Blades Announce Sponsorship Deal of the Hong Kong FA Cup

LONDON - Sheffield United has today confirmed a groundbreaking sponsorship deal with the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) that will see the 2008/2009 Hong Kong FA Cup titled ‘the Sheffield United FA Cup’. Sheffield United’s agreement with the HKFA has been announced in partnership with the Chengdu Blades Football Club in China.

In January 2006, Sheffield United’s acquisition of China’s Chengdu Blades marked the first foreign ownership of a Chinese football club. Since then Chengdu Blades has cemented a new-found status in the Chinese Super League. This unique partnership in world football saw the introduction of the Chengdu reserve team playing in the Hong Kong League under the name of Sheffield United Hong Kong.

Having formally signed a sponsorship agreement with Chengdu Blades FC Ltd, Brian Leung, Chairman of Hong Kong Football Association, invited Kevin McCabe, Chairman of Sheffield United, and Tony Xu, Chairman of Chengdu Blades, to be the guests of honour to draw the fixtures for the first round of the HKFA Sheffield United FA Cup.

Kevin McCabe said: “It is a great honour for Sheffield United and Chengdu Blades to be invited to sponsor the Hong Kong FA Cup. It demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growth of football in China and Hong Kong, whilst we continue to make the ‘Blades’ a global football proposition.”

The HKFA Sheffield United FA Cup will commence on 12 May 2009, with Sheffield United Hong Kong drawn against Sham Shui Po. The Final of the HKFA Sheffield United FA Cup will be hosted at the Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday 31 May 2009.

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Notes to Editor - Hong Kong FA Cup is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. - The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. The HKFA Sheffield United FA Cup 2008-09 is the 35th season of Hong Kong FA Cup. Until now, 11 teams have won the cup with 9-time champions South China being the most successful. - All the matches are single legs. If scores are level, games are settled by extra time and penalty shootouts. - The cup has been limited to top flight teams in Hong Kong - The current HKFA Cup holders are Citizen who beat Wofoo Tai Po by a 2-0 win in the 2008 final played on 18 May 2008 at the Hong Kong Stadium. The match was part of the fund raising activities for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

Issued on behalf of Sheffield United FC by Jardine International in the UK

For more information contact Glen Gibson on +44(0)20-8607-3910

Source: Sheffield United FC

For more information contact Glen Gibson on +44(0)20-8607-3910