Selco launches Masters Cup with ex-premiership stars

Trade-only builders merchant Selco has renewed its sponsorship of the Masters Cup tournament for ex-profressional footballers.

This is the second year that the company, part of the irish Grafton Group, has sponsored the event. The tournament was launched at the Woodlands Park Hotel in Surrey by Selco marketing manager Simon Humpage and footballers Uwe Rosler and Tore Andre Flo, who played for Manchester City and Chelsea respectively. The tournament’s regional heats will take place in June and July, with the final at Manchester’s MEN on September 4.

Humpage said that the sponsorship gave Selco a boost in terms of national brand awareness, particularly through the coverage on Sky Sports.

“We’re a company that is still growing. We’re opening another two branches this year, so it really helps us in that growth phase. When we’re trying to talk to new customers and they’ve got some sort of awareness as to who we are and may have seen us through channels such as Masters Cup, it does a lot for us, particularly when we’re opening new branches.”

The event itself is a natural fit for the brand, said Humpage, with the industry being male-dominated and football being almost universally popular.

“Many of our customers will have watched these players play in their professional careers and it is a very entertaining format, Masters Cup,” said Humpage. “It gives you a chance to see the players up close in a very friendly environment. It is a family night out; you can take the boys along and see players. Some of them have only just stopped playing as well, and it’s a fraction of the cost of a premiership game.”