All Set for SBOBET Cup

24 June 2010

The club's principal partners SBOBET have backed the home pre-season friendly in aid of the Academy

West Ham United are delighted to confirm the glamour pre-season friendly against RC Deportivo La Coruna will be played for the SBOBET Cup in aid of the Academy.

The Hammers will play host to the former Spanish champions and UEFA Champions League semi-finalists at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 7 August - a week before the start of the new Barclays Premier League season.

The club's principal partners SBOBET first joined forces with the club in December 2008 and the relationship has gone from strength to strength, making them an obvious choice to sponsor the prestigious Deportivo fixture. SBOBET also have close links with the club's renowned youth system, backing the special award given to Tony Carr at May's gala dinner.

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SBOBET and the club continue to have the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research logo featured on all the Academy kit and children's replica shirts. The club will also again designate a Barclays Premier League home match as an awareness game for the Fund and work with other good causes across the community throughout the season.

The online sports bookmakers also sponsor the whufc.com player of the month award and, last December, SBOBET gave a commemorative Bobby Moore Fund scarf to fans who attended the home match with Manchester United.

West Ham United Chairman David Sullivan said: "I am very excited by the prospect of the new season and the match against Deportivo La Coruna will be the ideal way to kick things off. It will be great to get the first look at our new signings in action under Avram Grant and also to see a top Spanish side at the Boleyn Ground.

"I am very grateful to SBOBET for their continued support, particularly the way they have endorsed our hugely successful Academy and our close relationship with the fans. Our work at the club is very much about building successful partnerships and SBOBET are continuing to have a major role in helping us to move forward."

Bill Mummery, SBOBET Executive Director, said: "We are all looking forward to the new season with great optimism and the SBOBET Cup against Deportivo La Coruna will be the perfect match to get things started. As we move into a new era for the club, SBOBET look forward to working together with West Ham United to achieve all of the success it deserves.

"The emphasis on developing the Academy system is important to us as SBOBET has a firm commitment to social responsibility and the communities in which we work. From our first meeting with West Ham, it was clear just how strong the bond was between the club and the supporters and we are delighted to play our part."

The confirmation of the Deportivo match has focused minds on the start of the new season and Scott Parker, the reigning Hammer of the Year, is looking forward to renewing old acquaintances. While many West Ham players will be treading new ground, Parker faced Deportivo in the UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-finals in the summer of 2005.

After missing the first leg in Spain, the 29-year-old was in the lineup for the return match at St James' Park, but could not prevent his side falling to a 2-1 loss and a 4-2 aggregate defeat.

Five years later, the Hammer of the Year will get another crack at the Galicians, whose squad will feature three members of their 2005 squad in Manuel Pablo, Sergio and Juan Carlos Valeron.

"Deportivo are a good club with good players and I am sure they will bring a very useful team to play against us," Parker said.

"It will be a tough game, as it is whenever you come up with a top team from a country like Spain. They will be very good technically and will keep the ball well, so it is going to be a good workout for us a week ahead of the start of the new season.

"A game like this one will let us know exactly where we are at that stage and also tell us what we need to improve on to be ready for the Premier League."

Tickets for the eagerly-awaited friendly are selling well, with advance adult prices starting as low as £10 for season ticket holders, £13 for Academy members and £16 for non-members. All under-16 tickets priced at just £5.