Susan Boyle’s local team sells sponsor rights on auction website

SUSAN Boyle shot to global fame after internet footage of her singing audition spread across the world.Now her local football team are hoping to use the web to boost their own fortunes.

SUSAN Boyle shot to global fame after internet footage of her singing audition spread across the world.

Now her local football team are hoping to use the web to boost their own fortunes.

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Blackburn United, hometown team of the talent show celebrity, have become the first team in Scotland to sell sponsorship rights on eBay.

The West Lothian side have gone without a logo on the front of their home jersey since the start of the season after a previous deal ended, and the tough economic climate has made finding local backers difficult.

As a result, club management opted to cast the net beyond the former mining village, and hoped that – like the version of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain’s Got Talent that changed SuBo’s life – online exposure could do a similar thing for the team.

President Ian McGinty said: “We’re quite a forward- thinking, progressive organisation.We know junior football in Scotland can’t be stuck in its ways forever.

“Myself and a couple of committee members came up with this idea and we’ll have to see what happens.”

Bidding for the sponsorship starts at £800, and would see the winning offer – from a person or business anywhere in the world – have their name across the strip until the middle of 2013.

While the nature of the experiment has its quirky side, Mr McGinty said the club’s balance sheet desperately needed a sponsor.

“We’re realistic about this, we’re not pinning our hopes on it, but being without a sponsor does have an impact,” he said.

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“It doesn’t look good either not to have a logo on the shirt.

“We have a loyal group of paying punters coming through the gate and already get support for our away strip from Dougie Easton Mini Coach Hire.

“A lot of our players haven’t been getting their expenses, although on the field we’re still managing to do well.”

He added that a sponsor would not only support the main junior side, but be associated with the village’s football school and the ten other teams of all age groups.

“The great thing about doing this on eBay is the chance for anyone in the world to get involved, we’re not just restricted to looking for local businesses to help out,” he said.

The opportunity could also appeal to fans of Susan Boyle.

Although she does not financially back the club to the extent Wet Wet Wet used to support their local team Clydebank by sponsoring their shirt she supports them through visits to the ground and publicity work.

• To make a bid visit www.ebay.co.uk and search for item number 150743879728.