THE iconic partnership between Geelong Football Club and the Ford Motor Company will extend past 100 years with the Cats signing a contract extension with their long-serving major sponsor.
Since arriving in Geelong, the Blue Oval has backed the club, with the Ford emblem the only sponsors logo to appear on the Hoops since the VFL introduced them in the late 1970s.
It is believed to be the longest continuous sponsorship of any sporting club in the world.
“We’re very proud of that,” Geelong CEO Brian Cook said at Thursday’s announcement.
“I best describe it as we’ve been through the tough times together, the good times together, we’ve celebrated things together, and the not so good times.
“But we’ve stuck together really, really well.
“I always go back to 1999 – my first year. I went to the then (Ford Australia) president Geoff Polites and asked him to provide his sponsorship upfront because we had some real cash problems.
“And if it wasn’t for Ford in that year who said “yes” to that issue, we wouldn’t have survived.”
Believed to be in the millions of dollars, Cook confirmed it was the biggest sponsorship deal in the Cats’ 162-year history.
“To have achieved that, and to agree to this partnership, and it’s structure, and it’s size during the COVID time, is in itself an outstanding achievement,” Cook said.
“And it demonstrates our partnership and how strong it is.”
Ford Australia president and CEO Andrew Brkic said the deal was not only a partnership but also a “friendship”.
“And partnership and the friendship will continue to evolve, with AFLW an example,” he said.
“We have a significant stake in Australia. We have over 2500 employees, and we’re involved in the development, engineering and design of world-class vehicles that we sell – the Everest and the Ranger – that we sell in over 180 countries around the world.
“So, we think that’s a really significant statement, and Geelong’s a part of that.
“We have a really rich history and heritage with Geelong and the Geelong Football Club, and we’d like that to continue.
“We think it’s really, really important. We think it’s important for our staff, and hopefully for the Geelong fans as well.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
