The Windscreen Company & Needham Market FC The 20-year love affair
To celebrate 20 years of The Windscreen Company being our main sponsor Mark Morsley explains how it all started.
I joined Needham Market FC back in 2003 an at that time the main sponsor was a company called BTS, probably because the owner was friends with some of the key people at Needham. In my interview the then Chairman Nick Francis and current CEO Graham Emmerson, I was keen with a number of ideas to take the club forward, one of which was to really develop close ties with businesses specifically a main sponsor.
At that time The Windscreen Company just had a pitchside board but were a company that were going places. As we planned for my second season 2004/2005 the existing 1st team sponsor had no intention of a more committed arrangement which was fair enough as it was unlikely to help their business model. I was therefore introduced the owner of the Windscreen Company some bloke called Barry Hegley.
A meeting was planned, and I went along with a sales pitch. As they were the top Suffolk non-league club at the time I had looked at the number of times that AFC Sudbury had appeared on the East Anglian Daily Times and other local newspaper and then compared that to the cost of having an advert colour or black and white in those number of days. In total modesty (not!), as I was going to take Needham to that level, it would be a decent sales pitch I believed.
So I bowled into Barry’s office and started my speal, he was a tough nut and had certainly come across my type before. We started just chatting and one thing led to another and on that day, we forged a friendship that has lasted, and we are still tight today. Agreeing the deal was interesting, it would have been good to be a fly on the wall. I clearly wanted top dollar and Baz wanted a mass of coverage for next to nothing!!
Anyway, I think the deal breaker was, purely by accident, we established we shared a love………. Steamed Mussels in Black Bean Sauce!! I never knew we both shared a love of Chinese food, and we were both pretty tight with Phu Trong, the owner of the best Chinese restaurant in the Universe, Trongs in Ipswich! So, by using a bit of mussel the deal was done!!
What has to be said is Barry’s support of Needham Market FC has been total and at that first meeting I wanted the Needham shirt to just be synonymous with his firm, as many famous Pro clubs have. I think it’s fair to assume that that has been achieved.
MJM & Baz – Brothers in Arms!! Here we are at one of the many new contract negotiations, with the Mussels long gone as we prepare to dive into another of his favs that been Lychees and vanilla ice cream!
An interesting story is that I was involved, with Graham, at just about every negotiation of a new sponsor deal over the 20 years. In fact, I think Barry insisted on it, possibly because we held them at Trong’s, but what was quite funny was there were meetings when I was either the Leiston or AFC Sudbury manager?!?!
Over the years when the club has needed that little of help to get where we needed to be Barry would always step up to the plate, a table at a Gentlemen’s night or a bit of help with a player, he was at the end of a phone.
This was at the start of Needham’s first season at Step 3, the Isthmian League Premier Division. It was one hell of a tough season; in fact, I told Graham Emmerson and Baz at the end of September that we were in a relegation battle.
When many turned on the team, Baz and Graham were always supportive and backed me, my staff and the players to the hilt and the eventual survival was some much down to them. Just goes to show Barry is more than just a sponsor.
Over the years, Barry has expanded his support as other part of the club have grown and expanded. His support was a help for the ladies and the Academy teams has also been invaluable.
So, we bring ourselves to today and the incredible achievement that Needham Market Football Club have by now playing at Step 2, yes STEP 2!! That success is down to many many people, all of which are massive for the club, but a key part has been the stability that Barry has brought from the days of one stand and a boggy pitch to the facilities we see today and being the top Suffolk club after Ipswich Town.
Cheers Baz, from 1 big guy to another!!
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