PCA PRESS RELEASE
Local club welcomed PCA England Masters back for fourth time in 2019.
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A PCA England Masters host club has recently spoken to the Association about its experience of welcoming the side of international legends, after it continued to benefit from the funds raised at the annual exhibition match this summer.
Bromley CC welcomed the PCA England Masters, sponsored by Greene King, back to South East London in 2019, with spectators being treated to a rampant display from the ex-England men as the Masters ran out winners by 55 runs on 4 July.
The primary aim of the PCA England Masters programme since its inception in 2002 has been to give recreational sports clubs a significant vehicle to raise funds. Greene King began sponsoring the programme in 2016 and, since then, the total figure raised for clubs nationwide stands at £728,000, or an average of £14,500 per fixture for each club.
Every penny raised is then reinvested back into the host club at their discretion, with many clubs electing to invest in improved facilities, playing equipment and coaching, amongst other things.
Kelly Allen, Events Coordinator at Bromley CC, which was founded in South East London almost 200 years ago, emphasised the positive effect that the funds can have at her club:
“It’s our biggest fundraising event of the year,” Allen said.
“It’s become a tradition at this club. We’ve hosted this event or something similar for 19 years now.
“We’re a successful local cricket club, about to celebrate our 200th anniversary in 2020. Fundraising like this helps us to generate extra funds which supports the 600 young people in our Junior Development programme, as well as other planned club projects that we might not otherwise be able to do.”
As well as raising valuable funds, hosting a side of ex-England internationals for the day can do great things for the profile of local sports clubs nationwide.
The likes of Jonathan Trott, Ali Brown and Luke Wright are just three of the big names who took to the field to face Bromley this year – they were joined in the Masters squad by Ashes legends such as Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones and Monty Panesar, all three of whom appeared in multiple fixtures throughout 2019.
“It’s a great high-profile event for the club, especially when you have those sorts of names around. It absolutely does good things for the profile of Bromley CC, and it’s great to be able to put this kind of stuff on social media,” reflects Allen.
“The last year or two we’ve upped our game on social media, so if you can post a picture of say, Matthew Hoggard at your club, that can only be a good thing, can’t it?”
On the back of the success that Bromley has already enjoyed as a result of hosting the Masters, the club is looking forward to welcoming the team of legends back to its home ground next year.
“The PCA and their England Masters team work alongside us rather than telling us what to do – they’re very open to what we want to get out of the day. They’re very accommodating, flexible, willing and helpful, from the initial phone call with Stephen Newell, right through to when they leave on the day,” said Allen.
“Next year our club is celebrating its 200th anniversary, so we’re already booked in for 2020. We’re all up for getting the kids involved and getting as many spectators down to the ground as possible.
“We’re going to go all out to make sure it’s our biggest and best PCA England Masters event yet.”
Visit our website to find out more about hosting our team of international legends.
