PayPal briefed us to launch their partnership with The FA and showcase how they are to enabling over a million Sunday League footballers across the UK to pay their match fees on their smartphone for the first time via The FA’s grassroots footie admin app Matchday. Our challenge was to spread the message, drive awareness of the partnership, and ultimately drive downloads.

Using FA data, we were able to craft a news story around the financial issues that grassroots clubs face, highlighting that £12 million in match fees go unpaid due to the reliance on cash payments.

We commissioned former England International footballers Lee Dixon and Rachel Yankey, who had both risen from grassroot clubs to share their first-hand experiences which highlight this. During a coaching session with our partner Sunday League club Epsom & Ewell FC, we captured editorial and social content with both legends highlighting the familiar pain-points of the grassroots game’s cash reliance in a relatable way for Sunday League clubs to identify with.

The results

The launch resulted in over 50 pieces of TV, print and online press coverage secured for launch announcement, including the BBC, Sky Sports News, The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Star, Evening Standard and Daily Express. All coverage contained PayPal messaging and was 100% positive in sentiment.

The launch also resulted in a huge uplift in app downloads – more than 4000 were generated as a direct result of the coverage with a total of 750 new grassroots clubs engaging on launch day.