The Football League has agreed a new three-year title sponsorship with energy provider npower.
From the beginning of the 2010/11 season, The League's flagship competition will be titled 'the npower Football League' with its three divisions being titled 'the npower Championship', 'npower League 1' and 'npower League 2'.
Football League Chairman Lord Mawhinney said: "I am delighted to welcome npower to this new partnership with The Football League.They are a widely respected company with a strong pedigree in sports sponsorship.Their support is a huge boost to our clubs and represents the enhanced reputation of The Football League in the commercial marketplace.
"Like us, npower recognise the extraordinary attachment that Football League clubs have with people living in their local communities.This agreement will provide real benefit to those people."
As part of the new agreement, each of The League's 72 clubs will receive a grant from the npower Charity Fund for a bespoke community initiative in their local area.Fans will also be rewarded for switching their gas and/or electricity supply to npower.
npower will also become the new title sponsor of The Football League Community Cup, the annual six-a-side competitions for teams of mixed Under-11's and Under-13 girls played in towns and cities throughout the country, culminating in finals played at Wembley Stadium before the end of season npower Play-Off Finals.
Volker Beckers, Chief Executive Officer of RWE npower said: "We're absolutely delighted to be partnering The Football League. We share the enthusiasm of the fans that get behind their local teams and, like npower, football has always placed great emphasis on community involvement.We are committing a substantial amount to assist community initiatives at each of the 72 clubs through a Charity Fund administered by both npower and The Football League.
"npower is an evolving brand, moving from simply supplying electricity and gas to providing our customers with a whole home solution.Our sponsorship of The Football League will provide us with a cost-effective means of raising awareness of the range of services we now offer customers, such as npower hometeam, our boiler servicing and installation division.It's also a perfect platform for putting something back into the community through sport in the UK."
