Today, more than 80 top football clubs are joining forces against climate change in the world’s biggest football campaign to protect our world, Green Football Weekend.
For the next 20 days, clubs in the best leagues will fight for the coveted Green Football Cup. But unlike other tournaments, fan action will decide who takes home the Cup, with supporters scoring green goals for their club by taking climate-friendly actions – from eating a vegetarian meal to turning down the thermostat a degree or taking shorter showers.
Supporters can choose their activities and report their goals at greenfootballweekend.com.
The competition will culminate in the Green Football Weekend from 3-5 February, when clubs will join supporters in making changes by making their matches ‘greener games’, with some teams wearing green armbands to show support for protecting our of the world.
Everyone who takes part in the Green Football Weekend can win amazing prizes including a signed England men’s shirt, Premier League tickets, a National Trust holiday voucher, tickets to the Football Supporters Association Awards, Football Manager 23 game codes, passes for the BT Sport app and annual subscriptions to children’s newspaper First News.
During the tournament, fans can choose which green goals to score and follow their club’s progress via a live leaderboard on greenfootballweekend.com.
“By scoring green goals for their club, football fans have an incredible power to help protect our world – and save money in the process. If Britain’s 36 million fans adopted three climate-friendly habits during the 20-day tournament – cutting shower time to four minutes, two meat-free days a week and lowering the thermostat by 1 degree – fans could save more than 700 million kg of CO2e, equivalent to planting 11.78 million trees,” explained Green Football Weekend spokesperson Sarah Jacobs.
Jacobs added: “And the benefits go beyond helping to fight climate change and protect nature. By participating, fans can achieve significant savings. By adopting these small changes for a year, they could reduce their household bill by up to £728.”
The campaign, which is set to become an annual event, is supported by more than 30 major supporters, including the FA, EFL, WSL, National Trust, RSPB and the Church of England.
- On January 21, the Archbishop of Canterbury football team will take on an interfaith team for the Green Football Weekend match, supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop for Sport Libby Lane.
- An area of rainforest the size of 1,000 football pitches will be protected by Rainforest Trust UK on behalf of the winning club.
- Thousands of schools are taking part, with teachers leading special lessons and clubs sending club staff and mascots into classrooms to inspire pupils.
Mark Bullingham, FA chief executive, said: “The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time and we are delighted to support the Green Football Weekend campaign. At the FA we have made great strides to become more environmentally friendly, including Wembley Stadium which ISO awarded the highest standard of sustainability, and we are committed to further progress. Football has the power to inspire people and improve lives, and together we can make positive and meaningful changes.”
Fergus Garber, head of broadcast and production operations, BT Sport, said: “Working with Sky Sports and a range of organizations is hopefully a key step towards educating fans about the climate emergency. BT Sport is working hard to become the UK’s greenest broadcaster and Green Football Weekend fans can expect us to continue to use our platform to raise awareness about climate change. We look forward to supporting Green Football Weekend.”
Green Football Weekend is powered by BT Sport, Sky Sports, The Football Supporters’ Association, Pledgeball, Planet League, First News and Count Us In.