SUTTON UNITED GAMBIA FOOTBALL CLUB
Gambia is a small country, only around 7 times the area of Greater London but with less than a third of London’s population. It ranks 48th in Africa in terms of GDP and is regarded as the 16th poorest country in the world. Despite this, it shares with most countries a huge love for football. There are many Gambians playing in top leagues around Europe and the country has twice won the African Under-20s Cup, showing the potential and how important football is to its people.
Whether you are playing in the Premier League or the local Sunday league, in Brazil or Gambia, the typical week for a footballer has a lot of similarities. There will be midweek training, coaching and tactics from the manager and then matchday. However, the matchday experience can vary enormously.
In Gambia there will only be midweek training if a pitch can be secured. Most villages only have one pitch and everybody uses it. It’s on matchday itself that things look very different to England. Players and staff all walk to the ground, it’s rarely far away. Kick-off is usually at 5pm but everyone will gather at the ground much earlier. The players will have breakfast together and then supporters will slowly start to arrive. Some of the supporters will start cooking lunch, which is for everybody. After they have finished eating, the players will gather again for the final pre-match briefing before walking to the pitch around an hour before kick off. Quite often, especially for games against big rivals, most of the village might turn up to watch, so crowds can be quite big. Sometimes a small admission fee is charged, pennies in British money.
Village football is based around short tournaments and the winners are then invited into more organised regional leagues. Sometimes the tournament has a small prize pot and players, winners and losers, are rewarded with a small payment. The whole matchday experience is much more of a community occasion than we are used to, perhaps more akin to a 3rd Round FA Cup tie when a small non-League side hosts one of the Premier League giants.
Sutton United Gambia FC, based in the small village of Lamin, became associated with the English National League club of the same name in 2006. For a long while the relationship was quite close, given the distance between the two clubs, but then the African club’s long-time secretary left and things went a bit quieter. The English club has acted as mentors and provided kit but cannot fund the African club. The new club President of SUGFC, has re-established contact and is looking to get a new team playing as soon as possible.
But Sutton United Gambia needs to stand on its own feet if it is to thrive and is therefore looking for sponsors. This is another major difference from European football. Just 3,000 GBP would cover the club’s costs for a whole season,
Target Audience
In Africa football has huge appeal across the age range, but particularly to males and especially teens and young boys. Seeing a game live or watching a match from one of the big European leagues on television can be a big community event.
More widely, the club obviously has an interest amongst the fanbase of Sutton United in England and a small reach into the wider football community.
Key Dates and Timings
The club is looking for sponsor on either a 1 or 2 year deal.
If possible, it would be great to be ready for August 2025 and the start of the new season in Gambia, otherwise the club will look to be ready for the 2026/7 season.
Specific Opportunity Details
The club can be flexible and would work with potential sponsors to try to structure agreements that give the best possible mutual outcomes. Sponsor logos can go on the playing kit, on social media and on the dedicated website page of Sutton United England (www.suttonunited.net) are all options. The club in England has over 35,000 followers on X and more than 30,000 on Facebook,
Features and Benefits
Gambia is a small country, only around 7 times the area of Greater London but with less than a third of London’s population. It ranks 48th in Africa in terms of GDP and is regarded as the 16th poorest country in the world. The main benefits for any sponsor would be:-
1/. Exposure on the website of Sutton United FC
2/. Regular mentions, match results, news etc on social media
3/. Positive PR
Being honest, this is not an opportunity to raise the profile of your business, it is more about giving something back, either as an individual or a business, to help young people in a poor but vibrant country to enjoy their love of football.
Other Partners
No sponsors, but mentored by Sutton United Football Club, based in Surrey, England, who provide support regarding club rules and governance advice and, as available, provide spare kit to the club in Gambia.
Investment
Just 3,000 GBP would cover SUGFC’s costs for a whole season, 4,000 GBP would last two years (before kit needs replacing) and the club is looking for one or more sponsors on a one or two year basis.
Although cash is preferred, a donation of playing or training kit would also be considered.
Other Info
This opportunity is all about supporting enthusiasm, fostering talent and bringing enjoyment to a small village.
The lack of visibility on a global or international scale is reflected in the very modest sponsorship amounts being sought.
The main reason to become involved is simply to help because you can, the benefit to the local community is many multiples of the money invested and, just maybe, the sponsors could gain satisfaction in helping to nourish the next global superstar.