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Green Football Weekend Is Here!

Premier League teams vie for top spot in the Green Football Cup table as clubs hold greener games for Green Football Weekend

Premier League teams vie for top spot in the Green Football Cup table as clubs hold greener games for Green Football Weekend.

  • Manchester United currently heading up Green Football Cup table.
  • Clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City taking part in greener games.
  • More than 35 teams wearing green armbands to show support for tackling climate change.
  • Clubs supporting sustainable travel, announcing sustainability strategies, discounting vegan food, encouraging recycling and off-setting team travel as part of greener games.
  • Players, clubs and organisers available for interview. Footage and stills also available.

More than 16,000 green goals have so far been scored by fans hoping to see their club bring home the Green Football Cup in a nationwide competition that culminates this coming Sunday as part of Green Football Weekend.

Birmingham County FA and their award winning Save Today, Play Tomorrow programme are keen supporters alongside the big clubs, and are giving their grassroots clubs the unique opportunity to be part of Green Football Weekend by doing what they do best…. Scoring Goals!

For every goal scored by a team playing in a competitive fixture (U12 and above) in one of the fthis weekend, BCFA will make a donation to the Wildlife Trust to help support vital nature restoration projects within the region

The total number of goals scored over the weekend will be taken from the FA Fulltime website, and the amount donated will be announced on Tuesday 7 February via our social channels.

Manchester United currently holds a commanding lead, followed by Leicester City, in a league decided by fans scoring goals by taking climate-friendly actions, including taking shorter showers, eating more vegetarian meals and telling their clubs what they’d like them to do to go greener. Leeds United, Chelsea and Port Vale are following close behind in the table.

Players such as Port Vale’s Funso Ojo and Wycombe Wanderers David Wheeler – whose teams will be playing each other on Green Football Weekend - have been challenging their fans to score as many green goals as them (currently 855 and 160 respectively). Earlier in the competition, Funso Ojo held the title of highest scoring fan in the Green Football Cup.

This coming weekend, top clubs will join their fans to take action on tackling climate change and protecting nature. Leading sides including Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester United, Norwich, and Bristol City will be taking part in greener games to make their matches as carbon-friendly as possible (full briefing here). More than 35 teams are wearing green armbands to show their support for climate change.

● Tottenham Hotspur will be putting on a matchday shuttle-bus and carbon neutral coach service to encourage fans to take public transport, serving plant-based options with wooden cutlery and recyclable packaging, and providing reusable beer cups.

● Wolverhampton Wanderers are announcing their new sustainability strategy, including committing to net zero by 2040, establishing a fan focus group on sustainability and the environment, and expanding their sustainability programme. Match opponents Liverpool men’s team will travel by bus to play Wolves away, and will use sustainable fuels, creating a reduction in carbon emissions of up to 90% from regular diesel.

● At the Norwich City vs Burnley game, players will walk across a Green Football Weekend handshake board and the ball will sit on a green plinth. Norwich City is offering discounts on vegan pies, old merchandise and reusable items in the shop, encouraging fans to travel by e-bike, providing digital rather than paper team sheets and giving wildflower seeds to the Junior Canaries. Before the match, Norwich FC supporter Ed Balls and Burnley supporter Alastair Campbell, will be meeting children from each club who have made green cakes as part of Green Football Weekend.

● Away team Bristol City will be offsetting first team travel and hotel, subsiding away supporter coach travel, encouraging fans to use a personal carbon calculator tool and delivering unused food to a local charity.

● Southampton FC Women will be offering free tasters of vegan food, giving out wildflower seeds, car sharing to the game, and running education sessions with the team on sustainability.

● Aston Villa Women are delivering Green Football Weekend lessons in primary schools.

● Crewe Alexandra are launching plans to create a covered car park and solar farm, aiming to install more than 3,000 solar panels above parking spaces on their existing car park.

● Ipswich Town is launching a partnership with Ipswich Clear Air Now to tackle local air pollution, including encourage fans to take sustainable travel to matches.

● Middlesbrough FC is running a collection for football boots, clothing and food.

● Carlisle United will be running a ‘green marketplace’ at their match vs Harrogate Town, where fans can meet local charities and environmental organisations and take part in fun activities.

● Swindon Town has appointed former player Michael Doughty as the Club’s new Chief Sustainability Officer.

● Northampton Town is running a greener game with fanzone activities, supporting sustainable fan travel and the introduction of recycling hot cup bins at the stadium.

Partners across the UK are also showing their support. Football Manager video games will be supporting Green Football Weekend on their virtual hoardings and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Football Team has hosted a greener game. Rainforest Trust UK are asking supporters to save a football pitch of rainforest for every goal scored through their online fundraising campaign, and have already received pledges that will protect 142 football pitches in the Brazilian Amazon every time a goal is scored over the Green Football Weekend.

Gary Lineker said:We know that football has the power to inspire and move millions and that's why Green Football Weekend is such a brilliant, yet simple idea. All across the country, fans and clubs will be taking action to help protect our planet. With just days to go, you can still help your club win the Green Football Cup by taking practical, climate-friendly actions to score green goals. And by us all acting together we can drive even bigger change"

Tottenham Hotspur defender Amy Turner, who took part in the making of the Green Football Cup, said: “I’m really proud that Tottenham Hotspur is backing Green Football Weekend and takes environmental sustainability so seriously. Clubs have such an important role to play in driving progress on climate change, and there’s so much for us all to do. It’s exciting to see Green Football Weekend bringing together the power of fans and clubs together to take action and make a difference. That’s how we can have real impact.”

Ben Latty, Liverpool Football Club’s Commercial Director, said: “Green Football Weekend aligns very closely with the ongoing work of Liverpool Football Club’s sustainability initiative The Red Way, and we are delighted to give the campaign our official backing and encourage as many supporters as possible to get involved and make a difference. As always, we’re acutely aware of the responsibility we hold as a global football club to help inspire and encourage positive behaviour change.”

Sarah Jacobs from Green Football Weekend said: “Climate change is already having dire consequences for football, from flooded pitches to sweltering summer temperatures. Football clubs and fans have a critical role to play in protecting our world. It’s brilliant to see the power of fan action inspiring clubs and the whole football community to be more ambitious.

“There’s still a huge amount that needs to happen - including clubs travelling sustainably to nearby matches becoming the norm - but this is very much a journey. Green Football Weekend - which is set to be the first of an annual event - is bringing everybody together to raise collective ambition, generate momentum, and start to demonstrate what football can achieve when it puts sustainability the heart of what it does.”

On Wednesday this week Sky pundits Jamie Carragher and Karen Carney challenged BT Sport’s Robbie Savage and Steve McManaman to Green Football Weekend’s Layer Up Challenge to put on as many tops as possible in 30 seconds - with the BT Sport team pipping Sky to the post by two tops. The broadcasters are working together for Green Football Weekend, hoping a collaborative approach will help engage more fans across the country.

Amazing prizes are up for grabs for anybody taking part in Green Football Weekend, including a Sky Glass TV, signed men’s and women’s England shirts, tickets to Premier League Games, the Championship and Papa John’s finals, a voucher for a National Trust holiday cottage, tickets to the Football Supporters Association Awards, Football Manager 23 game codes and BT Sport App passes. Throughout the tournament, fans can choose which green goals to score and track the progress of their club via the live leaderboard at greenfootballweekend.com.

It is estimated 23 out of the 92 Football League clubs in the UK can expect total or partial annual flooding of their stadiums by 2050. UK football fans making small changes to their habits could make a huge difference: 

 If the UK’s 31 million football fans buy second-hand or vintage clothes rather than new, they would save the same amount of carbon as planting 43.3 million trees per year.

● If they reduced their shower length to four minutes, they would save carbon equivalent to planting 58.9 million trees per year.

Fans can also save money by making small changes. By turning down the thermostat by one degree, reducing shower time to four minutes and eating veggie two days per week, they could reduce their household bill by up to £728

Green Football Weekend is powered by Sky Sports, BT Sport, the Football Supporters Association, Pledgeball, Planet League, First News and Count Us In. It is supported by the EFL, WSL and the FA.