A COMPANY whose origins predate the first cricket being played at the Fort Field in 1823 will be Sidmouth Cricket Club’s sponsor for the next two years.
Financial firm Brewin Dolphin will have its name, along with the year of its establishment, 1762, on the front of shirts worn by Sidmouth’s senior team players during the sponsorship term.
The deal has been announced as Brewin Dolphin, which also sponsors Durham County Cricket Club, celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Continuing as support sponsors at Sidmouth are solicitors Everys and Otter Brewery. St John’s School continues as the sponsor of the club’s Colts section.
Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK’s largest independent private client investment managers. It has 41 offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands including one at Exeter where Sidmouth player Sean Priestley is one of its advisers.
Like Sidmouth Cricket Club, Brewin Dolphin has a rich heritage, tracing its beginnings back t o the mid 18th Century. It was one of the founding firms of the London Stock Exchange. The sponsorship cheque was handed by Mr Priestley to Sidmouth Cricket Club chairman Mike Dibble on NatWest Cricket Force Day when the club’s members prepared the facilities at the Fort Field for the forthcoming season.
The presentation took place in new changing facilities created in a roof void with the project masterminded by John Palmer, who also fitted out the room. The scheme received a major boost through a �7,000 grant from the Keith Owen Fund, administered by the Sid Vale Association to assist community benefit projects.
The first match is on Sunday, April 8, when the ground is host to Devon playing Somerset II. It was in the Fort Field pavilion, in 1875, that the first moves were made to create Somerset County Cricket Club after a match between the Gentlemen of Devon and the Gentlemen of Somerset.
Mike Dibble, left, accepts Brewin Dolphin’s sponsorship cheque from Sean Priestley, right, watched by John Palmer who masterminded the project to create new changing facilities at the Fort Field pavilion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here