Select Car Leasing are delighted to announce an expansion of our principal partnership with Reading Football Club that will see a re-branding of the club’s home stadium.
Select, headquartered in Reading’s Green Park business park adjacent to the stadium, is the UK’s leading independent car and van leasing specialists.
Directors of Select Car Leasing, James O’Malley and Mark Tongue, are both lifelong supporters and current season ticket holders at the club - and this historic stadium sponsorship agreement represents a long term expansion and commitment on what's already been a successful long-running partnership with Reading FC.
Select Car Leasing co-founder Mark Tongue says the company is ‘incredibly proud’ that the spectacular ground will bear the Select name.
He added: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome Royals fans to the Select Car Leasing Stadium. It’s an incredibly proud moment for us, as both a company and as Reading FC supporters ourselves.
As a firm, Select Car Leasing shares lots of common ground with Sir John Madejski. His Thames Valley Trader enterprise, which went on to become AutoTrader, was once a local automotive business, and he went on to make an incredible contribution to both Reading Football Club as well as the Reading community. Sir John will have the East Stand re-named in his honour as recognition of his lasting influence on the club.
“Likewise we too are a Reading-based automotive company that employs over 250 people in the community and which has had a successful relationship with Reading FC since 2015. Sir John started his business with a colleague in a spare room. Myself and co-founder James O’Malley also launched Select Car Leasing from the back room of a rented house in Reading. So there’s a real synergy there and, for us, it feels as if we’re being handed the baton, but Sir John’s legacy will be protected for future generations.”
In 1998 Reading FC moved from its Elm Park home to the newly-built, 24,000-seat, £50m Madejski Stadium - with a large proportion contributed by then-owner and Chairman Sir John. Sir John himself purchased the Royals in 1990 during an extremely financially-turbulent period when the club was facing bankruptcy.
Through continued investment and support from Sir John, including into the club’s Academy, Reading achieved its first ever promotion to England’s top flight in 2006, amassing a record-breaking points total of 106 in the process. Sir John relinquished control of Reading in 2012, selling a 51% stake to Russian consortium Thames Sports Investments, but continues to be an influential figure at the club.
Select Car Leasing was established in 2004 and is the UK’s leading independent car and van leasing website, with a total fleet of over 50,000 vehicles and over 250 staff members nationally. Over 7 million people will visit the Select website in 2021. Select have well established partnerships with global automotive distributors and retailers, as well the UK’s major motor finance companies, securing the best deals in the market It’s also not just the largest Personal Vehicle Leasing brokerage in the UK, it’s also the most recommended leasing business in the country, according to Trustpilot.
In June this year Select was announced as the Principal Partner of Reading Football Club, in what represents a record commercial deal for the Royals. Select has further pledged its support to Reading by committing to a multi-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal, beginning with the 150th anniversary campaign in 2021-22.
As part of this new long-term partnership, Select Car Leasing branding will feature on the front of Reading’s first team and Academy shirts for the next three campaigns, featuring on all replica adult and junior kits as well as the club’s official training wear until 2024. Select will also demonstrate a renewed commitment to their local side by agreeing to give money back to the club’s Academy programme when any Royals fan leases a vehicle from the company, as well as donating match tickets to local grassroots clubs for every single home match throughout the next five seasons.
James O’Malley and Mark Tongue said at the time: “As a local company we’ve been in partnership with Reading Football Club for nearly six years now but, as fans ourselves, it’s long been an ambition and a dream of ours to have much greater involvement with the club as well as supporting the local community. So we’re absolutely delighted to announce this new chapter in our relationship with Reading ahead of its 150th anniversary season and consider it a commitment not only to our club but also to the town of Reading and its people.”
Enjoyed this? Read more about our partnership with Reading FC:
Select Car Leasing Partner With Reading FC
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