Birmingham County FA joins clubs to fight climate change

Global tournament will encourage supporters to take climate action.

Birmingham County FA has joined CUP26 – a tournament by Planet Super League with the support of Count Us In, encouraging football fans to take climate action. With approximately 3.5 billion football fans, CUP26 harnesses the global passion for the sport to fight climate change on an unprecedented scale.

In CUP26, fans sign up for free at cup26.co.uk and score goals for their club by completing planet-protecting activities, with the tournament officially starting on Monday 13th September. Clubs play weekly fixtures against their rivals, and the supporters who score the most goals win the match. There are 100 goal-scoring activities on the website, including having a delicious plant-based meal, cycling and walking, and having a screen-free evening. The Planet Super League trophy will be awarded to the tournament winner in the first week of COP26.

CUP26 is the biggest ever football fan campaign focussed on climate change. Birmingham County FA is joining 48 other football club community organisations, including historic rivalries like Tottenham and Arsenal, and others like Southampton, Chesterfield and Northampton, coming together to fight climate change.

The tournament kicks off as the world builds up to CUP26, with football clubs leveraging the passion of their fans, raising awareness, driving citizen climate action, and creating real momentum ahead of the climate conference.

CUP26 is supported by the UK Government’s campaign Together for Our Planet, as well as media partner Sky. At a critical time for the planet it shows that everyday fans, families and the wider public care about climate change and are willing to do their part. But they want their leaders to do more too, and deliver solutions at COP26 that will prevent further climate change.

The Save Today Play Tomorrow Project Lead and Birmingham County FA Business Insight Manager, Richard Lindsay, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the leagues, clubs and teams in our region to come together with one common goal, to unite and fight climate change whilst supporting their favourite professional club. We are all aware that our planet is changing, and sports like football are already affected by the extreme weather conditions we are experiencing, losing multiple games per season to waterlogged or flooded pitches.”

Tom Gribbin, CEO of Planet Super League, said: “CUP26 is our largest tournament, with over half the professional football clubs in the UK taking part. Fans of all ages can represent their club, do their bit for the planet and help compete for the trophy. We’re delighted to be working alongside Count Us In and we look forward to sharing exciting moments and surprises as the season unfolds.”

Birmingham County FA leagues, clubs and teams can sign up for free on cup26.co.uk. The tournament kicks off on Monday 13th September.