Birmingham County FA joins the world's biggest football campaign to protect our world
Birmingham County FA joins the world's biggest football campaign to protect our world, Green Football Weekend.
- Today marks the countdown to Green Football Weekend with clubs encouraging millions of fans to score green goals for their team by taking climate-friendly actions.
- By adopting 3 of the tournament's simple habits for a year, fans could save up to £728.
- Fans can go to greenfootballweekend.com to choose climate-friendly activities and score green goals.
Birmingham County FA is today joining forces against climate change with more than 80 top football clubs in the world’s biggest football campaign to protect our world, Green Football Weekend.
For the next 20 days, clubs across the top divisions are battling it out for the coveted Green Football Cup. But unlike other tournaments, it’s fan action that will decide who takes the Cup home, with fans scoring green goals for their club by taking climate-friendly actions - from eating a veggie meal to turning the thermostat down one degree or taking a shorter shower. Fans can choose their activities and register their goals at greenfootballweekend.com.
The competition will culminate in Green Football Weekend on 3-5 February, when clubs will join fans in implementing changes by making their fixtures ‘greener games’, and some teams will wear green armbands to show their support for protecting our world.
Richard Lindsay, Birmingham County FA lead on the Save Today, Play Tomorrow programme, said: “We have been working hard over the last 18 months across our region to help support grassroots football reduce its impacts on the planet through a number of schemes & initiatives, and we are very much looking forward to being part of the wider football community as it comes together in advocating positive change through the Green Football Weekend.”
“In scoring green goals for their club, football fans have incredible power to help protect our world - and save money in the process. If the UK’s 36 million fans adopted three climate-friendly habits across the course of the 20-day tournament - reducing their shower time to four minutes, having two meat-free days per week and turning the thermostat down by 1 degree - fans could save more than 700 million kg CO2e, the equivalent of planting 11.78 million trees”, explained Green Football Weekend spokesperson Sarah Jacobs.
Jacobs added: “And the benefits go beyond helping tackle climate change and protecting nature. In taking part, fans can also make significant savings. By adopting these small changes for one year, they could reduce their household bill by up to £728.”
The campaign, which is set to become an annual event, is backed by more than 30 major supporters, including the FA, the EFL, the WSL, the National Trust, RSPB and the Church of England.
- On 21st January, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Football Team will be taking on an interfaith team for a Green Football Weekend match, supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop for Sport Libby Lane.
- An area of rainforest the size of 1,000 football pitches will be protected by Rainforest Trust UK in the name of the winning club.
- Thousands of schools are taking part, with teachers running special lessons and clubs sending club staff and mascots into classrooms to inspire students.
Green Football Weekend is powered by Sky Sports, BT Sport, the Football Supporters Association, Pledgeball, Planet League, First News and Count Us In.