A TWO-YEAR sponsorship deal worth over £7,000 for the Jersey Junior Football League has been signed with Jersey Telecom.

The deal will benefit clubs and the 1,200 youngsters involved in the league.

The Jersey Telecom Junior League, as it has been renamed, includes more than 70 teams from 12 Jersey clubs and includes under-12, U14, U16 and U18 competitions as well as a minis section for youngsters between the ages of eight and ten.

Tim Darwin, president of the Jersey Coca-Cola Football Combination, said that the deal with Jersey Telecom will net the junior league £3,500 in the first year, and £3,750 in the second, with all the money going back to the clubs through fair play points and prize money.

‘We were sponsored by Lloyds TSB for six years and we had a very good relationship with them.

They gave us plenty of notice that they were moving into more charitable sponsorship, so we spoke to various interested potential sponsors, and Jersey Telecom very quickly picked up on the deal.

They have been sponsoring the Junior Muratti, and there is an obvious correlation between that and the junior league.

‘This deal is less high-profile than the one-off Muratti but it will effectively drip-feed the money into the clubs through the season, much as Coca-Cola does with the senior league.’ Jon Welsh, the Junior section chairman said: ‘Obviously we’re delighted that Jersey Telecom has come in to support us so we can continue the development of junior football.

‘With the strength of the junior league and the development within the clubs, the amount of football that’s being played and the standards that the youngsters are attaining is fantastic.

‘And Telecom – who also sponsor the junior Muratti – are not just supporting football, it’s bigger than that.

It’s about the community as a whole, because the sport helps develop other skills too, such as team work and making friends.’ Jersey Telecom head of marketing David Vieira said: ‘We always look out for a sponsorship opportunity that touches a broad spectrum of the community and the Junior league covers 8-18-year olds.

It’s nice to be able to do something that covers a huge range of kids.

We want to support local initiatives, and we, and Wave Telecom in Guernsey, have supported the Junior Muratti for the last couple of years, so the junior league was an obvious step to take.’