Historic sponsorship deal for Harrogate Town with one of Yorkshire’s top brands.

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In what is a historic moment, this the first time that iconic brewery Black Sheep has sponsored a football team.

The exciting new agreement not only means Black Sheep becoming the official beer of Harrogate Town it also involves the brewery securing naming rights for Harrogate Town' s newly-built car park terrace at EnviroVent Stadium.

The stand will now be known as the ‘Black Sheep Brewery Stand’.

The initial deal with one of the UK's most famous breweries is for a two-year period with options to extend.

Garry Plant, Managing Director at Harrogate Town, said: “Black Sheep is a business that does things its own way, and has a real sense of identity and provenance – just like our football club.

"These shared values really make this sponsorship deal a special one, and we look forward to Black Sheep helping make the Harrogate Town experience a memorable one for home and away fans."

The football club, led by manager Simon Weaver, won promotion to the Football League for the very first time after winning the National League Play Off final in 2020.

Despite this, throughout the whole of 2021, the club’s fans have not had the chance to watch the team play a League 2 fixture in-person at the stadium due to the ongoing pandemic.

However, from this Saturday, August 7 that’s set to change, with “Town” hosting Rochdale, with a full capacity home crowd.

It is hoped the sponsorship will help welcome fans back to the 5,021 capacity EnviroVent Stadium, with Black Sheep’s iconic Best Bitter taking pride of place as the stadium’s exclusive cask ale brand.

Charlene Lyons, Chief Executive of Black Sheep Brewery, said: “This really is a sponsorship of firsts; it’s the first time Black Sheep has ever sponsored a football club, and also the first time this year the Club’s loyal fans will get to see their team play at the EnviroVent stadium.

"Best of all, Black Sheep Best Bitter will be on tap to welcome them back into the ground.

“But more than that, the sponsorship really underpins our strategy to engage meaningfully with the community in which we operate.

"During lockdown we saw fantastic demand for Black Sheep via our online store, both nationally, and all across North Yorkshire, and now we want to start putting something back into the communities that have supported us so passionately.”

The move follow’s Black Sheep’s past and present high-profile sporting sponsorships including the Tour de Yorkshire and Yorkshire County Cricket Club, though this is the first ever time the brewer has sponsored a football club.

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