aap3 Announce Southampton Football Club Sponsorship

SOUTHAMPTON, England, March 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saints are delighted to announce that aap3, the Southampton based business and IT solutions provider, have today signed a three year deal to become the Main Club Sponsor of Southampton Football Club.

In addition to appearing on the front of both the home and away first team shirt, the deal will also see the aap3 logo and branding take pride of place at St Mary's Stadium, as well as on the Club's official website, match programme with a host of other benefits included within the sponsorship.

aap3 (All About People Process & Productivity) are a company founded in Southampton more than ten years ago. With a headquarters in Chilworth and offices in London and San Jose California they employ more than 500 people globally, whilst still maintaining a keen focus on working within the local Southampton community.

The strong aspirations that aap3 have to become a market leader in their field perfectly match the direction that Southampton FC is now taking, not only in terms of its ambition to grow as a club with the right results on the field, but also its positive influence in the local community it serves.

Over the last 18 months aap3 has been a keen supporter of the Saints Foundation, investing its charitable funds, having their employees volunteer with several of the Foundation programmes, and using intellectual software development resources to develop the Foundation's website.

The partnership will start from the beginning of the 2011-12 season and run until June 2014

Southampton Football Club's Executive Chairman, Nicola Cortese said:

I have been extremely impressed by the level of interest we received from national and international brands who were all keen to sponsor the club. Such interest just goes to show that the Club is heading in the right direction and is beginning to be recognised as an attractive business to invest in.

Any sponsorship deal needs to represent good value to the club, but of equal importance are the principles of the company, which is why it gives me great pleasure to have secured this deal with aap3. Like us, they are an upwardly mobile company who strongly believe in their business ethics. They are a global company with strong local roots, and a conscious understanding of the role they have to play in the local community.

Choosing a headline sponsor for the Club is no easy task, we need to be able to work side by side and trust in each other, and therefore it was important for us to find the right match when picking a partner. I am convinced that aap3 are that company and their commitment to the Club over the next three years will, I am sure, coincide with an exciting period for both of us.

Rod Jackson, President and CEO of aap3 concluded:

Southampton Football Club is ambitious, well run and socially aware of its responsibilities as a football club and a corner stone of the community. aap3 is also ambitious, I believe well run, with a team of professional players and definitely socially aware of its responsibilities.

Ultimately, we strongly believe in the vision of where this club is heading, and felt that being involved with such a project was too good an opportunity to miss out on. It is for these reasons, and of course to improve our own brand recognition as Saints grow ever more successful on the field that we have taken on this sponsorship opportunity.

The Directors, Executive staff and employees of aap3 look forward to the 2011/12 season when the aap3 logo will adorn the Southampton shirts, and hope our sponsorship will bring many entertaining and successful wins to the team.

aap3 - All About People, Process and Productivity, the premier strategic business enabler to the Global Enterprise & SME market.

For more information about aap3 and the solutions they provide to businesses please visit http://www.aap3.com or call +44(0)845-2300-189.

Contact: aap3, Carol Pike, SVP & Director, Corporate Affairs, T: +44(0)2380-762811, E: [email protected], http://www.aap3.com

SOURCE aap3