Press release -
#AskEddie’s right back in Southern-sponsored strip
Twitter sensation Eddie Smith has earned his junior football team kit sponsorship from Southern Railway.
The Croydon teenager proved a huge hit with his witty, unflappable style when he took charge of Southern’s twitter account during his work experience with the rail operator. His social media stint generated interviews with international media and a guest appearance on Channel 4’s The Last Leg.
Southern wanted to reward Eddie, but at just 15 years of age he is too young to be paid. As part of its community support activities the company had already pledged a donation towards the cost of new kit for Whyteleafe FC Under 16s, the team Eddie plays for, so it raised the amount to cover full sponsorship.
The new white kit had a winning debut earlier this month, in a pre-season tournament hosted by Old Coulsdon Colts FC at Coulsdon, Surrey. Whyteleafe, with Eddie at right back, won the final 1-0.
Angie Doll, Southern’s Passenger Services Director, said: “The attention Eddie earned while he was with us meant a lot of extra hard work for him, so we wanted to reward him. But he’s too young to be paid so we’re delighted to help his football team out by increasing our sponsorship to cover the full cost of their new kit. We wish all the players and coaches a very successful season.”
Whyteleafe Under 16s manager is Eddie's older brother Tom Cope, a train control manager with Southern who helped secure Eddie’s work experience. Tom said: “We were thrilled when Southern wanted to sponsor the football team as a thank you for all his hard work on Twitter. His teammates spent the first few sessions having photos with him and forwarding them on to other friends as they wanted a picture with the main man. When we travel around South London we often get asked why our shirts have #AskEddie on them.”
Eddie himself has the last word, in typical sub-140-character Twitter style: “Promising start, winning pre-season tourney in our new kit. Big thanks to Southern Rail for sponsoring us after my time there as #AskEddie.”
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Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:
- Thameslink – services between Bedford and Brighton, Luton/St Albans and Sutton, Wimbledon and Sevenoaks
- Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn
- Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)
- Gatwick Express – fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria
GTR is the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: the operator carries about 326 million passenger journeys per year, and employs around 6,500 people. Its aim is to improve services across all four networks.
Ticket revenue is passed to the government, which pays GTR a fee to operate the franchise. The fee is adjusted according to how well the train service is performing.
Southern has the highest passenger growth in the UK with numbers into London having doubled in 12 years - compared with the industry doubling over the past 20 years. To meet this growth and to future-proof the network, GTR is modernising the rail service for passengers.
GTR has introduced more new trains in the past year than all other franchises put together, with 1,400 new carriages so far.
The transformative £7bn Thameslink programme will bring hundreds more daily services from 2018, increasing the number of trains though the central London core from 12 to 24 trains per hour. Network Rail has also launched a £300m programme to improve resilience across the GTR network
GTR is modernising how it works, with new technology in use at our stations and on our trains, smartcard ticketing and a new, flexible on-board role on many Southern services. This ensures fewer cancellations, and with more staff on board our trains now than ever before, passengers are enjoying a much better level of on-board customer service.
The GTR investment programme for stations includes funding for more CCTV, toilet refurbishments, new retail facilities, help points and car park improvements – as well as plans for increased motorcycle storage and improved transport integration.
www.southernrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com,www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.greatnorthernrail.com
