Major deal for Inverness

Inverness Caledonian Thistle have announced a two-year sponsorship deal with Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline.

The £500,000 deal, dependent on success, will see Flybe become the main club and official shirt sponsor for the next two years with the option to extend, underlining its long term commitment to both the club and the local community.

As part of the deal, Flybe will have exclusive branding on all first and reserve team strips that will be available to supporters from the start of the 2007/08 season. In addition, Flybe will reward Caley Thistle fans with flight ticket giveaways at home games and introduce a number of promotions similar to those developed with its other sponsored clubs.

The new sponsorship deal will see Flybe making significant investment in the local community. One initiative, the Flybe Community Cup, is devoted to the development of grass roots football. The annual scheme will offer schools in the local area the chance to compete in a six-a-side football tournament with the final played at the Caledonian Stadium.

Flybe also sponsors Exeter City, where the airline has its headquarters, as well as Championship sides Norwich City, Southampton and, until the expiration of its contract earlier this year, for the last four years recently promoted Birmingham City.

Following its acquisition of the former BA Connect, Flybe has made significant investments at Inverness Airport since it took over operations earlier this year. With the growing popularity of its routes to London Gatwick and Belfast, Flybe is committed to building a bigger and stronger airline which will allow it further opportunities to develop routes, drive business to the area and see the Inverness hub go from strength to strength, supporting the economic vibrancy in the region.



Inverness CT manager Charlie Christie



Simon Lilley, Director of Marketing, Flybe said: "At Flybe we are passionate about connecting with the communities we serve and giving something back. Inverness is a key region for us now and is reflected in the size of commitment we are making with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

"It would be easy to focus on Glasgow and Edinburgh, but this sponsorship deal underlines our recognition of the importance of the regions, not only for us as a business but also for the country.

"At Flybe we have a history of working with football clubs all over the UK from top to bottom of the football ladder , and we now look forward to bringing opportunities to the people in Inverness and surrounding communities that they would not normally have.

"With Flybe's teams this year seeing enormous success, Birmingham City promoted, Southampton and Exeter City reaching play offs, we hope the Flybe good luck charm can bring equal success to this special club."



Alan Savage, Chairman of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, added: "We warmly welcome our new partnership with Flybe. They were a smaller company who have grown greatly through enterprise and flourished by successfully taking on the big boys - and that's something we have in common.

"Having Flybe on our shirts sends a positive message and we hope to 'fly high' as a club during the period of this commitment.

"Our own community involvement effort will be greatly enhanced by the initiatives we have agreed with Flybe, so it's an excellent deal for the city as well as the club. We look forward to working with them and hope their Highland operations and our own SPL campaign will both prosper on the back of this exciting link-up."