If you weren’t a Geelong supporter, you would say that money would be better spent somewhere else,” he said.
“I heard it was worth $10 million.”
Ford announced last year it would axe about 600 jobs from both Geelong and Broadmeadows by 2010 in response to poor car sales.
Further cuts to production that include at least 26 “down days” until November will put another 350 staff out of work this year.
Ford sales and marketing vice-president Beth Donovan, who was on hand to sign the new agreement, said the new deal would benefit Geelong.
“Geelong means a great deal to Ford and our support of the local footy team, a premiership winning one at that, is the best way to display our ongoing commitment to the wider community as a whole,” she said.
Cats chief executive Brian Cook remained guarded over disclosing the sponsorship figure, but said it was “up there” with the larger deals at other AFL clubs.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to say how much, but it is for five years,” he said.
“It’s the longest sponsorship we’ve ever had and arguably the largest, but we won’t go into dollars.”
Cook said the club had been negotiating a new deal during the past 12 months, after Ford workers were first told their jobs were no longer secure.
“It’s heartening given where Ford has been with its sales that we have been able to manage to sign up for another five (years),” he said.
“I think that Ford wishes to have a presence in the community, particularly in Geelong, and this is a fantastic way to do it.”
Geelong was the first Australian city in 1925 that Ford – or any other foreign car company – settled full scale manufacturing operations in the country.
The club is now seeking clarification from Guinness World Records to recognise Geelong and Ford holding the longest-running sponsorship commitments anywhere in the world.
The world record stands with minor league baseball team, the Ford Dodgers, in Oklahoma, USA.
The Cats needs to provide documentation that every year Ford has sponsored the club.
The partnership dates back 83 years to when Ford provided work for players on the assembly line, including 13 premiership players.
That first year Ford started building the Model T vehicle and the Cats won their first senior premiership.