CHESHIRE LINES FOOTBALL CLUB
Cheshire Lines Football Club (locally known as ‘the Chesh’) was formed in 1874 as a representative team of what was then British Rail. It later became Cheshire Lines when British Rail ceased to exist in 1997.
The club was relaunched in 2015 and since then its teams have won 2 league titles, 2 league cups and achieved 2 promotions.
The club was a founding member of the Liverpool Football Association and consequently holds a prestigious senior club status with the FA. We also carry the FA’s Chartered Standard mark of excellence.
The team play open age football in Division 2 of the West Cheshire League, which is tier 12 in the FA system.
Thanks to Funky Vibes we are able to better engage with our community & attract commercial partners in a way beyond that of our competitors
Robbie Midghall – Club Secretary
THE CHALLENGE
Grassroots football is struggling more than ever. The number of teams in Merseyside has reduced by more than 60% in the last 10 years as fewer young people participate or commit to the sport due to increased alternative forms of entertainment. At the same time, the costs of running a club, hiring facilities and buying equipment has continued to increase, leaving clubs facing greater expenses at a time when they have fewer players.
We wanted to help support Cheshire Lines in addressing these specific issues by creating ways in which they could attract more players and retain them longer within the club.
We also believe the best way to generate more financial support was to build long-standing commercial relationships with local businesses.
THE SOLUTION
To tackle the attraction and retention of players, we focused on creating unique content which made the club stand out from their competitors. Bespoke, high-quality graphics, highlights, podcasts and mobile app allowed for existing players to remain involved in the goings-on at the club whether they were physically present or not. Prospective players would see this content and recognise the clubs professional approach to all aspects of the game and this might potentially be the deciding factor over joining them or a competitor.
Having built an engaged audience across the full spectrum of social media and online platforms, and creating a multitude of assets/features which allowed for monetisation, we were able to put together packages to attract commercial partners. These packages specifically set out the benefits that would be enjoyed in return for financial investment and gives them the peace of mind that handing over money would not be the end of the relationship.
It was important to build a philosophy of prioritising the generation of work for commercial partners so as to build a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. This would ensure future partnerships were generally in addition to as opposed to replacing financial support.
Our initial brief has been achieved and we now continue to build and approve upon what is already in place to add further value to the club and its future success.