Sale Sharks receive sponsorship boost from UKFast

English Premiership club Sale Sharks on Tuesday have announced their largest partnership in the history of the club with the Manchester based hosting company UKFast.

This will be the second time UKFast will return as the shirt sponsor for the Sale Sharks after sponsoring the club for a 10-year period previously between 2000 and 2010. The deal which is expected to be on the seven-figure mark has not been disclosed.

The previous 10-year deal came to an end when a number of senior players including fly-half Charlie Hodgson exited the club.

Speaking about the new deal, the CEO of UKFast Lawrence Jones MBE, who played a key role in increasing the fan base at Edgeley Park to over 10,000 said the firm has an emotional bonding with the club and is looking forward to contribute to the success.

Recalling the memories from the previous deal, Jones said his firm was more intended on building a platform to benefit the club reach a wider range of fans.

“I am delighted to join The Sharks once again. I remember the first day I wedged my foot in the door of their portacabin at Heywood Road in 2000. They had a good laugh after I predicted their fans would one day use the internet for tickets and news!

“It was a great relationship; we couldn’t afford to give money so we invested huge amounts of our time and we built technology that helped the club fill the stadium.

“This partnership is more than a logo on a shirt. UKFast has been associated with Sale Sharks for more than a decade. It’s a club that is incredibly close to my heart and I can’t wait to contribute to its success.

"My goal is to work with the club and share our experience of creating a world-class experience for everyone: fans, players' wives and families, the press, the away supporters - everyone has to leave the ground on a high.

"We've made some incredible friendships with players, management, fans, and I am so excited to reignite that Friday night magic and making The Sharks the number one go-to event in Manchester again."

Meanwhile, commercial director of Sale Sharks Mark Cueto believes the association with UKFast will benefit the club grow wider and build a stronger fan base.

"I knew we needed Lawrence and UKFast back. He eats, breathes and sleeps rugby. He was much more than just a sponsor. He has already helped us secure a number of other high-profile businesses to the mix and the energy he brings is infectious. I can already feel the momentum gathering.

"Manchester needs top-level professional sports clubs and not just football. We have squash, cycling and for Manchester to be a truly international city we have to be winning on all fronts."

Max Ashcroft of TalkingRugbyUnion, who has played at at Bath Rugby before going to Manchester Met University believes the partnership will help the club engage more with the fans.

Max, who has also played two games for the Sale Sharks U23 team in 2015 and is contracted by Sedgley Park Tigers also lauded the current management of the club and is confident of them achieving the success.

"Big news off the field keeps emerging at Sale Sharks. Today's announcement is sensational news for rugby in the north west. I am excited that Lawrence Hunt is talking about the fans. Our research in 2015 showed that Sale were struggling to engage with the fans and this was impacting crowds," said Max.

"The recent ad campaigns have been very appealing and completely on message. If fans across the North West are accessing these calls to action then the 16/17 season should see greater footfall at the AJ Bell Stadium.

"If Sale can now work with local clubs, colleges and universities to create player development programs then a real rugby community in the North West can be created. It would be great to see academy players going back to their clubs on loan, this would grow support and encourage fans to turn out on the terraces.

"The quality of the executives leading the new owners is best in class. Adding Lawrence Hunt into the mix opens exciting new possibilities as does Andy Bell, the north west entrepreneur behind AJ Bell.

"Mark Cueto has certainly hit the ground running in his new role at Sale and we are looking forward to finding ways we at TalkingRugbyUnion can help Mark and his team. We have been very fortunate to have been introduced to Dave Swanton at the moment we invested in TalkingRugbyUnion and he has always made us welcome and provided insights."

Sale Sharks will be competing in the European Champions Cup in the upcoming season after managing to finish sixth in the previous season of Aviva Premiership.