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From the Norwich City Football Club website (www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk):
CANARIES STEP UP A GEAR WITH GROUND-BREAKING SPONSORSHIP
NORWICH City Football Club are delighted to announce a ground-breaking shirt sponsorship with growing car company Proton Cars and world-leading sportscar manufacturers Lotus.
The three-year agreement with sister companies Proton Cars and famous Norfolk manufacturers Lotus is for a seven-figure sum and is the biggest sponsorship in the Club's history.
As part of the agreement exciting new home and away kits for the Canaries were unveiled at Carrow Road today. The new home kit in the Club's traditional yellow and green colours will carry the Proton Cars logo, while the striking away kit in racing green bearing the Lotus brand will be worn by the first team for a guaranteed seven away matches next season.
Tengku Tan Sri (Dr) Mahaleel, Chief Executive of Proton Berhad of Malaysia (the parent company to Group Lotus PLC and Proton Cars UK Ltd) is very enthusiastic about the sponsorship agreement: "It is said that sport is a great medium to bring people together, to share different viewpoints and appreciate different cultures and places.
"What better way to do this than through football. Football is amongst the highest viewing and participating sports in the world. Its popularity is very high in Malaysia and as someone said to me we get more live matches in Kuala Lumpar than in England!
"Malaysians through the English Premier League, are able to see the English game, the way it is supported and the way it is communicated and the passion and atmosphere.
"In our complicated world today, perhaps this sponsorship is a good platform for us to bring both our communities closer together and also our companies and its people."
Brian Collier, Managing Director of Proton Cars UK, commented: "We have recently relocated our headquarters to new offices alongside Lotus at Hethel near Norwich and the sponsorship of Norwich City Football Club also helps Proton cement ties with the East Anglian community. We are looking forward to building our name within the UK and our association with The Canaries will help us to do this."
UK General Manager of Lotus Cars Ltd, Ansar Ali commented: "I am excited about the partnership between Lotus, Proton and Norwich City Football Club and that this relationship will provide excellent opportunities for all parties. Both Lotus and Norwich City have a fantastic history, which is laced with great achievements, and this agreement shows that Lotus is going from strength to strength and that we are very much looking forward to the future.
"Working alongside an established organisation such as Norwich City Football Club provides the ideal opportunity for Lotus Cars to forge new relationships and work more closely with the local community. Lotus moved to its Hethel Headquarters 37 years ago and in that time we have gratefully received much support from the people here and I see this collaboration as a wonderful opportunity to give something back to Norfolk."
Norwich City Sales and Marketing Director Andrew Cullen commented: "We are very excited to be able announce such a significant new partnership with both Proton Cars and Group Lotus; a partnership which can only help accelerate Norwich City Football Club forward on both a local and national stage.
"Proton have invested heavily both in Lotus and Norfolk and our relationship with them is designed to be mutually beneficial. For our part we are determined to play a major role in helping to promote the Proton brand throughout the United Kingdom.
"The link with Lotus extends the Football Club's portfolio of alliances with businesses that enjoy a proud Norfolk heritage and we feel privileged to be able to be associated with a brand recognised, desired and admired by so many people throughout the world.
"Additionally the relationship with Proton provides the impetus for Norwich City Football Club to join those Premiership Clubs which have successfully established new supporter bases in the Far East, where the game of football and support for English teams has never been so popular. We will properly assess such opportunities so that any decision to market the Football Club overseas is made in the best interest of both the Club and our new partners.
"The nature and scope of today's announcement has been made only possible by the outstanding level of support that the Club has been fortunate to enjoy in recent times. Record season ticket sales, sell-out crowds and the willingness of supporters to invest and support the products of the Club's various corporate partners mean that more and more companies view Norwich City Football Club as a natural partner to promote and build their businesses.
"We are grateful to our entire body of supporters and to the respective Boards and management teams of both Proton and Lotus for making such a groundbreaking agreement possible. We look forward to an exciting partnership in the future."
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