Best Non-Football use of Venue
Liverpool FC
As Liverpool Football Club’s Official Publication Partner, Kodansha aim to Inspire Impossible Stories through engaging with young people all around the world and encouraging them to read, write, and be creative. Each year, the Club runs an event at Anfield for World Book Day, and in 2022 Kodansha were the driving force behind the most engaging and enjoyed edition yet. 350 children were invited to Anfield Stadium to engage with a series of literature and storytelling activities. The literacy rate amongst school aged children in the Anfield area is a particular issue, falling significantly lower than the national average. Kodansha and the Club set out to tackle this issue on World Book Day, creating a substantial platform to educate and leave a legacy within Liverpool.
Manchester United Foundation
Manchester United Foundation’s Schools United events inspired hundreds of Greater Manchester school students through two days of unique and engaging lessons, covering 16 different topics, and involving 19 members of club staff and six members of partner staff, to inspire our next generations by learning at our Old Trafford school.
Pupils overlooked the stadium’s pitch while gaining unique insight based on both curriculum subjects and club culture from our teachers The events proved to be headliners in a period when the stadium emptied due to the World Cup break, resulting in 1 7 million views of related social media content, and local and national media coverage.
Altogether, 429 pupils – and former United defenders Wes Brown and Danny Simpson – attended our Schools United events, from across 52 partner primary, secondary and Special Educational Needs schools, with 91 per cent of attending secondary school students agreeing that they enjoyed the event.
Our event was described as the ‘best school day ever’ by one pupil, while teachers referenced the importance of their pupils seeing for themselves the extent of job opportunities within the club – vital outcomes that epitomise the Foundation’s aim to provide physical, mental, social and employment benefits.
Rangers FC
To celebrate Rangers Football Club’s 150th anniversary, the Board decided to mark this milestone with the construction of a signature, world-class multi-purpose venue. Edmiston House opened in January 2023 and sits alongside the iconic Ibrox stadium. It hosts the Club’s main retail outlet, a club museum, café, and an event space that can be used for concerts, conferences, and large dinners/weddings The event space is used as a fan zone and is already embedded in fans’ consciousness as a must-visit-venue on match day.
It’s the first facility of its type in Scotland, a ground-breaking development and represents a multi-million-pound development in the city and the parish of Ibrox. The business model appeal is wider than the demographic of football supporters. Social awareness factors, supporting social enterprises and key environmental drivers were hard-wired into the development and operation of Edmiston House. We’re delighted that, later this year, Ibrox Stadium, and Edmiston House, will officially become tourist destinations. This is a significant recognition by the City of Glasgow and the open-top tour bus company Citysightseeing who convey tourists in their thousands around Glasgow.
Rochdale AFC Community Trust
With a mission to make Rochdale a better place to live, work and play, Rochdale AFC Community Trust are on a renewed journey in terms of how it serves its community.
A traditional ‘Football in the Community’ scheme has been reborn, looking to innovate and find alternative ways to deliver solutions to the many issues faced in Rochdale.
Central to this new journey over the last 12 months has been The One Stop Bus Stop.
Providing a focal point, an easily identifiable, alternative space, “The Bus” is serving the community and facilitating change in people’s lives in unprecedented ways.
A one stop shop to support people who were still in need, we needed space to run it and we needed to break down the stigma and barriers to access – many were afraid to seek support from the traditional foodbank, job centre, GP or traditional services that exist.
The wider impact of the bus on all of our projects cannot be underestimated – its’s physical presence, look and feel and the craziness of a bus on the car park has lifted the prominence of the community trust and provided an ice breaker for many first-time visitors to the club.
Sodexo Live! & Newcastle United FC
St James’ Park – home to Newcastle United Football Club – is famous not only for Premier League football, but also for thriving meetings and events operation, as our team pride ourselves on delivering not only exceptional service, but unforgettable experiences for guests. Over the past year we have focused on creativity, innovation and continuous improvement as we’ve challenged and evolved on previous standards, packages and offerings, putting both customers at the heart of everything we do.
Over the last twelve months, our meetings and events operation has gone from strength to strength as we’ve hosted an incredible 2063 individual events, with a combined attendance of 71,430 guests as we hosted meetings or conferences (62.5% of total business), to exhibitions (3.1% of total business), social events such as Christmas parties, private lunches or celebration events (26% of total business) and more.
We’ve seen a significant increase in business levels as the good feeling around the football club, and the city, returned following the October 2021 takeover, while in addition to the In addition to the incredible growth and financial achievements, guest feedback has been outstanding as we’ve built relationships with key local and national businesses for which we’ve secured multiple significant events.
