Bluefields & Puma Sponsoring Grass Roots Football

Bluefields at Grass Roots Football Show 2011

Last weekend we took Bluefields to the NEC in Birmingham for the brmb Grass Roots Football Show 2011. The show is Europe’s biggest football event, and we wanted to seize the opportunity to get some good quality interaction with our target audience and also hear some all-important feedback. We went up there with the aim of getting some further validation of our idea, and also getting team managers on board by signing up to register their interest. On offer to interested teams was the chance to win a lucrative 1 year sponsorship deal courtesy of ourselves and our friends at Puma.

Overall it was a big success: the reception for the product was overwhelmingly positive and the managers we spoke to were really excited about using the site and apps to solve the headache that amateur team management can be.

From the word go on Friday there was a good buzz around the stand, with plenty of people stopping by to see what we were all about. Seeing managers’ faces light up when we told them that we had an answer to the problem of collecting match fees and subs soon became the norm.

Robbie Savotage

Despite a sabotage attempt on our stand by one Mr Robbie Savage at the end of day 1 (we think he was just trying to get Pepe’s attention with that stray football! You could have just asked for a meet and greet Robbie) the Bluefields train kept rolling along through the weekend, picking up an ever growing band of followers as it went.

On top of getting our product out there and attracting potential users, the show also gave us the opportunity to meet other people involved in the world of amateur football. There were certainly some exciting ideas out there, along with lots of enthusiastic people passionate about grass roots football. Ideas ranged from the interesting, for example the KixKube to the… well you can decide for yourself what you think about Dion’s Dube

A Bit of Hard Graft

After three days of hard graft from our crack team of Bluefields devotees, handpicked for the event by our co-founder Pepe (you can read more about his weekend later), we’d amassed over 450 signups to the site. The weekend was great fun and very productive, and it gives us a lot of confidence for the future.

A special mention must go out to our top signer-upper Ollie J, a true master of the art of sign-ups. To everyone who registered their interest with us over the weekend: watch this space, the draw for kit sponsorship will take place next week.