Millwall agree partnership with Prostate Cancer UK: Club take bold step to display charity logo on shirts for free

Millwall players support on-going campaign to save the A&E department at Lewisham Hospital (Brian Tonks)

Millwall have announced a free partnership to display the logo of the national charity Prostate Cancer UK on their shirts for the 2013/14 season.

Prostate Cancer UK was the Football League’s adopted charity for 2012/13 and Millwall took the lead in supporting the cause by hosting a photo-shoot with its players last July.

Millwall will waive all commercial fees making the sponsorship free for the charity. The deal includes a year’s joint fundraising effort which aims to raise some £100k to be divided between the charity and the Millwall FC Community Trust -

Both Millwall director Trevor Keyse and the Lions’ legendary former striker Neil Harris, now back on the coaching staff at The Den, have fought their own battles with male cancers and the club’s fans have already helped to raise upwards of £70,000 for an appeal set up by Harris to help fight prostate and testicular cancers.

Prostate Cancer UK is the leading UK charity in the fight against male cancer and this partnership means the global profile of Millwall Football Club can be put to work in raising funds to combat a killer disease which affects so many football fans, their families and friends.

Lions CEO Andy Ambler said: “A motto that we have adopted at our club is ‘Football is the answer, not the problem.’ There is so much that we do, and can do more of, which enables Millwall to be a force for good. We are a family club, and like every family we know many close to us who have suffered the effects of cancer."

He added: "Prostate cancer mostly affects men aged over 50. Others at special risk are men of African and African Caribbean descent, and also men with a family history of prostate cancer. We can help get across the urgent message that prostate cancer is treatable when it’s diagnosed early.

"If displaying the Prostate Cancer UK logo on our shirts, providing regular information in our publications and around our ground, and having health professionals available on matchdays to discuss issues in an informal setting, helps saves lives, we will have achieved something even greater than three points on a Saturday afternoon.”

Prostate Cancer UK’s Mark Bishop said: “With 250,000 men – enough to fill The Den 12 times over – living with prostate cancer in the UK, this partnership is a fantastic opportunity to boost awareness of the disease and net thousands of pounds to help more men survive it.