The Ramsdens Cup may be a new name in the family of cup competitions in Scotland however, Scotland is not new to Ramsdens Executive Chairman, Stewart Smith, and his wife Susan. The couple ventured north from their north east of England base to take in The Ramsdens Cup First Round tie between Airdrie United and Livingston and enjoyed the experience so much that they returned to Hampden two days later to carry out the Second Round Draw.
Stewart said: “It is the first Cup Draw we have carried out and it was quite exciting. The first four names we drew out are some of the biggest names in the competition.
“I am sure we have managed to create some great cup ties whilst also opening things up for some underdogs to progress.”
Coming to Scotland’s National Stadium to undertake their roles was a pleasure and not a pain for the Smiths as Stewart said: “We know Scotland well as Susan studied to be a dentist at Edinburgh University and after we were married, we lived up here so I understood the geography involved in the Draw as the names of the clubs were being read out.
“Our daughter-in-law is from Edinburgh, so we had a strong connection with Scotland personally even before this sponsorship deal came about.
“I have to admit that we know a lot of the fantastic golf courses up here better than we know the football clubs but we are getting there.”
Livi’s 5-0 win over The Diamonds was the Smith’s first taste of action between SFL clubs as Stewart explained: “I came up for the Celtic and Rangers Co-operative Insurance Cup Final in March and have also been to Ibrox for a Rangers and Valencia Champions League game but this was my first view of teams in the competition sponsored by Ramsdens.
“We enjoyed it probably more than our host, Jim Ballantyne, although he made us very welcome.”
There is a close tie in between the Ramsdens branches in Scotland and the clubs in The Scottish Football League as Stewart explained: “We have 32 branches up here now and of the teams in the Second Round Draw, we have branches near 13 of them. We do not have branches in all areas but you can see how well aligned our branches are with the communities that football fans come from.
“We have made a multi-million pound commitment to Scotland over the last few years in terms of our branches. Our sponsorship gives us the opportunity to enhance the brand and advertise the wide range of services we offer.”
Sharp-eyed TV viewers will have noticed that commercials advertising Ramsdens’ Branches now carry The Ramsdens Cup logo with Stewart saying: “We are proud to sponsor the competition and this was an extra way to show that. Our staff like it as well as it is a way of enhancing our reputation and brand name all the time.”
The Ramsdens Cup is not the only football partnership that the company has entered into recently as their distinctive green and white logo was worn throughout most of last season by English Championship side Middlesbrough.
A familiar face to Scottish football fans is one of the main reasons that Ramsdens Financial Ltd. back the club with Stewart explaining: “Tony Mowbray is doing fantastically well at the club and being Middlesbrough born and bred, that is more than okay with me. I know he had a disappointing spell at Celtic but you do not get long at certain clubs to make your mark.
“Tony is one of the reasons we agreed to sponsor Middlesbrough for three years after a number of one-off monthly deals. We are very much behind Tony and Chairman Steve Gibson in their bid to get Middlesbrough back into the Premiership.”
Stewart added: “I am sure plenty of people from Ramsdens will be coming along to Second Round ties.”
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