All aboard the Starling Bank coach
Starling Bank reward the loyal by offering free coach travel to Sheffield United away, as well as offering school girls the chance to meet their heroes at Staplewood Training Campus.
Last week, Starling Bank, Principal Partner of our Women's First Team, sent a newly branded Starling Bank coach to Southampton with a mission to inspire the next generation and reward our most loyal fans.
To start with, we invited 35 girls from a local school for a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch their heroes train behind the scenes at Staplewood Training Campus. Students and teachers were collected by the Starling Bank coach and transported to the training ground where they took seats pitchside and enjoyed watching Marieanne Spacey-Cale's side prepare for their penultimate match of the season against Sheffield United. After watching the training session take place, they got the opportunity to meet the players and get autographs.
Talking about the experience, our lead contact at the school commented: "The trip to watch Southampton FC Women’s First Team train was an unforgettable experience for our primary school girls. Meeting their heroes up close and witnessing the dedication, skill and passion of the players left the girls feeling inspired and motivated.
"Being part of such an empowering and uplifting environment showed them that their dreams are within reach, whilst also igniting a new sense of confidence and ambition for their own football and life journeys. We cannot thank you enough!"
After a successful trip to Staplewood, the next destination on the horizon was Sheffield.
On Sunday 27th April, nearly 50 fans boarded the Starling Bank coach at St Mary's Stadium and travelled to Bramall Lane to watch Southampton FC Women take on Sheffield United in their final away game of the season, with transport fully funded thanks to Starling Bank.
Fans on the coach were amongst our most loyal, who had attended the most women's first team matches this season. They got the opportunity to travel to the match as a group, receive some Starling Bank branded goodies, and enjoy an entertaining 2-3 victory for Saints.
One of our travelling fans, Evie, said: "This was an amazing day out, especially for the last away game of the season. I couldn’t be more grateful to Starling Bank for allowing us to bring the community and energy to support the girls loud and proud. It was incredible to see the girls reciprocate our energy on the pitch and pull out an amazing performance!"
Another travelling fan, Dave, told us: "It felt really special turning up in the coach all decked out. It was that good that some Sheffield United staff thought it was the team coach.
"There was a great atmosphere on the coach and lots of youngsters getting to experience an away day. Thank you very much to Starling Bank."
Find out more about our partnership with Starling Bank here.
