British Football’s Longest Partnership: Tom Banks Explores the Influential Collaboration Between Kindred Group and Rangers FC

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Image provided by Kindred Group

Back in September, Rangers FC confirmed they had extended their partnership with Kindred Group establishing this special alliance as the longest-standing of its kind in British football for its tenth season now.

Kindred Group, an online gambling company, have invested their time providing help in the local community, with initiatives such as ‘Team Talk’, which the Rangers Charity Foundation team run.

Most gambling operators put their logos on jerseys or have it around the grounds and consider it a success, Kindred is not the average gambling company as they wanted to make sure there was a wider piece of work going on.

During an extensive conversation with Soccerscene, Group Head of Corporate Affairs at Kindred Group, Tom Banks, spoke in-depth to Alex Bagdasarian about the relationship between the two parties, the work done in the local community, men’s mental health, and much more.

Can you explain to us about the benefits of both parties and the relationship you two have over the last 10 years?

Tom Banks: We’ve had a very long relationship with them, it’s into its tenth season and we have seen them through ups and downs in terms of seeing them in European Cup finals and supported them through when they were relegated down to championship, promoted back to the Scottish Premiership, so it has been a rollercoaster of a journey, it has been really great.

Rangers FC, as lots of football fans will know are steeped in heritage and got a really special place in football not just in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom, but across Europe as well, it is a very well-known club and a well known brand. We have been proud to support them for the last 10 seasons and what has been really good is particularly the last few years we’ve worked hard across all of our sponsorships in football to create a new model of sponsorship that not only benefits the club in terms of our support from a club perspective, but also the communities and so every club that we sponsor now across the UK always has a community benefit angle to it, so in the example of Rangers for the last few years we have supported a great project called ‘Team Talk,’ which focuses on mental health and particularly men’s mental health.

It uses the football club as a sort of conversation starter for men who might not otherwise feel comfortable to open up about their mental health and so we have seen a huge support for that organisation and that program has grown significantly as a result of our funding and that’s really great and we have replicated that across other clubs that we support that focus on mental health.

We did our research a few years ago with a research agency that showed football clubs and men have a unique link and everybody knows it and if you can leverage that the right way to open up conversations about how you’re doing and your wider mental health then there is a real opportunity to get a conversation going and make improvements.

Image provided by Kindred Group.

Can you explain to us what work has been done in the local community?

Tom Banks: That’s predominantly through our support of the ‘Team Talk’ initiative which the Rangers Charity Foundation team run, that program runs once or twice a week, we funded it from a supporter perspective which has meant it can be open for longer, it can have more people turn up and it hosts more sessions, it has been great to see that program grow.

Quite a bit of it is individuals sharing with everyone having a shared passion of the club and so that is a nice entry point for people, and if they want to talk a bit about how they are doing more broadly they can, and there is staff who are trained on hand to have those conversations with them but they also do football sessions.

The club and foundation has seen a strong growth in terms of the numbers of people that have turned up to those sessions, as a result the support we have been able to provide that can advertise those sessions more widely.

Previously to the mental health project that we have supported The ‘Team Talk’ program, we have also sponsored resources for homeless charities in Glasgow, so we have done bits and pieces so that’s why over the last couple of years we have created more of a defined model of what our sponsorship looks like in terms of community benefit and l think we have started to see the benefits of that now in regards to a real increase and engagement with the community.

You mentioned the support of a men’s mental health initiative called ‘Team Talk’, explain to us in further detail and what it involves.

Tom Banks: The beauty of that program is that it is a real enabler for people to talk, with a dozen men attending the sessions every week and staff tracking how they are doing from when they first joined the program right the way through and we have seen a big improvement in the wellbeing of the participants.

It is not a medical program, it is reducing the barriers to talk about if they have any problems with their mental health, we have sponsored other clubs that have had similar projects and they are really powerful.

The research that we were provided in the last couple of years did show that men are statistically less likely to talk about any kind of mental health issues but they are statistically much more likely to be very passionate football fans and so there is a nice intersection to be able to use the football club and the sport to make them feel more comfortable to start talking and that’s really important which has been valuable for that project because initiatives such as ‘Team Talk’ have showed that the science behind what we thought we knew from the research is proving correct, it has been great to see it being developed over the last couple of years.

Is there a particular demographic that comes through the doors the most?

Tom Banks: It’s not exclusive to men but it’s focused predominantly on men, we expected it to be slightly older men, or who are on their own or who don’t have that many people around them in terms of support network but it has actually been quite diverse.

There is some quite younger people that come through the doors because mental health can affect anybody because it’s not like other types of diseases that affects over 65s or men of a certain weight.

Its been interesting to see the broad demographic split of men, it slightly leans older but overall it is diverse and l think that shows the fact that mental health doesn’t necessarily discriminate against any type of character.

Image provided by Kindred Group.

Kindreds approach to ‘Zero % Mission’, can you explain to us what it involves and the tools available for Rangers fans?

Tom Banks: The Zero % Mission is something we are really proud of and Kindred is the parent company and that has this overarching journey and an ambition the company has to reach zero % of its revenue derived from harmful gambling where people have had issues when they play and it is a small percentage of what we see which is around 2-3% from where our revenue comes from but the aim is to get that to 0%, we have seen good success on reducing that percentage over the last three or four years and so the Zero % Mission is almost our consumer facing campaign element of the journey to zero.

What it means and why we are proud of the work that we have done with Rangers but also other clubs is because we use the sort of advertising assets and the sponsorships assets like the front of shirts has Zero % Mission underneath and a lot of LED around the ground will refer to that.

We remain l think one of the only gambling operators that just doesn’t have their logo on the shirt but also has some form of safer gambling type of messaging and we think that is important to use our assets for good.

It has been good to use the Zero % Mission to open up the conversation on safer gambling with fans and punters more easily. I suppose it’s about insuring fans that are aware of the variety of tools that players have available when they gamble and actually we have seen a really good benefit of that and us talking more about that through the Zero % Mission.

In 2020, about 40% of our player base use a voluntary safe gambling tools so that’s factors such as a deposit limit or a loss limit, there is various tools that are available for players, much like on Netflix where it says ‘are you still watching?’, we have very similar things on our platforms to make sure individuals are aware and in control, but it’s actually up to about three quarters of our player base that have one now.

I think we have gotten a lot better as a sector and everything else from a Kindred perspective, using our sponsorships to really highlight and promote the use of these tools because for us it’s really important that our players on our platforms are doing it in a controlled way.

Lastly, is there any new initiatives planned between both parties in the extension of the partnership?

Tom Banks: We will be doing a range of interesting things from a content perspective so that will come throughout the year, what we will try to do is utilise some of the players and assets to think about how we can use our sponsorship creatively but the main thing is the ongoing support of Team Talk, we expect there will be further developments for that program over the course of the year as a result of the funding and it may be possible for them to expand the program in the next 12 months.

It is one for people to keep an eye on, we are really keen for the sponsorship to continue evolving but we’re just really excited to be part of it again for another season. I think it’s the longest running deal in British football and so that is a challenge as much as it is an area of pride because we have been going for a long time to keep it new and fresh for the fans is important.

We’re trying to challenge ourselves to make sure we think of new ways to innovate in terms of giving benefits to the club and the community but there is definitely exciting things on the horizon.

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Beyond the Pitch: Miyuki Kobayashi on the Real Challenges Facing Japan’s Women’s Game

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Image credit: JEF United

Last week, Soccerscene spoke to pioneer of women’s football in Japan, Miyuki Kobayashi, about the game’s development in Japan and the intersection between sporting and social change in the country.

 

Talent, quality and recent silverware

After Japan’s recent AFC Women’s Asian Cup victory in the final against Australia, the women’s national team solidified its standing as the No.1 team in Asia.

Throughout the last 15 years, Japan’s women’s national team has grown into a formidable opponent, boasting a World Cup trophy, an Olympic silver medal, as well as three AFC Women’s Asian Cups.

The talent is undeniable. The quality is unwavering. And the team shows no signs of slowing down.

But these victories and trophies on the world stage wouldn’t be possible without the leaders behind the scenes – none more so than Miyuki Kobayashi, former WE League Board Member and current JEF United Ladies Scout and Academy Chief.

 

Laying the foundations

Kobayashi has led the charge for women’s football in Japan, promoting not only a sport which values success, but one which empowers female footballers across the nation.

“At university, not many girls were playing and we didn’t have an official team. I went to the US and the environment was so different,” Kobayashi explained.

“That opened my eyes – women can play. That’s how I started the women’s soccer league when I came back: to make an environment for girls to play.”

Thus, accessibility and opportunity became driving factors behind Kobayashi’s work, not only for those on the pitch, but for those in the dugout.

“I got involved at the JFA (Japanese Football Association) to promote women’s football. We wanted to create the opportunity for women to be coaches.”

“They are coached by men all the time, so even when the top players leave the football world, they never think to be involved.”

Furthermore, as a former coach of JEF United Ladies Youth and General Manager, Kobayashi was intent on employing as many female coaches as possible. It was not merely a personel change, but a challenge to widespread social attitudes.

“When I started to employ female coaches, the girls’ parents asked why the coach wasn’t a man. But gradually, we started to make it equal – they didn’t talk about the gender, but about the quality of the coach.”

 

The mission to empower

In 2011, the same year Japan’s women won the World Cup, the domestic league was yet to become professional. Known as the Nadeshiko League, players would work during the day and train in the evenings.

The transition from an amateur to the current professional league required time, resilience and a change in perspective.

“The sports world in Japan is more traditional – it is dominated by men,” said Kobayashi.

“If you want to make the environment even, or (want) more women to come into the (football) world, you can change the mind of the players.”

Since 2021, the WE League has embodied a sense of growth and positive change for the women’s game. In name and nature, it looks to empower players, coaches and all involved in the industry.

“I was in charge of mission achievement for women’s empowerment. We wanted to educate the players, to inspire girls and women who watch the game.”

However, the drive to empower women in football was not without backlash and challenges.

“Some people don’t like that word: ’empowerment’. It’s too strong for them. Some women really appreciate it, but it’s not easy to change the mind of society through football,” Kobayashi admitted.

 

Growing and attracting talent

Although WE League clubs are accelerating youth development and expanding pathways across U15, U18 and first team football, Kobayashi acknowledged that the overall product must improve to bring foreign players to Japan and entice homegrown talent to stay.

“Most of the national team players go to Europe or North America. I don’t say it’s a problem, but from a young age, girls who can play in the WE League want to go abroad,” Kobayashi outlined.

Indeed, when looking at the starting XI in last month’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup final, only one player – Hana Takahashi – plays in the WE League.

But the key to attracting domestic and international players to the WE League, is aligning financial investment and industry attitudes.

“The reason why women’s football has developed in European countries is the social thinking – you have to be equal and have the same opportunities as men in football. The Japanese way of thinking, especially in the football world, is not that at all,” Kobayashi continued.

“When I speak to people at Spanish clubs, women’s football is not a charity, but an investment.”

“We have assets. We have good, young players, but we’re exporting them, so we need to import too.”

Indeed, Spain is a perfect example of what can happen when investment becomes intentional, not optional. Back-to-back UEFA Women’s Nations League titles, 90% television viewership increase since 2016, and record-breaking crowd numbers reflect what can happen when the industry aligns in vision and commitment.

Japan has the players to compete against any nation in the world. Purposeful investment, combined with its overall quality of players and style, could transform the WE League into a true, global powerhouse.

 

The vision for the future

Moving forward, Kobayashi hopes that girls progressing through JEF United’s academies develop confidence and resilience, whether as players or people.

“We want to make the girls – even if they aren’t in JEF United – continue playing football and continue to be leaders,” Kobayashi said.

“Some of them have a dream to be a coach or a leader off the field too, so that’s one of the attributes we want to develop.”

This resilience, reflected by the club’s ‘never give up’ philosophy, is testament to the vision of empowerment championed by Kobayashi across the women’s game.

Even in the face of social obstacles and a lack of financial investment, perseverance and hard work is at the bedrock of women’s football in Japan. It is not just that these values exist, but that they are consistently manifested on and off the pitch, which can show future generations that football is a sport for all – men and women alike.

 

Final thoughts

There is no limit to what the WE League and the national team can achieve if given the resources it deserves. All the ingredients are there: individual quality, a distinct playing style, football philosophy and ambitions to grow.

By following the example of industry leaders like Kobayashi, women’s football in Japan can hopefully continue to make waves of impact – in the sporting landscape and society as a whole.

How Sunbury United Is Defying the Odds to Keep Grassroots Football Alive

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Image credit: Football Victoria

Sunbury United stands as a cornerstone of the local community in Melbourne’s outer northwest. But for all the hard work given by local families and volunteers, the lack of funding continues to prohibit a level of growth which matches both ambition and potential.

 

Consolidating growth across the club

Soccerscene recently spoke to Club President, Sherridan Long, about the club’s ambitions going forward, the family-oriented culture, and the challenges of operating at grassroots level in Australia.

“It’s gone really well in retention of players from 2025, [and] recruiting some players who have been really keen to come to the club and are really contending over just a small handful of spots,” explained Long.

“That’s been really rewarding to see the popularity of our programme and what the team is trying to develop in terms of culture and performance, to be somewhere that people want to go to.”

Furthermore, Sunbury United’s reputation in the community continues to inspire waves of prospective junior players, who are lining up for squad vacancies.

“We’ve got waitlists for almost every age group,” Long continued.

“We’ve seen a growth in interest coming into the club and girls wanting to play football, but also lots of families wanting to move to Sunbury and join our club, or move from other clubs.”

Sunbury United is ensuring that its culture and matchday atmosphere remains a safe, welcoming place for those who matter most in grassroots football: families, players and volunteers who sustain it every week.

Planning for success on and off the pitch

Despite solidifying a successful culture off the pitch, Sunbury United are refusing to slow down. From the senior men’s team to junior age groups, high-performance remains a key objective.

“Everyone is trying to win leagues – this is something we’ve been working towards for a few years,” said Long.

“Each little milestone across the year means we’re getting closer to a senior men’s promotion or championship – it’s been over ten years since a promotion or championship at the club.”

Although several years have passed since Sunbury United saw success in the form of silverware, the club’s progress in recent seasons may yet lead to a trophy in the very near future.

But reaching this goal requires not only a cohesive effort from players and coaches, but from all stakeholders and participants within the club space. To this end, Sunbury United underwent a strategic plan set-up to align their operations with the ambitions and thoughts of everyone involved.

“We undertook some survey and stakeholder analysis through our members to understand what it is they love about Sunbury United, why they participate, where they see the club going and how they can be a part of that.”

“It was nice to hear exactly what they wanted, what they thought of and what they felt by being part of United. So that shaped our strategic plan in terms of performance, community and working together as a team.”

Ultimately, it is this balance of performance, teamwork and trust in the community which can set clubs up for success. Whether at grassroots or professional level, if everyone involved operates under shared values and vision, the silverware becomes a question of when, not if.

 

Challenges of the grassroots game

As with any club or organisation in sport, progress inevitably encounters barriers, hiccups and challenges along the way. Facility access, infrastructure quality and investment are common issues not just for Sunbury, but for all in the grassroots space.

“Most places share winter and summer sports so you can only use your space a certain amount of months a year before it turns to the summer sport,” Long outlined.

“It means that there’s no space for juniors to conduct a proper pre-season, so they’re doing it at other reserves in Hume Council and not actually at our home.”

Indeed, we have seen already the lack of investment directed towards the football community. Soccerscene recently looked into The City of Hume’s current budget, which revealed a 10:1 funding imbalance between AFL and the beautiful game. For Sunbury United, and many other clubs, the impact is undeniable.

“We can’t fill the second or third women’s team because there’s no infrastructure to facilitate changing between boys and girls changing room on the flick of a dime. You’re not only balancing access between two squads and gendered safe spaces, but also junior and senior spaces,” Long explained.

“We’re limited by aspirations being within the lines and being within the physical building that we have. Investment in football infrastructure would be a game-changer.”

It’s a common theme in Australia’s grassroots landscape. Clubs with loyal supporters, interested players and a desire to develop, continue to be restricted by the boundaries of their facilities.

It is not about demand. It’s about necessity. If clubs like Sunbury United are to continue working towards player development and squad expansion, external investment is a must-have.

 

Fighting for the future

As Sunbury United continues to strengthen bonds with the surrounding community and within the club, the foundations are ready for the seasons to come. From youth teams to seniors, the club continues to emphasise connection as a fundamental principle.

“We sit under one umbrella. We’re not two separate committees or two clubs,” Long revealed, expressing the idea behind a connected senior’s and junior’s set-up.

“It’s important to the long-term sustainability and longevity of our club, not just to the performance side, that everyone’s invested and feels a part of something, and that they can be involved.”

One club, one philosophy and one family. Grassroots football will continue to throw its challenges for years to come, but Sunbury are, and will be, more united than ever.

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