Specsavers has been announced as the official eye and ear care partner for the Scottish FA, Men’s and Women’s National Teams, and Scottish Football Match Officials.
The opticians, which has sponsored the SFA’s match officials for the past 22 years, said the new and enhanced seven-figure sponsorship deal is a "major milestone".
Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell and head of refereeing William Collum were joined by Specsavers Scotland chair Jennifer Stephenson and Specsavers Scottish FA liaison Sarah Freel to make the announcement at the home of Scottish football.
Jennifer Stephenson said: ‘We are proud to be the Scottish FA’s longest-standing sponsor, supporting grassroots referee training, promoting respect for match officials and ensuring their optimal vision and hearing through regular tests.
"Our funding has played a pivotal role in nurturing new referee talent and investing in training and development. While our support of match officials will continue, this new sponsorship deal will enable us to have an even bigger impact as we support the beautiful game in Scotland."
READ MORE: Historic Glasgow pub popular with Celtic fans announces closure
The last time the sponsorship deal was extended, Specsavers also introduced a focus on raising awareness of para football and grassroots football within both the men’s and women’s game.
The enhanced sponsorship deal, and Specsavers’ new role as Official Eye and Ear Care Partner for the Scottish FA, Men’s and Women’s National Teams and Scottish Football Match Officials "will enable it to make an even bigger difference".
Scottish FA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell said: “Our partnership with Specsavers has now spanned more than two decades, making it one of the longest agreements of its kind in sport and providing considerable support to referees at all levels of the game in Scotland.
“The partnership evolved considerably in that time, growing to encompass investment in grassroots football in recent years, helping to make our wonderful game available to all.
“We are very grateful to Specsavers for their continued faith in our national game and for not only continuing to support us but also extending it to our national teams in what promises to be an exciting new chapter in this enduring partnership.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel