Sponsors set to save cup tradition

Capital One fund the cost of League 2 players swapping shirts with illustrious opponents

League Cup sponsor and credit card provider Capital One has stepped in to maintain one of the oldest traditions in cup football by ensuring League 2 players are able to swap shirts with their Premier League peers in Round 2 of the Capital One Cup.

After recent instances where clubs have banned their players from swapping shirts, Capital One has offered to cover the cost of replacing any shirts swapped by League 2 players with Premier League in next weeks Round 2 Capital One Cup fixtures.

The move from Capital One comes after the credit card company celebrated the launch of its #GetShirty Twitter campaign.  The competition gives fans the chance to win £100 if they tweet a snap of themselves with their club’s shirt to @CapitalOneUK with the #GetShirty hash tag between 12pm on Monday 26th August to 12pm on Thursday 29th August.

The four clubs League 2 clubs to accept the offer are:

BURTON ALBION v  Fulham MORECAMBE V Newcastle United Norwich City v BURY West Bromwich Albion v NEWPORT COUNTY

Stewart Day, Chairman of Bury Football Club, said: “We’re really grateful to Capital One for their support. It’s always a special evening for our club to face Premier League opposition, and the Capital One Cup fixture against Norwich City gives our squad a chance to test themselves against some truly top class players. It’s great that they’ll have the opportunity of swapping shirts and grabbing a souvenir from what will hopefully be a memorable night in the club’s history.”

Michael Woodburn, Chief Marketing Officer at Capital One, added: “Swapping shirts is one the great traditions of cup football and we’re delighted to help this continue in this Round of the Capital One Cup. Round 2 promises to be as exciting as ever and hopefully fans will join in the fun by taking a photo of themselves with their club shirt on and sending it to us via Twitter.”