RICKETY ... Leigh's Hilton Park Coliseum
By DAVID FACEY
LEIGH CENTURIONS really have joined the Super League — by attracting the same sponsors as Chelsea and Arsenal.
The tiny Lancashire club will be backed by Emirates Airlines when they make their debut in rugby league’s top division next year.
They will be paying only a small fraction of the £100million spent to earn the title rights to Arsenal’s new home, the Emirates Stadium.
And even the £4m-a-year deal they struck to have their name on Chelsea’s shirts, a contract that runs out next season, dwarfs the five-figure sum Leigh will receive over the next two years.
But the top-flight newcomers, who were a part-time outfit until winning this year’s National League play-off final, are still delighted with the tie-up.
League legend Alex Murphy, Leigh’s director of rugby, said: “It’s a hell of a thing to be mentioned in the same breath as Arsenal and Chelsea, isn’t it?
“We’d probably have let them sponsor us for nothing — just to be associated with such a famous blue chip company.
“But we were happy with the terms of the sponsorship, even if it’s only a drop in the ocean compared to the deal they have with Arsenal. It’s still the biggest sponsorship in our history and, in terms of prestige, it tops anything the rest of Super League has come up with.
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| LEGEND ... director of rugby Alex Murphy
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“And who knows where it might lead? Since we took the Centurions nickname, our stadium, Hilton Park, has been re-named the Coliseum.
“The Emirates Coliseum has a nice ring to it.”
Murphy, 65, established himself as one of rugby league’s true greats during 12 seasons with St Helens.
He joined Leigh in 1971 as player-coach and promptly took them to their first Challenge Cup final. Murphy has just been voted into the North West Sporting Hall of Fame — along with Bobby Charlton and Tom Finney.
But he admits that news has been eclipsed by the sponsorship.
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| HOME DIS-COMFORTS ... facilities at Leigh are basic
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Murphy added: “I haven’t been this made up since I won my first Challenge Cup.”
The contract resulted from the fact that the managing director of Emirates UK, Maurice Flanagan, lives in Leigh and has become a fan.
He promised if they ever made it into Super League, he would ask the Emirates board to back the club.
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How they compare
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| PLUSH ... Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium which is being built at Ashburton Grove
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LEIGH CENTURIONS
Ground: Hilton Park Coliseum
Capacity: 10,000
Average attendance: 2,300
Biggest current signing: Jason Ferris (free)
Annual wage bill: £1.7m maximum
Value of Emirates contract: Estimated £50,000
ARSENAL
Ground: Highbury (moving to Emirates Stadium)
Capacity: 38,142
Average attendance: 38,000
Biggest current signing: Jose Reyes (£21m)
Annual wage bill: £60.6m
Value of Emirates contract: £100m |
