The signing of the one year deal is the inauguration of a new partnership between two of the biggest institutions in the Kirklees area and will see the Kirklees College logo on the front of the home team shirts.

The details of the partnership and Town’s new home shirt were revealed to sponsors and other key stakeholders at a top secret event held at the Stadium on the Wednesday evening (14 July). The partnership was made public on Thursday morning when two huge banners featuring Town star Gary Roberts in the shirt were revealed at Kirklees College’s facilities on Huddersfield’s New North Road and Dewsbury Centre, Halifax Road.

One of the biggest colleges in the country, Kirklees College provides a vast range of courses and study options to a variety of age groups. The college plans for the partnership to benefit students, staff, businesses and the local community.

Chris Sadler, Principal, said:

“We are very excited by the many opportunities this partnership presents our college with; firstly to develop reward and recognition initiatives with our students and staff, secondly to engage with parts of our community that are hard to reach, such as people not currently in education, employment of training, and under-14 learners, and thirdly to place the college at the heart of local business networks.

“Our students will also enjoy extra-curricular enrichment activities and potential for work placements. Plus our staff will have increased access to use the fantastic facilities which will off-set existing conferencing costs whilst also increasing the quality of events. In return we provide the football club with exposure to the next generation of their supporters.

“In these tough economic times we could have tried to compete by spending money on the same billboards and buses as every other college is doing up and down the country. But we have decided to do things differently this year. We will invest our time and money in the local community, adding value and benefits for our students, staff and stakeholders. The football club is the tip of the iceberg, alongside many other community-based ventures such as local festivals and celebration events in Kirklees.

“In doing this we aim to get our message out to more people than ever before: Kirklees College is the first choice for vocational skills that lead to employment. There is more to education than A-levels; over 400 of our full time students go on to study higher education qualifications with us or at university.”

Huddersfield Town’s Commercial Director Sean Jarvis commented:

“This new agreement with Kirklees College is a very exciting one for the football club and I am looking forward to working with them throughout the 2010/11 season and beyond.

“As ‘The Yorkshire Club’, one of our main remits is to expand the reach of Huddersfield Town into the wider area and this new partnership with an organisation that is growing and with access to over 20,000 students and 1,400 employees across Kirklees will help us achieve this target.

“We also pride ourselves on being rooted in the heart of Huddersfield and this new partnership with a Kirklees-wide organisation fits into our remit of community involvement perfectly.

“Just as our home shirts featured the word ‘Yorkshire’ last season, I hope our supporters can take pride in the fact that our shirts feature the word ‘Kirklees’ this campaign."