There were zero trips to A&E at this year’s MarComms Cup. A tame effort in comparison to last year’s two broken arms, both suffered by members of the Spreckley team who have since moved on to pastures new for unrelated reasons.
In contrast, there was a 40% increase in funds raised for Providence Row. A reflection of the fact that the tournament is growing year on year. 2025 saw eight teams take each other on across two pitches and raise £3500 for charity.
Expanding the tournament beyond both ‘mar’ and ‘comms’ this year, we invited down teams from a host of industries, including investment management organisation Natixis who eventually ran out as winners. In the final they beat investment management organisation Tatton in a fiercely contended match that left organisers questioning whether they might need to rename the tournament.
Other teams included returning contenders Catalyst, with a standout performance from their goalkeeper who the watching crowd aptly nicknamed ‘mini Vic’. Also returning were Rostrum, who started the day on a high with victory against Spreckley, but quickly found that being better than Spreckley at football counts for very little in life.
Rounding out the tournament were the last sets of debutants from insurance services provider McLaren, business resilience specialist Databarracks and the team behind the Canopy Hilton hotel who all made respectable claims of their own for the MarCommsInvestHospInsurRes Cup.
The less said about our own performance the better.
However, owing to us both being knocked out from separate groups early in the tournament, Spreckley and our long-standing client, the business resilience specialist Databarracks, rounded off the day with a friendly. With members of the teams travelling from as far as Derbyshire, Yorkshire and even Glasgow just to take part, some might say the winner was charity itself, or even football, or client relations. Others would point out that the winner was Spreckley, 5-4 in the penalty shootout.
Throughout the day, matches were played in high but competitive spirits and compilation-worthy goals were witnessed across both pitches. The football was once again a welcome supporting artist to the day’s true success though: the funds raised for London’s network of homeless people.
The money from this year’s tournament will all support Providence Row in delivering its range of invaluable services, such as access to food, showers, phones, and a safe, welcoming space at its resource centre. It will also help people with long term complex needs such as trauma, mental health challenges, addiction, and barriers linked to immigration status. They also run a number of training and employment schemes to help people build skills, gain accreditation and get back into work.
The cause, unlike the chances missed, the misplaced passes or final results on the pitch, is what really matters on a day like last Friday.
That’s why we’ll be back again next year, aiming to go bigger and better. Raising more than ever and hoping for another clean bill of health.
If you’d still like to donate, you can do so here: https://providencerow.enthuse.com/pf/handchester-united-spreckley-pr
To read more on the work of Providence Row, go to: https://www.providencerow.org.uk/pages/3-about-providence-row