Sponsorship Of Communities League Cup To Continue

19th July 2012

The Scottish Government is renewing its sponsorship of this year's Scottish Communities League Cup, with funding support of £1.7 million.

And £500,000 of the money will come from the hugely successful Cashback for Communities programme - seizing ill-gotten gains from criminals and investing it to help young people.

First Minister Alex Salmond announced the government sponsorship for the 2012-13 season earlier today as he made the draw for the first round of the tournament at Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Park.

Part of the sponsorship funding will go towards getting more young people involved in sport and helping football league clubs become community sports hubs, to help more people take part in physical activity.

Tickets will also be made available to young people and their families in all rounds and matches of the Scottish Communities League Cup - including the semi-finals and final - with the cup being taken on a tour around Scotland promoting respect, responsibility and tolerance to young fans.

The funding is up 70 per cent on the amount available last year.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:"The Scottish Football League and our clubs carry out a great deal of valuable work in communities up and down the country.

"Part of the £1.7 million we're investing in this year's Scottish Communities League Cup will support the delivery of the tournament itself but a majority will go towards supporting football league clubs in villages, towns and cities across Scotland.

"Almost a third of that support - £500,000 - is coming from our Cashback for Communities programme, where ill-gotten gains are seized from criminals and the proceeds ploughed back into our communities for the benefit of young people.

"Cashback for Communities has already provided more than £12.5 million for football in Scotland and this extra money today is a clear sign of how highly we value the community work football clubs do.

"Our cup sponsorship will make it better for young people in particular to get involved in sport and physical activity, as well as promoting the values of respect, responsibility and tolerance in all our communities.

"There have been some well-publicised issues in Scottish football recently, and obviously these developments and the restructuring we are all hopeful for are decisions that need to be taken by the football authorities themselves.

"However, the importance of football to communities across Scotland mean it is important to give our national game a much-needed boost and that is exactly what our sponsorship aims to do."

Scottish Football League Chief Executive David Longmuir said:"The Scottish Football League are delighted that the Scottish Government has decided to remain as partners of the Scottish Communities League Cup.

"This announcement today gives the whole of our national game a much-needed boost following recent challenging events. The Scottish Football League and the Scottish Government have worked hard to promote our message of respect, responsibility and tolerance and have taken this message to the heart of our football communities.

"The funding being announced by the First Minister today will ensure these community programmes are supported and expanded.

"The First Minister has been an enthusiastic supporter of Scottish football and we thank him and the Scottish Government for continuing to support our national game."

The 2014 Commonwealth Games are a unique opportunity to help realise Scotland's long term aim to improve the health of the nation and get more Scots to be active. The Scottish Government's sponsorship of the Scottish Communities League Cup will help support the Games Legacy ambitions to have a more Active Scotland by helping football clubs increase the number of opportunities for people to lead healthier and more active lives and by supporting the aim to have 150 Community Sport Hubs across the country by 2016.