Town set to benefit from sporting feel-good factor

EXPERTS SAY SUCCESS OF TERRIERS AND GIANTS CAN BRING FINANCIAL BOOST

HUDDERSFIELD is expected to resemble a ghost town as tens of thousands of nervous and excited fans flock to the capital for a weekend of football and rugby league.

Huddersfield Giants fans will face Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday May 28, while Huddersfield Town will play in the Championship play-off final on Sunday, May 29, at Wembley.

For the Giants, it represents a chance to bring the famous Cup back to the birthplace of rugby league for the first time in 60 years. The north London stadium holds over 60,000 spectators.

And for Town, promotion could mean a £170m payday and worldwide exposure. The play-off final is known as the “richest game of football” and Town, previously the ‘perennial strugglers,’ have been here before.

Both clubs mean a huge amount to the town and the wider Kirklees area and their success can have wider ramifications, both economic and social, according to experts.

Stefanie Hopkins, founder and managing director of Brighousebased PR agency Faith and board member of the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, says sporting success can generate civic pride as well as money.

She said: “The prospect of Huddersfield Town reaching the Premier League for a second time in five years is hugely exciting for the town, its businesses and its people.

“Aside from the upturn in civic pride that promotion will bring to the town, there are tangible economic and social benefits that we could potentially look forward to as a result.

“Playing in the Premier League means matches from the town are beamed to a truly global audience, building awareness of Huddersfield and putting our name on the lips of more people than ever before.

“Businesses should consider ways they can piggy-back on this exposure, particularly around fixtures against teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, who have millions of fans across practically every continent. There are more routes to exposure than through official commercial partnerships, although we’d encourage local businesses to engage with the club first to discover how they can work together.

“More tangibly, each home game will bring with it a much increased away following, meaning an additional three or four thousand people in the town every other Saturday for nine months of the year.

“These opportunities can easily fit hand in hand with the wider Huddersfield Blueprint plans to create a thriving and modern town centre for both our locals and our visitors to enjoy.

“As well as providing exposure for our local firms, this promotion could be incredibly beneficial for our local schools, colleges and university and their sports teams.

“Providing a visible, attainable squad of role models and a clear pathway into professional sport for the next generation.

“Of course, this is all dependent on the Terriers getting the job done at Wembley. We all wish them the very best of luck.”

Former Huddersfield Town commercial director Sean Jarvis says: “This is amazing for the Town, to see both clubs playing in the same weekend in the capital is brilliant and the exposure for Huddersfield is unrivalled. “Watch out London the