Watford FC offers fans eco prize collecting litter with the players

27 January 2024 , 20:49

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Sir Elton at the ground (Image: Sol Tomlinson/Watford FC)

Spice Girl Geri Horner’s favourite football team play in yellow and black but what they really, really want is to be green.

Watford FC are offering their fans a “world first”. Those helping the club lower its carbon footprint will have the chance to pick up litter with Championship side’s star players. The club, whose Honorary Life President and ex-owner is Sir Elton John, is working with Lowr, a sustainability platform for sports teams to lower fan emissions, which are responsible for 60% of a club’s carbon footprint.

Lowr said Watford, which are also supported by ex-world heavyweight boxing champ Anthony Joshua, is the first club globally to ask fans to log how they travel to matches, using the 145,000-strong fan app.

Jake Livermore of Watford FC (Getty Images)

Those participating will go into a monthly draw. Prizes will include season and hospitality tickets, plant-based food on match days, and litter-picking with first team players such as Jake Livermore.

Data, including journey distance, mode of transport and reason for choosing it, will be gathered over the next year, with a view to giving fans incentives to cut their carbon footprint by, for example, switching to public transport or using car-share schemes.

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The club has signed a UN commitment to sustainability and aims to halve its total carbon footprint by 2030 and hit net zero by 2040. Other green initiatives include installing peregrine falcon and swift nests at the Vicarage Road stadium, together with solar panels and concourse recycling stations.

The team, nicknamed The Hornets, will put up beehives and turn hedgerows into a nature reserve at the ground.

They are fourth in a Sports Positive survey of English Football League clubs for climate-friendly activities off the pitch. Lowr is talking to top European clubs, the NFL and the NBA in the US about improving green cred.

Speaking ahead of next month’s Green Football Weekend, Lowr’s Chloe Sweden said: “This should be a win for Watford FC and also the planet.” Tarang Panchal, Watford’s head of sustainability, said: “Football is a brilliant vehicle for all kinds of messages. There’s no reason why it can’t be used to save the planet. We are very proud.”

Mirror.co.uk