BT Sport are supporting Green Football Weekend with a host of editorial programming.
More than 80 top football clubs are today joining forces against climate change 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.
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.
Amazing prizes are up for grabs for anybody taking part in Green Football Weekend, including a men’s signed England shirt, tickets to Premier League Games, a voucher for a National Trust holiday cottage, tickets to the Football Supporters Association Awards, Football Manager 23 game codes, BT Sport app passes, and yearly subscriptions to children’s newspaper First News.
“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.
“Green Football Weekend fans can expect us to continue to use our platform to raise awareness of climate change”
– Fergus Garber
- 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.
Mark Bullingham, FA Chief Executive, said: “The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and we are pleased to support the Green Football Weekend campaign. At The FA, we have made great strides to become more environmentally friendly, including Wembley Stadium being awarded the highest standard of sustainability by the ISO, and we are dedicated to making even further progress. Football has the power to inspire people and improve lives, and collectively we can make positive and meaningful change.”
Fergus Garber, head of broadcast and production operations, BT Sport, said: ” Working together with Sky Sports and a range of organisations is, we hope, a key step towards educating fans about the climate emergency. BT Sport is working hard to become one of the greenest broadcasters in the UK and over Green Football Weekend fans can expect us to continue to use our platform to raise awareness of climate change. We’re looking forward to supporting Green Football Weekend.”
Green Football Weekend is powered by BT Sport, Sky Sports, the Football Supporters Association, Pledgeball, Planet League, First News and Count Us In.
