Football Manager’s brand-new, limited-edition football shirt has sold out in a matter of days, in support of War Child – the specialist charity for children affected by conflict.
Within less than a week of going live, the shirts have sold out, raising almost £30k to help fund War Child’s life changing work (and breaking last year’s sales record).
This is the second year that Sports Interactive, the studio behind the globally famous Football Manager, has made the FMFC away shirt available for purchase, offering fans the opportunity to nab one of only 600 made. The shirt was designed by the same team which created the iconic home shirt – Nomad – and produced by the same manufacturer – Hummel.
FMFC is the Football Manager members’ club, which gives fans of the game a first chance to get their eyes on game and studio news, feature drops and gameplay inspiration, before anybody else. Each season the club creates both ‘home’ and ‘away’ shirts and, while the home shirt is reserved for club member promotions, the away shirt has been made available for sale with proceeds going to War Child, the club’s ‘shirt sponsor’.
Sales of last season’s away shirt raised £20k for War Child, with all profits directly supporting War Child’s single goal – ensuring a safe future for every child living through war. War Child aims to reach children as early as possible when conflict breaks out and deliver life-changing services and support in communities affected by conflicts to keep children safe and help them to heal and learn for the chance of a better future. All funds raised by the sale of this season’s FMFC away shirt will drive this life-changing work. This year’s figure of nearly 30k makes this a whopping year for the shirt, that will help War Child reach even more vulnerable children around the world.
Studio Director of Sports Interactive, Miles Jacobson has been the driving force behind the War Child partnership – supporting the charity for the last few decades as committee member and supporter – today stepping into a role as Industry Ambassador for the charity.
His first brush with War Child was in 1995 when in his role as A&R at Food Records, Miles was instrumental to getting Blur involved with War Child’s infamous Help Album – which raised a staggering £1.25 million for War Child. Miles’ involvement deepened further still, when he switched his focus from music to games, and joined Sports Interactive. Here he implemented a series of fundraising initiatives – from royalties from each sale of new games which has raised £1.5 million for the charity to date – to brand support, awareness building, marketing, and in-game advertising. Thanks to the partnership, War Child has not only financially benefited, but been seen by millions of people across the world.
Today, Miles is continuing his dedicated work as part of a new War Child project in Central African Republic which is intended to fight poverty, while promoting sustainability and peacekeeping.
Of his partnership with War Child, Miles said:
“No child has started a war, so children shouldn’t be affected by war. It’s a simple premise, but sadly one that isn’t true. I first became aware of War Child when they were providing psychosocial support for children during the Bosnian war in the 90s. Thirty years later they are providing help in war zones around the world, always finding the most pressing issue to tackle in those zones for children. Whether that be safe spaces for kids to study in Central African Republic and Afghanistan or the plethora of child protection services in Yemen, they have a lean yet powerful team who efficiently raise funds and distribute them in the right way via their local teams and the best local practitioners.
I’ve been able to see their work first hand in both conflict and post conflict zones and it’s truly incredible the difference that they make to children’s lives. I’m so grateful for the work that they do, and honoured that I’ve been involved with them for much of their history as an organisation. It is an honour and a privilege for us at Sports Interactive, and me personally, to be involved in their work – whether it be promoting them as a charity, or with the donations that we are able to give from people buying our games, and our community has been so supportive of this work too”
Rob Williams, CEO of War Child UK said:
“We are so lucky to have Miles in our corner. His unrelenting support and hard work has seen significant sums of money raised to fund our vital work around the world, and has put War Child on the map for the gaming industry – resulting in a ground swell of support. We are thrilled to welcome him into the fold as an official Industry Ambassador, as a reflection of our gratitude to his years of passion and energy for our cause. Miles has truly helped us reach more children affected by conflict and give them the chance of a better future”
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